Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1902-08-23
CHINESE LAUNDRY CHECKS.
Ingenious Celestial Method of Iden-
tifyiuG Customers.


tifyiaG Customers.
The ingenuity OF the Monaghan mind
is well displayed in the system of
accounts ana Checks in the laundry
business. If their written language
were as scientific and accurate as our
own, il wOuld he an excellent crea-
ton. but they la10r under many DIS
advantages which are unknown TO the
civilized word. There are no charac-
tiers in Chinese Tor lc;,Crs Of any such
simple variations rs ROman and Ara
bic numerals. Il is therefore impOs-
sible to translate or ,ranSlitcrate into
Chinese such co,.;nua marks as CA. II
or Nv. 81. In place CT this the China
man uses the il G faraS for the com
moner facts Of lie. Nuch as house"
"moon." dog Il on bear table"
"chair" and street"
In addition TO these he cmploys the
numeral characters from | up TO 100.
A customer CO:lCS to laundry I'M
able to speak Chinese and delivers his
wash to man unable TO speak Eng
lish. He receives in return check
containing two characters Cne repre-
sents the day OF The week or month
and the second one of the facts men
toned, such as moon" or Lion. The
slip is torn through the middle. upon
the principle of the legal inden'ure. 1t
is impossible 10 initiate tie tern piece
e x.-;l "a balf q isnpi nv
the laundry. Then upon the dayhoOk
of the laundry the proprietor enters
under the day of the week or the
month the telegraph moon or Hon as
signed to the customer ana heHeath
this the articles left TO be Numbered
He then takes down from a hcOk Il lot
of muslin tags OH which are written
in indelible ink "mO0n" or Lion. !. :.
3, 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 strong
thread OF cord tied through the button
hole in each article. In addition TO
this they often put Il private mark UP.
on the article to be cleaned. although
this is not very common. When the
goods are washed and irOned, ti4cy are
done up in package and tie DAY and
special character written on the out
side. In addition 10 this the half
ticket is taste cd to it with Il pin.
When the customer enters. he gives
his half ticket W. and if he is known
L., ;.x,f 3 ~ mol IL han1A1 IN
him. If he is not known or is suspect
ed Of being Il 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" Man Who Looks Like
Horse" Man With Much Long Hair"
Every 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 den
fist are frequent titles. Upon this syS-
tenn the little laundryman transacts his
D, md
satisfaction. 1t may be asked if an
American would do as well in the
Flowery Kingdom.-New York Post.