VOL. XV.
NEW 13r.OOMFI.BLr), 1JA..; TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 1881.
NO. 23.
THE TIMES.
Aa Independent Family Newspaper,
I8PUHI.13UBDEVBHTTUB8DAT BT
R MORTIMER & CO.
TEllSIH t
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from tlio alnve terms will lie made If payment Is
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CHALKING CHINAMEN.
How tho Custom House Agents Inspect the
Chinese.
THE San Frauclsco Chronicle of a
recent date says :
The landing of a thousand Chinamen
on the Pacific Mail wharf creates a scene
of most amazing confusion and disorder,
and presents many curious studies in
life studies brilliant only in physical
color ; dreary and blank enough other
wise. The City of Tokio arrived on
Bunday with 1,040 Chinese steerage pas
sengers, and having passed quarantine
was at once placed alongside the wharf
and commenced unloading passengers.
The Chinamen are discharged from a
freight port-hole down a gang-plank and
into an improvised pen, where their
persons and baggage are searched by the
Custom House officers. The pen begins
at the gangplank and includes a space
on the wharf about one hundred feet
long and twenty-five feet wide, running
parallel with the length of the wharf.
On one side of the pen is the bay ; the
other three sides are fenced in by an
iron fence, outside of which and at a
distance from it of six feet a rope is
stretched. Tills rope prevents outside
Chinamen from coming too near the
pen and receiving contraband goods
from the passengers. In the end of the
pen farthest from the gangplank is a
gate, guarded by two officers, between
whom the Chinamen pass after their
backs and baggage are properly chalked
by the examining officers. Two hun
dred and fifty Chinamen are taken from
the ship into the pen at a time. When
all is ready they begin to crowd out of
the porthole, which is so low that they
must stoop to pass through and on to
the gangplank. They crowd from the
inside so in their eagerness to land that
the porthole is frequently blocked and
impassable, until after a vast amount of
pulling and hauling one of the wedged
in mass is extricated, and the gorge
being broken, those behind fairly pop
out like a champagne cork from the
impelling force behind. Each one has
his baggage lashed to either end of a
bamboo pole and slung across his shoul
der, which makes the work of breaking
a "deadlock" all the harder. Half way
down the gangplank each Chinaman is
stopped by a special police officer, to
whom some kind of a ticket is delivered.
, At the foot of the gangplank a coatless
and perspiring custom house officer
grasps the stumbling, overburdened
Chinaman by the arm or shoulder and
gives him an energetio push towards
the further end of the pen. Sometimes
the Chinaman is strong enough, or well
enough balanced on his feet, to retain
his equilibrium under the circumstances,
but generally he is not, and sprawls out
on the wharf and is buried under his
bags and baggage. This always gains
the officer a round of applause from the
crowd around the outside of the pen.
As they leave the gangplank officers
excitedly direct the Chinamen to the
lower end of the pen, packing them as
close together as their baggage will
permit them to stand. Each Chinaman
carries his bedding, extra clothes, shoes,
hats, etc.; his extra household goods,
including tin cooking utensils, dried
vegetables of various kinds, drugs, med
icines, smoking outfit, and a strange
and varied assortment of articles of all
kinds and shapes, packed in baskets,
chests, trunks, bags, bamboo and straw
matting, and in every Imaginable char
acter of baggage. As the baggage Is
tumbled and dumped on the wharf the
Chinamen are directed to open It, and,
as in Its most compact form U loaves not
an inch of space uncovered, the untying,
opening and distributing process results
in articles becoming burled, overlaid,
hidden, lost, and utterly and seemingly
inextricably mixed. When thirty or
forty Chinamen have been crowded into
the end of the pen nearest Die gale, the
corps of twenty custom house Inspectors
begin the process of "going through"
the outspread baggage. What was con
fusion now becomes chaos. The officers
walk over the baggage, open bags and
trunks, dive their arms into the interior
of packages and scatter their contents In
bewildering drifts. While this is going
on more of the allotted two hundred and
fifty are being packed In the pen. Every
Chinaman gesticulates and talks; every
officer explores, sweats and comments.
Hustled on the wharf, into this scene of
wild confusion, the Chinaman, without
the remotest idea of what it is all about,
is jerked to the edge of the mass of
squirming fellow-countrymen, uulashes
his baggage, opens it, sees it scattered,
collects what he can of it, stands upright
to be searched from his outer garments
to the skin ; is chalked on his back nud
told to "git."
The search of their person and bag
gage Is very thorough, yet few articles
are confiscated. Two officers move about
with large bags, into which some of the
confiscated articles some of them are
thrust. An occasional piece of silk, a
bundle of fans, a few packages of tobac
co, or a few silk handkerchiefs constitute
the general run of discovered contraband
articles. The search for opium is unusu
ally strict, even the shoes on the China
men's feet being examined. A Chronicle
reporter on Sunday noticed an inspector
take off one Chinaman's shoe, look into
it, and was about to give it back to its
owner when something about it attract
ed his attention. He weighed it in his
hand a moment and then took out his
knife and tried to dig into the sole of
the shoe, which appeared to be an un
usually fine one. The owner saw this
with dismay, but suddenly seemed to
comprehend the meaning of it, explained
to the officer in pantomime how the
shoe's interior could be investigated
without its utter annihilation, but the
officer, taking both shoes, went to the
edge of the wharf and proceeded with
gimlets, corkscrews and knife to care
fully dissect the Bhoes. Finding noth
ing in them, he tossed them into the
bay, to the astonishment of the bare
footed owner. Borne of the Chinamen
had boxes containing expensive and
beautifully prepared confectionery. One
inspector, happening upon a box of this
character, took a handful and passed
them over a fence to a lady friend. An
other inspector did the same with some
handkerchiefs. Another donated to
himself a box of toilet powder, while a
third, happening to find three silk
handkerchiefs in a Chinaman's bundle,
handed them to another inspector, who
pocketed them instead of putting them
in the bag. A moment afterwards the
reporter asked the inspector who had
found the handkerchiefs: "What is
done with the articles taken from the
Chinamen V"
" We put them in the bags those men
hold there, and they are afterwards sold
at auction," replied the inspector, defin
itely and promptly.
