Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-09-13
Willy sMUeeLERs OF CHINESE.

II Willy SMUGGLERS OF CHINESE.
How Government Agents arc Baffied
| BY coffins and Ice Chests.
When last Tuesdays papers told
how Patrolman Cornelius Connell, on
his Harlem beat, had come upon a
red touring car with five Chinese
coolies hid in the tonneau. most peo-
pie probably thought how extraordi-
nary 1t was that any one should be so
anxious to be an American as to
smuggle himself into the country, like
| cigarettes or silk stockings. On the
contrary, 1t was quite the usual thing
I for Cinnamon to do. The unusual
feature of the incident was that the
coolies actually got to New York
without being detected. Most China
men who mediate nefarious entry Of
this country, and the setting up Of
spurious residence here, undertake
gree Of caution. They do not attempt
at the start to reach the Mecca of the
| Americanized Celestial-New York's
Chinatown.
Having set foot on United States
soil, either by way Of the Puget Sound
route on a lumber schooner, the Rio
Grande, Buffalo waterfront, a New
England fishing port, in any one Of
dozen or more willy ways, the average
Chinaman possesses sufficient COM
mon sense not to travel to places
where extra Cinnamon are likely to
be marked. New York. big as 1t is. is
a bad place for a new Chinaman, un-
less he has already begged, borrowed,
inherited or stolen, the necessary
Identification papers, which declare
him entitled to the privileges Of res
idence under the provisions Of the
Chinese Exclusion act
A sensible coolie, tipped Off by his
friends or the hacker who has sup
piled the money with which he pays
his way in, having crossed the border
at a point where passage Is simple
matter, goes at once to a compara-
lively small town as his first stopping
place. Small towns, some distance In
the interior Of the country, do not
have stations Of the Chinese inspec-
ton bureau Of the department Of
commerce and labor. Neither do they,
as a rule, have especially efficient po-
lice forces. II there are one or two
laundries or curio stores, 1t is easy
enough for the newcomer to be pass
ed Off as a brother" or cousin"
from San Francisco, Portland, or
some other city having a colony. Since
the earthquake destroyed San Fran
cisco's vital statistics, that city has
been a particularly favored birthspot
for stray Celestials.
Strange as It may seem, the China
man will endure any hardship, how
ever painful, to enter this promised
land" where people are "easy pick
ing" and laundry bills are fat. When
the Chinaman learns at school in HUI
Peh, say, or Shensi, how. much profit
there is in the Americans laundry
work his one ambition is to wrest a
Chinese fortune of few thousand
dollars from the foreign devils" and
return to Hu-Peh or Shensi and be-
come a mandarin-or now, a repre-
sentative in Parliament.
To enter, the Chinaman cheerfully
allows himself to be Grated in boxes
or nailed in casks with only a small
air hole for relief. He has even been
known to cross the border in Pull
man car ice-chests and in collins. 1t
was only three or four years ago that
government secret service men dis
covered that twelve Cinnamon had
been shipped to New York from Ell
Paso in collins and had suffocated on
the way.
Another time, even more recently,
eleven Cinnamon were dragged out OF
freight car in Texas, where they had
been almost suffocated by the load OF
hay under which they had concealed
themselves. The immigration au-
thorities in New England got a tip
several years ago and raided yacht
as It came to anchor in Boston har-
Dor, loaded with coolies from st.
Johns. Then there was the notorious
case Of the Frolic, caught In the har-
bor Of Province. At one time there
was an organized traffic In Cinnamon
from the eastern Canadian and New
Brunswick ports to Boston, Provi-
dence, and smaller New England har-
bors; but 1t is asserted by the Federal
authorities now that this has been
broken up, so far as any system Is
concerned. That Cinnamon are still
smuggled into New England with ir-
regular frequency probably not even
the most confident official in Wash
ington would deny.
But for the vigilance Of immigra-
ton inspectors the smuggling busi-
ness would be one of immense pro-
portions. It pays handsomely to
Struggle a Chinaman into this coun-
try. Cinnamon are valued at about
Il S6uU eaCn Dy tHelT o"u SouHtiJhi
and Harry r. Sisson, chief inspector
of the local Chinese bureau at No. II
State street, estimates that the mini
mum bounty paid for entering Is $500.
Indeed, the outside Chinaman Is so
anxious to be inside "alle same Nell
can Chinee man" that recognized
bondage system has been built up,
whereby the newcomer works out his
indebtedness to the merchant who
advances the price Of his admission.
Briefly, here is the scheme gener-
ally followed: Suppose some laun-
dryman in Brooklyn has built up a
profitable trade and has a bit Of mon
ey in the bank. He needs an assist
ant to handle the increasing busi-
ness. Chinese labor Is not easily come
by. After a Chinaman has been here
a short time he owns his own busi-
ness. Only the greenhorns are will
| ing to work for anyone else. The
Iaundryman gets in touch-through
his tong, perhaps, If he belongs to one
of the great Chinese brotherhoods.