Farmers' champion. (Elgin, Okla.) 1912-1922, 1921-12-21


that Is not why most folk board the
daily boat from llungkong to go there.
II Is summer resort for the Canton
eSe because of Its exposure to the
cooling monsoons In mid summer.
Opium smugglefs and gamblers. In re-.
cent years. have lOomed large aia~ng
Its transients. Formerly the Chinese
coolle traffic also had Headquarters
here. Within II century It's waters may
have warranted the characterization
OF one traveller who called them "the
most dangerous waters of the world
from police standpoint" and added
"n river trip ~ spiccd with the risk
Of plraticnl attack"
Revenues From Gambling
The ideas of Henry George ard 9th
er tax theorists have found niggard
soil In Macao. whose fiscal policy Is
simplicity llelf. Poo-chee and fan
tan provide the revenues of the city.
II has been said that half the mlnted
pieces OF the Far East hnd their way
sooner or later To the gambling boards
of Macao. and the old Rix dollar, the
Mexican peso. and the American dime
are clinked upon the tables Of the
jeunesse doree. ~ c the 'rickshaw
coolies and harbor ,u-i IT OF the town.
while IA daily How o.! men. women ana
dollars crosses the estuary from Hong
kong To Macao and pours into the
hells oi the Roa do Jogo. or gambling
street.
Fantan Is the favorlte game, but II
Is nothing like the card game Of that
, name known 10 Americans. The Chi
nese crouplers sit enthroned before IA
square marked at the corners with
the numbers |, .. 3 and I. The banker
reclines behind grating, smoking II
long pipe. Overhead Is a gallery run
ming all around the room and forming
a sort Of ceiling. pierced only by a
hole the size of the table. From this
gallery the bets are made. and the
| stakes are alternately let down and
| drawn up, accompanied by the sound
of drawing mlnstrelsy.
The croupier takes handful Of
small coins and covers them with n
| on one of the four numbers. when
the betting has ceased he lifts the
bowl and separates the colus with his
wand. Then he counts them by fours,
and the remainder, or the last four
II there be no remainder, represents
the winning number. Each hazard Is
n one-to-thrce wager. and the banks
al. =. q
| house percentage. A number Of these
| licensed gambling dens, graded accord
| Ing 10 the limit of wager allowed, pay
the revenues Of the city Of Macao.
Attractive to Travellers.
Present day Macao * not marred
for the casual traveller by either Its
fair for ian-tnn or it, thriving trade
In opium. The latter Is shipped AWAY
Ia wrcak lis havoc; the former brings
the bizarre and the adventurous. The
city of today Is one of the few Far
! Eastern coast towns which have no,
been caught In the reslstless current
OF commercial progress, and for that
reason II presents some Interesting
studies 10 lovers of The picturesque.
lie who lands from n steamer Is
captlvated by It's blepd Of Portuguese
and Chinese people, by pagoda and
western church. and when the sum.
mons of hunger leads him to hotel
that has been called the cleanest nnd
most beautifully situated In the Or
lent, the contrast persists. He may
order the famous Portuguese cDlares
with his yellow water chestnut pas,ies,
and choose either accidental
game dinners or pudding Of c6agulated
ducks blood and sugar-preseryed BAN
boo shoots. There are but 1000 Por.
tuguese resident there, but they rep
resent four-century impress that
their nationality has made upon the
total population OF about 1000.
After dinner the visitor may stroll
along the praya Grande, both the
Broadway and the Riverside drive ot
Macao. Having shopped and Summed
he finally will be led to catch the
deeper romance Of the city In the
grottO where the poets have carved
lines OF praise 10 the One-eyed soldier
poet who wrote the glory OF farthest
West Europe on an island OF nearly