Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-08-15
CHINESE LAUNDRY CHECKS.
ingenious Celestial Method OF Iden-
tifyfng Customers.

tifyfpg CuStoners.
The ingenuity OF the Monaghan mind
is well displayed in the system of
accounts and checks In the laundry
business. III their written language
were as scientific and accurate as our
own, ii would be an excellent crea-
ton, but they labor under many dis
advantages which are unknown to the
civilized world. There are no charac-
tiers in Chinese for letters of any such
simple variations as Roman and Ara
Die numerals. 1t is therefore impos-
slDie TO translate or transliterate INFO
Chinese such common marks as "a. II
or Nv. @. In place of this the China
man uses the ideographs for the com
moner facts of life, such as blouse"
''moon," dog" "lion," bear" stable,
CHAIR" and street"
In addition TO these ne EMPLOYS the
mineral characters from 1 up to 100.
"A customer comes to laundry nm
able TO speak Chinese and delivers his
wash to man unable to speak Eng
hsh. He receives in return a check
containing two characters. One repre-
sents the day of the week or month
and the second one of the facts men,
TONED, such as moon or Zion" The
sip Is torn through the middle. upon
the principle of the legal indenture. 1t
is impossible to initiate the torn piece
so that it will fit the half retained by
the laundry. Then upon the dayboolx
OF the laundry the proprietor enters
under the day of the week or the
month the telegraph moon or lion as
signed to the customer and beneath
this the articles left to be Numbered.
He then takes down from a hook n lot
or muslin tags on which are written
In indelible ink moon" or Zion" /. 2.
8, and so on. One of these tags is
affixed to each article, excepting the
cuffs and collars. To these one tag is
affixed, which is fastened by n strong
thread or cord tied through the button
hole in each article. In addition TO
this they often put private mark I'D
on the article to be cleaned, although
this is not very common. When the
goods are washed and ironed, they arc
done up in package and the day and
special character written on the out
side. In addition to this the half
ticket is fastened to It with a pin.
When the customer enters, he gives
his half ticket up, and If he is known
by sight the package Is handed over to
him. If he is not known or is suspect
cd of being confidence operator, his
half ticket is fitted to the laundry half
ticket before the package is handed
over.
The daybook is often amusing read
ing. 1t is difficult to write western
names In Chinese characters and in
most cases impossible. The laundry
man therefore writes down some sail |
ent feature of the customer. In do |
Ing this he manifests quick percep- |
ton and considerable humor. Two |
Gold Tooth" appears on the same page
with ''Redhead Scar Check" 'Red |
Nose Man." follows "Old Woman With |
White Hair" "AIan Who Looks Like
Horse" Man With Much Long Hair"
very Tall Thin" and "Man Very Fat
Jolly" are familiar entries. Often the
customer is described by his Calling
grocer, butcher, policeman, carriage
man or expressman. Doctor and dem
list are frequent titles. Upon this sys-
tenn the little laundryman transacts his
business with great smoothness and
1t may be asked IL an
American would do as we'll in the
flowery Kingdom.-New York Post.