The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-12-18
ANTI FOREIGN MOB
KILLS IN SHANGHAI,
SHANGHAI, UNIQUE
CITY OF ORIENT
Stanley .Washburn Tells of the
Queer Life n China's
Wicked Port.
Ne 'er-Do-Wells and Business Fail
ures Plentiful-AI Trades
Have Odd Angles.
Special Correspondence.

Have Odd Angles.
Special Correspondence.
Shanghai, Nov. 5.-Shanghai is in a
class all by itself. There are other cities
that are more frivolous. perhaps; there
are cities that are as cosmopolitan;
there are cities where there is more
crime; there are cities where there is
is more immortality, but there is no place
in the world where all the. elements
mentioned are so remarkably blended
together as they are in this city Of the
nations tucked away on the China coast.
Everybody knows about Shanghai in
a vague sort of a way: Most Amer
leans know that it is an important com
mercial center on the other side of the
globe, but many of our citizens have
never investigated the subject any fur
| Their. For their benefit, be it said that
Shanghai is an international settle
ment on the Hwangpu, tidal water
course; some fifteen miles from the Vel
low sea at Woosung. Commercially it
| is one Of the greatest ports in the east.
The American consul general, after pro-
found investigation, asserts that the
value of the tonnage in and out Of
| Shanghai in a year is almost equal to
the entire foreign trade of the Japanese
! empire. This gives fair idea of the
activity of the place. All the enormous
| trade that goes up the Yang-tse and
that comes down that great artery from
the interior of China passes in and out
Of Shanghai.
Remittance Men Abound.
Geographically, the Chinese city is
| almost at the end of the earth Nor
ally, one can say without any hesita-
| ~, all +ho
world has but one competitor for evil,
and that is Port Said. The two are neck
and neck for laurels Of this descrip-
tion. Shanghai is the final bit of dead
water to which the fotsam and jetsam
| of the stream of life seems to. drift for
the final stop in utter stagnation. Here
remittance men, are thick h7S X; , These
younger sons and other undesirable mem
bers of well-to-do families who are al
lowed so many pounds a quarter by
their loving friends on the sole condi-
ton that the cash Is to be, paid any
where least of the canal So they
native states of the Malay. peninsula
and with short stops at Singapore and
Hongkong they lay up for their final
collapse in Shanghai, where they meet
shoals of their fellows tapping up bad
whisky and soda at the bars Of the
| various hotels according to the recent
ness Of the last allowances. These gen
tlemen form & strong element in the
community.
The Business Failures.
Next we find large colony of al
legged business men who have failed to
''make good' in all other quarters Of
the globe and who have come out tC
China to sell some one gold brick
These two clesses form the matrix OF
the foreign unattached residents. Then
we have the men who are actually at
tached to real business houses with
their home offices in the states. These
are for the most part doing short sen
fences and are respectable. Lastly, VIZ
have the Shanghai business man, who
is one Of the most strenuous gentlemen
Of his kind to be seen the world over
) He speculates in shares, Of which there
and by dealing in which one may cas-
lily go broke. These brokers spend thei
time tearing up and down the Bund il
, their victorias drawn by China ponies
They always ride with one foot on tn
: step in order to save time in getting il
: and out. At II o'clock every one be
gins to drift toward the Shanghai clu1
. clock the rush is over and only tn
dead remain, cached away on sofas her
and there, where they have fallen afte
;. the battle. At 5 O'Clock the rush be
. gins again and lasts until the small
hours in the morning. Everybody i
Shanghai drinks, mostly to excess.
Beauties Of the "Chit'' System.
e Shanghai is the only place that
know of where the young men with in
8 comes Of from $50 to 800 month ar
Il able to spend twice that sum in wee
f on their establishments. Yet this seem
a of living Is fostered by the "chit' sys
tenn. Chits are small pads of paper o
which one writes an I. O. u. for an
| commodity or service conceivable. An
re man who has job can sign chits a
e almost any bar, store or dive in Shans
l. hal. The young men Of the clerk elias
T. proceed then to do this with great, e.
t. feet Their ready cash is used for spe,
ic ulative purposes, while their immediat
,e wants are met by the simple process {
r signing chits.
ts If they are successful in their spec7
A. lations they pay their chits and all goe
m well. If they fail and are unable
"a beg. borrow or steal the means to NEE
d their obligations. they either kill then
- til the trouble blows over, which
n soon does, as there are so many othel
j. in the same boat. After a few month
a of precarious life about the Chin
% coast, back they come, and if they al
i unable to regain employment. they ia
back into semiloafing class, whic
e. helps to swell the already large pop
Il lation Of this kind. -
&c Queer Ways Of Trading.
The wealthy men Of the place a
mostly youngish fellows of the kind d
scribed who have prospered in their i
y vestments. These go in heavily for 9
al sorts of deals and speculations. CT
n nese concessions, promotion schemes al
IL similar enterprises are created here
re be sold at home with great advantag
q. Every week fortunes are made and 10
le, and everybody. nearly. is happy al
"a irresponsible. Shanghai is remar
III able place.
The methods Of doing business a
rs quaint, and, to the westerner, som
r! what erratic. Every man who is co
IL nected even in the most remote, W;
as with business deal comes in for
an "squeeze' Of some sort. knew
OF case last year where one man h;
~ a boat to sell and another man w
" had learned the description of t