The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1903-01-30
SAW A JOSS HOUSE.
Roy Hudson's Trip to China
town in San Francisco
Writes interestingly Of Lights and
Scenes in the City by the
Golden Gate.

Roy G. Hudson, formerly of Mankato
writes to The Free Press an interesting
letter descriptive of San Francisco. Mr.
Hudson has evidently made "trip to
Chinatown" and has visited various
] other places in the city by the Golden
(, Gate. He whites as follows:
| l am under the impression that !
promised letter about our Chinatown
But it is so long ago that perhaps my
memory may not be reliable. However,
am going to give you a little insight
into that portion of the city by the Col
den Gate which is populated by the
AIongolian.
San FRANCISCO is cosmopolitan city,
and its moral tone canot be Justly
gagged by the standard of a New Eng
land village or city whose population
traces its majority OF ancestry back to
the Puritan invasion, This cosmopoli
tanism will account, in .2-great measure,
for the fact that the city derives a IL
cense revenue from the sale of liquor in
$4,000 places of public resort, classified
as saloons, groceries, theaters and res
taurants, netting revenue to the com
monwealth of 1915 900 year. The fact
that San Francisco is seaport on the
verge of the world is another reason
why the vicious element and vicious ten
denotes are somewhat prominent. A
floating population of the class that
somes to San Francisco is not hampered
by exalted ideas of what constitutes
strictly moral conduct. We are improv-
ing, that is certain, as shown by the fact
that our police commissioners, stirred
perhaps by an awakened public con-
science, are denying licenses to some of
the most notorious places of resort.
Among the various classes and races
of people whose presence is responsible
for our cosmopolitanism perhaps none is
more interesting than the Chinese. And
perhaps no particular section of our city
has so much of an attraction for and is
so universally misunderstood by the
average tourist as San Francisco's So
called Chinatown. And not only is it
not the least interesting, but forther-
more, an excursion to the Chinese quar-
ter is "trip that every visitor to San
Francisco feeels in duty bound to en-
dure-for it is not a pleasant journey,
aside from the novelty of its sightseeing
elements. But it must not be imagined
that all the horrors ascribed by TO-
mancing correspondents of sensational
newspapers will be verified, even in a
night tour of the quarter. Lepers are
not in evidence, ''inveracious" guides to
the contrary Notwithstanding. The last
leper arrived from New York over year
ago and was promptly detected by the
health officers and removed to the pest
house. Notwithstanding this fact some
of the guides will point out to the awe
stricken tourist what he solemnly de-
clares to be poor human being affict-
ed with the dread disease. And the
tourist goes shudderingly on his way
happy in the belief that he is getting
his moneys worth. And right here a
word about the guides will not come
amiss. The average tourist can see all
4ho4 ha 70 oil Nd 1o1
The various stores are open and admis-
sion is free. Your presence is welcome
souvenir of your trip to the Celestial
city. The various joss houses or places
of worship are easily found and there is
no magical "open sesame" which you
are required to pronounce in order that
you may pass the portals of the home of
the great wooden gods who preside over
the destinies of the devout Mongolian.
All that you are expected to do is to
purchase a small package of the incense,
a matter of ten or fifteen cents. The
Chinese theater, another place of inter
est-for short time only-can be en-
tered freely. One needs only to pay
the Insignificant sum of twenty five
cents and he is at once admitted to this
home of tragedy and comedy. You may
go upon the stage and observe the art
of the Chinese actor at close range. The
plays are of interminable length, re-
Winding one of Tennyson's poem, "The
Brook"
''Men may come and men may go, but I
go on forever"
But if you care to go farther and wish
to visit the gambling places and see
some of Chinese home life and pass
through some of the narrow labyrinths
that serve as passageways you had best
secure the services of guide. Take
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