Evening star., 1909-06-27

man knows, and the celestial won't tell.
Spending all day in their shops or
iaundries, the approach Of evening is wei
coined by the Chinese as the coming of
the hours of recreation. Enter shop.
Stolidly putting away at their long-stem-
med bamboo pipes. in which cutters
stringy tobacco much the same IN ap-
pearance and aroma as perique, they sit.
Now and then cultural grunt from one
of the number will bring a series OF Jab-
behring's, sporadic, but expressive. Then
silence settles.
If you are well enough known You may
pass behind the shop. generally through
a narrow passageway. with curtalneu
doors leading to side rooms.
A sickening, sweet odor oyerwhelms you
as you pull aside the bamboo portieres 10
peep inside. They are the bunkrooms.
X
Rarely is there other light in the bunk
room save that which comes from tiny
plass-covered lamp, throwing a reddish
glow over the pine board bunk, mating
covered, on which lies a Chinaman-for
no white tiends ever smoke in Washing
tons China town-his head on a mating
covered block. sravely iuhaling the fumes
of the poppy through the immense stem
of a great bamboo pill pipe, on the bowl
of which cutters and fries Il little lump
h,
stance is the gum opium, taken from It's
Curiously wrought jar, and twirled ny
nimble fingers over the little blaze unt1l "
begins to burn. Then with deft motion
ii is laid over the pinhoe of the pipe
and the great smoke begins.
The chances that IL you peep
through the curtains even when the
Chinaman is cooking his pill you VIII
get nothing further than disguised
grunt of surprise from him as he I'M
rt,,ra 6n cooking,
1t is a safe bet that YOU Will get Meth
ing more than a curious oriental look
out of his slant eyes If you happen 20
drop in at the time that the great white
smoke is due, Which comes after the
first few desultory inhalations and I'M
inediately preceding the great, satisfy
ing, lung-tilling Inhalation that waits the
smoker to the land where silvery dragons
fight and where flowers and foliage are
in profusion
But If there be more than one visitor
ard unknown to the smokers not even
opium could hold them to their bunks,
and with squeals and gutterinN they
make one dive at the apparently solid
wall-apd disappear.
More passages, dark and unlighted, and
then from behind door comes the sound
of voices. Within many more Cinnamon
sit around a table. To the uninitiated
they each appear to be holding a Curl
ously wrought fan. And then one Will
draw one of his fan sticks and throw IT
on the table. The one across tosses an
other beside it and so on. Then comes
burst of conversation and 1t is known that
one of them has just bagged q Celestial
"Ruedle'' in a game quite similar to the
American dominoes. But the Chinese lot
terry is quite the most popular game or
chance INDUCED IN by Chinatown Slips
are sent among the merchants and their
employees bearing approximately nfty
numbers From these numbers, for which
the drawer pays about one dollar. the
player selects ten which he marks out
with his pointed rush pen. Then he sends
them to the lottery bank. At the time of
the drawing, a Slip bearing the same
numbers is returned to him, with the ten
winning numbers marked out in red ink.
If eight of his numbers appear on the
winning list the Chinaman receives $1,000;
if six appear he is entitled to $500
*
II has been years since any white hop
fends frequented resorts run by China
men in this city. and the bunkrooms,
where the opium layouts hold in bondage
the yellow men. are purely private ones.
Ouong Kee is the present mayor OF
CHINATOWN, so called. There have been
other mayors recently, but one, stricken
with an incurabie sickness. has forsaken
the acknowledged quarter of his country
men and the other has taken ship for the
land of his ancestors
OuIonp Kee a robust celestial, gray
haired and pleasant, is extremely active
in Chinese circles here. and when you
come properly introduced will talk to you
about the affairs of Little China. lie II IS
who knows when the mandarins with the
light red buttons, or those who are en-
titled to wear the dark red buttons ana
peacock feather. will arrive from the land
of flowers to visit their countrymen. He
it is who can tell the little gossip OF the
quarter And lie offers long. fat. black
cigars as an earnest of his friendly feel
ings.
AT the present time there are only two
or three women of China IN the local
Chinatown. There were more, put one