The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-08-02
HABITS OF THE CHINAmAN.
Canton Coolies in This Countr,
Averse to Manehuriaas
(FFom the Indianapolis Press)

tFFom the Indianapolis Pre2s)
81 recall but one Manchurian in this
! city, remarked a gentleman who has come
| in contact occasionally with the Chinese
| IN indianapolis. This chap had laundry
| on East Washington Street q few yeaTs
ago, but did not remain here long.
! He stood head and shoulders above the
/ Cantonese who are IN the laundry busi-
ness. He was a solitary fellow, however,
! for his countrymen seemed TO have little
/ 10 do with him He was raw-b0ned and
apparently had been a magnificent man at
| one time. People living in his vicinity
| used to wonder why his feliowChinese os-
| traciseG him Small boys reeklessly said
he had the leprosy, and that the other
! Chinese knew this and kept away from
HIN, although they would say nothing
against him to the Caucasians. ! think
il our recent light on Chinese history and
geography, that he was ,ostraeised because
he came from the Mancaurian provinces,
there being some feeling between northern
and southern Chinese.
II remember one day he came to the Sec
ond Presbyterian Sunday school and joined
| the Chinese class. He had very little
knowledge of English The young lady
/ teacher asked him some simple question.
to which he replied, Sud. sud- She could
obtain no further response from him One
Of the other Chinese grunted in disgust,
but vouchsafe6 no explanation. The teach
er then took up a conversation with the
others. The Manehurian never returned
20 the class. When the other Cinnamon
were questioned about him they remained
silent They may have hated him, but the
only evidence approaching this ] ever saw
was the grunt. Chinese surely realize that
silence is golden
One of the prejudices against Cinnamon
il the cities is due to their economical
wars of living, which, coupled with pros
aT-
TIE ignOr1nt and shiftless- In indianapolis,
however. the produce merchants say, the
Chinese like high living. They patronize
the markets for ducks, geese, and chick
es:s. Duck is one of Johns best morseis
AS he prospers, the higher he lives. Just
like other human beings. John likes a
good cigar. too. He frequently pays 10
cents for it. Of course, he eats rice, and
probably would continue to do so II he
were worth millions. for 1t is good to his
palate. The confectioners report that John
is a good patron. When the late Mr.
Hetz had a candy shop in North PennsyI-
vania Street, just above Market, the Chi
nese happened 10 find some candy they
liked, and after that Mr. Hetz got most of
their trade.
Il never saw Chinaman ride in a
sleeping car" said a local railroad official.
Il have seen dozens OF them coming into
and going from Indianapolis when l was
a conductor, but ] never saw one in q
sleeper. When travelling at night, a China
man always takes day coach, and seldom
goes to sleep. but sits with his eyes half
opened all night l suppose expense has
something to do in keeping away from a
sleeping car. a Japanese. however. always
takes a sleeping ear. whether he Is rich or
poor The Jap wants to try everything
American he can"
Chinese are fond Of fan-tan,' said a
policeman. but Americans are Just as
fond Of poker. However, we look on fan
tan q crime and poker as misdemean-
or. That's our beautiful civilized tolerance
Up on Massachusetts, Avenue there used 10
be fan-tan game every Sunday evening"
but as the Cinnamon used queer chips, we
had q hard time conYicting them. Now
fan-tan has spread to civilization and
there are more of these games among
Caucasans in indianapolis than among
the heathen- I think it a more fascinating
game than joker.
"A deck Of cards is dealt entirely arosnd,
and play begins. The first player has ID
put q seven spot on the: board If he has it.
If he has none, he passes and the age gees
around till some one lays down a seven.
Then the next man around plays. II he has
an eight or a six. he lays it against the
seven the cards being placed somewhat
like in dominos. The play is te build up on
either side of the seven. going up to the
king on one side and down to the ace on
the other The man that first gets rid OF
all his cards wins. The science in the
+ game is to keep from laying down a card
that viii enable your neighboT to add 10.
The Chinese require a chip in the pot
every time q man is unable to play but, as
Americans play it, az the end OF the game
all the Ioosers contribute a certain amount
to the winner. The game is quickly
played.