The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-02-22

Chinese city, and the same viii be
| the case with Manila if we allow them
to come.
Chinese Who Wear Diamonds.
The Chinese of these PARKWAY ISL
| ands are different from our laundry
men Of the United States. They have
rich men among them, who spend
money like water. Many have ag-
nifcent homes, and their wives are
~resplendant in diamonds and pearls
and in bracelets and anklets of gold. T
saw a party OF Celestials at the
| teamer as / landed. 1t comprised
four women whose ears spanked with
diamonds and whose long silk gowns
were buttoned at the front with
brooches of diamonds and pearls.
while on their are ankles. above
their loose slippers, were great bands
Of pure gold.
| see Chinese riding in automobiles.
Some have carriages with cOaChmen
and footmen in livery. They wear
silk gowns and felt hats, and lie
back on their cushions smoking their
cigars, as their brown Malay coach
men drive them about I see them
in the billiard looms and on the
cricket grounds, and now and then
l pass one flying over the roads on
an American bicycle, his silk gown
floating in the breeze. The biggest
stores Of Singapore are owned by
them, and they are the cashiers and
accountants of the principal banks.
Our former Chinese minister. WI
Ting-fanS, came from this part Of
the world. His father was a Can
tonese merchant, and his Nlother a
Hakka. Both We're Christians, and
they We're living at Singapore when
WI Ting-fang began his career rs
interpreter in the Hongkong police
courts, and later on went to Eng
land, where he studied law and WAS
admitted to the bar. Upon his re
turn he was taken up by Ii Hung
Chang, and since then he has been
one Of the leading men of the new
China.
MiIlionaircs in Tin.
The tail of the Asiatic continent is
tinplated. 1t has the richest tin
mines Of the world, which belong to
h Dutch, between here and Java.
The product of the British settle
ments is now selling for thirty or
forty million dollars per year, and
the greater part of this is dug out
controlled by the Straits TRADING
Company, which has immense smelt-
ers on an island close to Singapore,
the tin bullion being shipped away
to New York and Europe. We take
about 80 per cent Of this tin or
something like thirty million dollars
worth every year. 1t is scattered
all over the United States n it
coats u dishpans, tin cups and
vas basins. Some Of the dear girls
who read this letter will see their
faces shining back at them when they
next scOur the pie pans, and | urge
them to remember that the reflection
is flashed away out here on the
Strait Of Malacca.
I'm the Tin Mines.
e. The tin is largely from a~lluvial
deposits. The dirt is washed out by
hydraulic Jumps and the ore also
won IN d ways by the poorer
Chinese. The Celestials hunt for
seek spots for well digging. The
hunter holds the two ends Of the
stick firmly, and when he reaches q
tin deposit the stick is supposed to
turn IN his hand and point downward.
lin is usually found about twenty
tive feet below the surface, and the
earth containing it may be from q
lew inches to many feet in
The tin grains are mixed with all
sorts OF gravel, from pebbles to bould-
ers, and ordinary sand. They lie on
a bedrock Of limestone, slate or
clay and are taken out and washed.
The mining is done by Chinese on
Shares. When the mines are deep
they use ladders to go up and down.
carrying the ore out in baskets on
their backs. They stack it up in
heaps near the mines and then wash
1t out in coffin-shaped troughs
through which water runs.
After it is cleaned it is smelted in
charcoal furnaces, the best ore yield
ing about seventy per cent of pure
tin. After smelling the tin is run off
INTO bricks Of about the size of q
fve-cent loaf Of bread. IT then looks
like silver n is ready for ship
ment. A ton Of these bricks is now
worth 500 and it has been much
higher.
FRANK G. CARPENTER