The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1901-01-31

fectly assured that every thing will be
found in its proper place when they re-
turn. l have never heard of trust of
this kind being betrayed. When in the
family they know their place as servants
and do not feel hurt if not invited to a
place at the first table with the family;
nor do they run away in fit of anger if
not invited to seat in the parlor when
there are afternoon callers. They con-
slider it mark of honor to be employ
ed long time in one family; and rare
ly will one leave place without giving
notice in advance sufficient for his en-
ployer to find some one to take his place.
OF course it is the man who is always
employed as servant; | have never yet
seen a Chinese woman at work except
in her own home. Chinese cooks are en-
ployed in nearly all of the wealthy homes
on the Pacific coast, and also in all rail
road and mining camps. This is due to
their skill as cooks, and to their RELIABLE
ity. 1once visited a mining camp where
several thousand men are employed
night and cay The cooks were all
Chinese who received large wages for
their services. Knowing that much
prejudice existed in the camp against
Chinese labor l asked the manager why
he employed so many of them as cooks.
His reply was something as follows:
''They are the only cooks in this coun-
try we can depend upon. We would be
glad to employ white cooks and pay
equally as good wages, but we can never
depend on them. We have tried Them
and after every pay day they will invari-
ably 60 on drunk, and leave us with
nothing to eat. We got tired of this
sort of business after awhile, and so now
we employ only Chinese cooks They
never spree it, never go on strike, and
never leave us without due notice."
They are expert gardeners. They
work small patches of land-a habit
formed in their native country where
land is rare-but they make it produce
wonderfully. 1t is no use for the Yankee
or the italian to compete with the
Chinaman in raising vegetables. In
this line they are masters of the situa-
ton. They have reduced agriculture to
an art. One will rent a vacant lot ia
the suburbs Of a large town, and the
first season he will peddle his vegetables
from a couple Of baskets suspended
from long pole over his shoulder
The next year he will deliver his pro-
duce with horse and wagon. The end
of the next season will find him with a
good sized bank account; and by the
end of another year he may have a
ranch of his own. This is industrial
evolution, and the Chinaman is a tool
of evolution. But the Chinese are not
all cooks, nor gardeners nor laundry
men, Some of them are merchants,
and not few are merchants of great
wealth. A few years ago there was
some newspaper talk in San Francisco
about moving "Chinatown' to a more
obscure part of the city. This agitation
brought to the attention of the people
the fact that a number of mercantile
houses owned by Chinese had each mil
lions of dollars invested; and in the
words of one writer, cit would be as
sensible to talk of moving half of the
retail and banking business Of San
Francisco" In every town in the State
of any Importance there are Chinese
merchants. Usually they deal in ORR
entail goods. 1t is the idea of some
people that the Chinaman sends all
of his spare cash to China, but this is
mistaken idea While much is sent
to his people in China, more believe is
spent and invested in this country.
The writer was at one time personally
acquainted with one young man who
had made twenty thousand dollars in
mercantile business since coming to
this country, and every dollar of it was
invested in houses, stores and goods
which made business and gave employ
men just as we'll as if it had been in the
hands of an American.
They are very intelligent people. They
easily learn the American ways. They
are not only natural imitators, but are
original in many ways. They are very
eager to learn the English language, for
they know this will help them in get
ting positions. In nearly every town
where there are Chinese employed
there is night school, or mission school
as they are more properly called, where
the men meet every evening after the
days work is done for two or three
hours study. In these schools they
take up the common studies of the
public schools, and in this way many of
them receive liberal education. 1t is
doubtful if there is another nationality
in this country which will show such a
desire to learn. Not all young men
after hard days work are willing to
spend every evening in the week until
ten O'Clock in quiet study. The Chinese
children in the public schools stand