Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-07-21
BY JAMES A. uDcERToN.

J" HE ordinary American conSfdefS
the typical Chinaman as a
peaceful. inoffensive laundry.
man. whose motto of life is,
no checkee, no washee." In this tile
ordinary American is as far afield as
Bret Hartc and Bill Nye were con
eerning the heather Chinee" of the
bland and chldike smile whom they
Iuveigled into a little game. The China
han is born gambler and born feud-
list or. II not born that way. learns
these two accomplishments at such an
early age that it amounts TO the same
thing He can show the average white
card sharp more tricks with the paste
boards. TO say nothing of fantan and
other native Chink games of chance.
Than the paleface crook ever dreamed
were in existence. Aud. as for feuds,
the tong wars furnish case i'm point.
Only the other day five slant eyed
citizens of Boston were sentenced to
die I'm the electric chair for shooting
four members of a rival tong back in
1907. In Philadelphia only few years
ago the Rev. Frederick Poole was
wounded and one Chinaman killed in n
tong battle which was but n renewal of
other battles previously fought. And
New York is all torn up at this mo-
ment over the supposed murder of FL
sic Sigel. a Chinese missionary. whose
body was found in Il trunk that had
been shipped lack and forth over two
or three states and whose death. It
was brought out, occurred in the room
OF Leon Ling. Il deniZen of Chinatown.
for whose apprehension two hemi-
spheres are now being secured, aud the
only reason that the securing process
has not gone farther is that there are
no more hemispheres
Pr0miscuous Shooters.
Now. as fancy artist with wash
tub a Chiuaman may be n peaceful
enough citizen. but mention to him
the name of rival tong and he bris-
ties with artillery like an armory He
is a promiscuous shooter and will turn
loose in crowded theatcr. an open
street or almost anywhere that he
gets sight of his hated enemies. The
usual preliminary of n Celestial shoot
fest is the setting off of bunch Of
firecrackers. the report of the guns be-
ing not so noticeable amid the popping
of the fireworks In one New York
war the members of the rival tongs
bowed their legs. sQuatted as low as
possible and hoped about like tOads.
all the time emitting bullets like a
suffering. asthmatic Calling gun.
They are not remarkably accurate
marksmen. as in this particular fusil-
lsde. in which something like 100 shots
were fired. only two brown men bit
the dust The only reason that more
execution was not done by stray bull
lets was that Pell and Mott streets
reports starting an array of strea ming
pigtails from brown men. who fed in
a mad stampede.
The tong members are also quite
handy with knives. and during these
hostilities many yellow faces with fix
ed eyes have been discovered by the
police in back alleys or Railways. the
oWleTS VI tIlP ldCeS udfiiS lou- anu
deep Sits in their backs. To make the
shadow still darker over the reputa-
ton for peace of our friends of the
cue and the Hatiron the most pro
life source of trouble between their
tonss is plain graft. 1t is the case of
the imam higher up" Gambling is an
offense against the laws. and in order
that it may be carried on somebody
has to be paid for immunity.
In New York it Is generally believed
and stated In print and otherwise that
The police and Tammany are regularly
'sweetened' by the keepers of gan
bling joints in Chinatown just as they
are. according to the wiseacres. in the
TeDderloin. But it is not this that ere
Iates the feuds The head men of one
of the tongs likewise get a rakeoff.
The head men of the other tong object
to this shameless iuiquity unless they
can share equally in the fruits thereof;
hence the sbootings, informings and
trouble generally.
! Noted Celestial Chieftains.
The two tongs in New York. also in
Boston and most cities of the United
States. are known as the Ong Leong
and the Hip Sing. In Gotham the head
Of the Oug Leong Is Tom Lee. mayor
Of Chino town a man who has pntpr-