Bisbee daily review., 1906-05-09
Authorities Propose to Build One to Take Care of the
 Frisco Chinese.
BONES OF DEAD TO
 BE TAKEN TO CHINA.
According to Religious Belief Mongollan Can Not Rest
 Easy Unless His Bones Lie in
 Grave in His Own Country.
e lBy Clyde H. Tavenner.)


 Chinatown with its hundreds of se- cret underground passages and quaint Oriental life as it existed in the old San Francisco. will not be feature of the new city that is beginning to take form almost before the ruins have quit smouldering.
 But John Chinaman has not been neglected by the authorities by any means. He is in California 10000 strong, and he must live. His future home is to be more to his liking than was his old home.
 It is planned to build great Orient al city, such as does not exist outside of China. The city will probaly be located at Hunters Point, in San Mateo county, few miles from San Francisco county boundary line. A committee on the housing of Chinese has been appointed and all of the members think fayorably of the Oriental city idea. It is proposed to allow the inhabitants of the city to live as nearly like they would in an Oriental city as possible. They will be allowed to elect their own colony officials, and to have a voice in the making of municipal laws. Of course it would not do to give the inhabitants an altogether free rein. but they will | be allowed all the liberties that it would be possible to trust them with. The exact method of financing the building of the city has not yet taken definite form Whether the fund will come from the city, county, state or 1 federal government, or whether a pri- yate corporation will be allowed to | build the city, is being discussed by | the members of the committee. Prom inent Chinese are being taken into the ! conferences of the committee, and they seem to be heartily in favor of | the Oriental city idea.
 l Several capitalists of Denver are said to be anxious to go ahead imme- diately and build city such as has been outlined along the modern lines
 so far as sanitary measures go but
 strictly Oriental as relating to styles | of architecture, providing the city will agree to require the Chinese to make | it their official home. The capitalists
 would figure on renting the houses
 subject to the scrutiny of the authori
 ties.
 The Chinese quarter having beer
 completely obliterated by the fire
 which followed the earthquake, it is
 necessary for the authorities to solvC
 the question of a future location
 once. The authorities are fearful that if the Chinese become settled in tenn
 porary quarters, they will be unable
 to move them later on.
 Dr. Filben, chairman of the commit tee on the housing of the Chinese, re Dnrted to the body that four or fiv. blocks of vacant land at the foot of Van Ness avenue had been prepared, under the sanction of the federal au- thorities. for the temporary accomo- dation of all the Chinese in the city. He said that adequate sanitary ar engagements had been provided, and suggested that. the civil and military
 authorities proceed at once to gather all the Chinese and establish them in
 the one location.
 The Celestials will probably be
 maintained here until the permanent home is arranged for them.
 The bodies of nearly all of the Chi
 namen that met death in the fire are
 being prepared for a trip of 12,0OO miles to tombs prepared for them in
 China. The bodies of the victims are
 to he sent to Hongkong along with the
 bones of several hundred Celestials
 that died in various parts of the Unit ed States since 1899. At Hongkong the relatives will take charge of the
 remains and carry them to the old
 homes in all parts of the empire.
 There will be elaborate burial cere-
 monies and some 2.000 Chinamen who
 died in this country will be lowered into the graves to return to clay. It I will have cost more than S500,0OO to
 take the bones of the children home,
 but that sum is small one when it is
 considered that the customs and re. lligious beliefs of centuries have been
 observed and that all good Chinamen
 can sleep in peace, assured that they
 have given ample propitiation to the
 spirits of their ancestors
 Every six years 1t is the custom to
 clean out the Chinese burial lots and
 send the remains of the departed back
 to China. The Six companies super. wise the shipment of the bodies
 Every Chinaman believes he will nev. CT rest easy when dead unless he is
 buried in China, and his relatives be. lfeve the same. For the purpose of
 assuring himself of peace of mind in the world to come the Chinaman whc comes to this country carries a sort of insurance policy with the Six Com . panies- He pays certain sum oi money, for which the big Chinese l companies agree to take his bones back to Chinese soil and give then : naman himself does not make this pro } vision before death, his relatives ana ? friends invariably do so when he ha. passed away.