Arizona republican., 1909-12-20
oRelf1l1l0n 6F
 CHINESE IN AMERICA
The Relationship of Families, cempa- nies and Societies and the
 Recent Tong War. s'

The Phoenix Chinese are very much interested in the tong war that has been going on in coast cities for some time past. inasmuch as there are be- tween forty and fifty members of the Yee family in this valley. As explain- ed by one of them the relationship of the various Chinese groups and their connection with this trouble is quite interesting.
 As nearly everybody knows practi- cally all the Chinese in this country belong to one or another of the Six Companies which have headquarters in San Francisco. Originally they seem to have been immigration companies and each drew it's immigrants from a particular place in China. However this may be the Six Companies are rec ognized by the American Chinese as being the chief representatives Of their interests here and the Six Companies while separately organized are also or ganized together in common interest where friction occurs between the orientals and the Americans
 One of these Six Companies is the Hop Wah company to which all mem- bers of the Yee family beyong. The Yees all came from common ances- tor in a certain state or province of China and nearly all members of the family in the homeland still reside in their home province. having towns and villages. nearly all within the lines of family relationship, though the reia- tionships are of course very distant in most cases. It Is said the Yee fam iIy in China numbers between 50.000 and sO,000. and that in this country there are approximately 1000 of them. Before the numerous deportations un- der the exclusion act there were ap- proximately 1000 members of the Tee family in this country. There Is a large colony of them in San Francisco. and .n Santa Barbara and other Cal ifornia towns there are good sized col onies, though few if any members of that family live in Los Angeles. The greatest strength of the Tee family in this country is in Philadelphia and in Boston and in other eastern cities. There are comparatively few however m NcW 1OTh anu &uitd6O. ihC itS family is of course only one of many families which belong to the Hop Wah company.
 The On Tick organization which is just now engaged in killing off the Yee family. is said to be highbinders' organization. The highbinders are ex- plained to be not family by them selves nor a company. but rather a sort of a lodge of sports. outlaws, and lazy and-yicious characters. who love money and will do anything to get it. It is popularly supposed that they are open to hire by one Chinese organization or another for the purpose of removing undesirables for so much money. In this instance however it Is indicated that the organization is fighting on it's own account. Any Chinese who is elected by the organization. it is ex- plained may join it regardless of his family or company affiliations. though if he does so he keeps it to himself for it is a secret society of the sort the average joiner" in this country wots not of. In other words it is secret society It is understood that there are several highbinders societies or lodges their organization having nothing to do. with the family or com pany organization.
 The present trouble it is said arose in this way A member of the Yee family slipped from his high estate and joined the On Ticks. Not great while afterward he abducted a Chinese wo- man who was recognized as belong ing to brother On Tick and the rest of the organization proceeded to send him to everlasting repose. This was not taken seriously by the Yees who as family believed their unregenerate member got about what was coming to him. However. the taste for blood had, been aroused among the On Yicks and they killed second member of the Yce family who was only remotely. if at all connected with the first vic- tim, or his violation of the social code in stealing an On Tick woman. This aroused the Tees who retaliated by making the third funeral necessary, and from that time the fight was on. Some where between eight and a dozen. in- cluding both sides, have bitten the dust to date.
 It is predicted however that there will be little or no more killing. A large reward has been offered by the Tee family for the capture of the chief executive officer of the On Yicks. The second man in the organization is in jail in San Francisco pending trial, as are many others. The On Ticks are said to be small in membership even though they are desperate and have lots of money acquiring it by any means possible. The Yees are trying to abide by the laws of the land. pr say they are. except perhaps the few who have personal grievance. though the Tees generally are constantly on the lookout for wolves in sheep's clothing. They recognize that any member of the 1000 Yecs in this country may be con- sidered a proper target for any On Tick who happens to be seeking repris- als on behalf of his society. For that reason the Chinese. particularly the Yees, are on constant watch and when a new Chinaman comes to town. until he is properly located. identified. and proved. he has great many eyes on him besides those of the immigration service.
 It is said by members of the Yee