The Washington herald., 1920-02-20
Fan-tan" Tables Of Macao
Cut off by Petty War; Hongs
Tell Of Former americans
ny STEPHEN nONsAL,

ny STEPHEN DONsAL.
Today sad to relate, the, great
emporium of European and Ameri-
fcan commerce In Eastern Asia (Ma-
Gao, the Portuguese port). has be-
come center .f smuggling and
Of gambling heils. The ..fan-tan"
tables are famous throughput South
China. and 1t is painful to think OF
the inveterate gamblers of all this
country being cut'off by petty war
from their favorite distraction. But
II you overlook the present, and the
somewhat eisnoble figures that are
In evidence. the place Is strikinsly
reminiscent of the great actors
who played their important parts
upon this abandoned scene.
In that blue-painted pagods, on a
promontory stretching far out into
the river. camoens wrote the epic
iof African discovery, the proud
story of the golden age of his race.
And If you do not believe this, or
have your doubts about the grotto
in which. tradition has 1t, the poet
was immured for some trivial Of
fense. you had better not express
your disbelief within hearing of the
Leal Semado, which is the common
council in Government House.
Tribute Is paid to literature on
Icamoens' birthday and to religion
upon Good Friday. On this latter
day. the sailors who seem year In
and year out interned on the water
logged gunboat Just OFF shore, hang
bogus Judas to the yard arms
and fill him full OF lead. That's
the only practice of Christian re-
ligion i ever saw these people en-
gage in." remarked an irate skip
per from the Delaware Break
water. and I've been coming here
for forty years. man and boy" /
must say I had better luck than
my countryman.
Life In Cemeteries,
Macao being a graveyard of a
place. II is natural that the visitor
should spend much of his time In
the cemeteries. Indeed. unless you
care for "fan-tan" and the other
more dangerous forms OF Gambling
which are well within your reach,
you VIII be driven to spending
much time In these courts of peace.
The whole place, the hongs, or the
counting houses of the living, as
well as the mounds and .he stones
that mark the resting places of the
dead, bear the names and tell the
stories of those American CONNER
cial conquerors who held the whole
East Coast of Asia in hef until the
disastrous fratricidal civil war
came and drove our shipping from
all the seas. 1t must not be lost
sight of that Macao was not only
important in itself as a well-placed
and accessible port. but famous too
for the temperate airs and the
salubrious climate which the old
ichroniclers of the coast never tire
of eNpatiating upon.
Macao has been described as the
saratoga of the Far East, although
there Is no record of waters, min
eral or otherwise. having ever been
imbibed there. But II was q great
meeting-place of the big people in
the old days when big people had
no difficulty In securing sloops of
war to travel on. Here Raffies, the
founder of the Straits Settlements.
came not infrequently. and here "old
Jardine," who will be remembered
for his firm and persistent opposi-
tion to any white petticoats being
permitted east of the cape (these
were the days before Suez), lived
in regal il solitary grandeur for the
hot months of the year, and Give
and Hastings, gossips have 81, used
to drop in from time to time to
have a look-see." Their yaultins
ambitions could not be confined TO
British India alone.
Look After U. 8. Interests.
But the most interest is in the
Americans who came this way from
Major Gray. a soldier of the Revo-
luton. whom Washington. when
PRESIDENT, sent out to the Empire
or China ito look after our trade
interests" down to Caleb Gushing
and Robert McLane, envoys extraor-
binary, who came out here on mis-
sions few years before the civil
war.
In those days, throughout the
East. the word of an American mer-
chant of the stamp of the Griswolds
and the Greens. the Lows and the
Heards, the Forbes, the Russels and
the Manila Lawrences was as good
and better than a Bank Of England
note. They made their fortunes in