As the Chinamen gather up and re
pack such of their goods as they can
find, they are hustled out of the gate
into a scene equally confusing, but more
friendly. Friends and relatives meet
them and put them and their baggage
into the waiting express wagons; they
are driven to Chinatown and absorbed
into the dingy sponge. After one batch
of 250 have been examined the wharf
inside the pen limits is strewn with odd
tin utensils, tobacco, dried vegetables,
fans, torn matting, caps and bamboo
poles. These are kicked off Into the
bay, for the inspectors are too pressed
for time to allow the Chinamen to clalu!
them and gather them up. ' Then
another batch is poured out of the port
hole, go stumbling down the gangplank
and are spread out and "inspected."
The fact that the inspector cannot un
derstand the comments of the China
men, nor they the remarks of the
inspector, doubtless accounts, in a large
measure, for the absence of any rebel
lion on the one side, or )U-nature on the
other. About one in ten of the Chlna
iiien have their thin, bony legs covered
with stockings, but this scarcity of
covering of the lower extremity is
averaged by the amount of clothing
around their bodies which are swathed
in from four to Mx padded silk gar
ments. Inside the pen the reporter
noticed several intelligent-looking Chi
namen wearing silver badges, denoting
them to be agents of the several Chinese
companies. The reporter spoke to one
of these and asked him why he did not
go on board the ship and explain to the
passengers the inspection they would be
subjected to, and other matters which
would have the effect of avoiding a great
deal of the confusion. The ngent replied
that a recent order of the steamship
company or the custom house forbade
them from boarding the ship until the
passengers were all landed. The report
er asked the question for the reason that
It was plain to see that the Chinamen
had no idea of what was expected of
them.
They staggered on the wharf under
their loads, and were pushed and
jammed around by the Inspectors, with
out a suspicion or previous Information
of what the official pushing and jam
ming all tended to. They' looked like a
drove of bewildered cattle in the receiv
ing yard of a slaughter house, and if
they hesitated in a dazed, uncertain way
for a moment, looking for some friendly
counsel or waiting for a directing word,
they suffered the penalty of their inno
cent Ignorance by an unceremonious
but official clutch and bounce, all in a
heap atop of some other equally obtuse
and struggling passenger. If a China
man staggered and fell oil the gang
plank his basket of household goods and
gods, scattered in all directions, were
kicked after him, some falling on the
wharf and some in the bay. The un
lucky wretch would take the loss of his
goods hardly, but the inspectors were
too busy to treat him otherwise. Of
course the agents of the Six Companies
helped their countrymen as much as
they could. In the excitement and
hurry of their first energetio reception
by the muscular inspector at the foot of
the gangplank they would unknowingly
drop bundles, which some inspector
would pick up and heave into the midst
of the confused mass of baggage, China
men and inspectors. If the bundle hit
a Chinaman on the head the crowd on
the wharf cheered. The agents would
then run after the baggage so happily
thrown and endeavor to find it and
return it to its owner. The entire lot of
1,040 passengers were inspected, chalked
and passed out of the pen in about three
hours.
An Immigrant's Bath.
" rnHERE is the honest immigrant,"
1 said the tall, thin passenger. " I
believe he is going to wash his face."
And really it did look as though that
was the man's mad intention. He had
gone to a clear pool of water beside the
track, and was apparently getting ready
for his ablutions.
" Bee him peel off his raiment," said
the man on the wood-box.
" He hasn't very much to peel off,"
the fat passenger said.
" Walt," said the tall thin passenger,
he hasn't got started yet."
The immigrant first unwrapped a com
forter from his neck and then slowly
took off a gray overcoat with a Bhprt
waist and long skirts, reaching to his
heels. Then he unwound a red woolen
comforter from his neck, and took off a
short pea-jacket of heavy blue cloth.
Then he unwrapped a gray comforter
from his neck, and took off a leather
Jacket, very tight-fitting and very greasy.
He then unwound a long flannel scarf
from his neck and took off a black vest,
and then he released his neck from the
folds of a gray woolen comforter, and
then he took off a red vest and unwound
another comforter, anl then he took off
another vest and a flannel scarf that
was tied around his neck, and another
vest, and another comforter and another
scarf and another vest and another com
forter and another vest
" That man robbed a clothing house,"
said the cross passengex.
The immigrant calmly unwrapped
from his neck a long wooleu com
forter " I wonder," said the fat passenger,
" if he got through the custom house In
that way ?"
And he took off auother vest
"Why!" exclaimed the tall, thin,
passenger, "he Is no bigger than I am."
And then he unrolled another com
forter from his neck
"By George 1" exclaimed the man on
the wood-box, " he'll get down to his
bones in two more 'peels.' "
And the immigrant calmly unbotton
cd another vest
Suddenly the whistle of the train was
heard in the distance, and another of
the party of immigrants shrieked to the
would-be-bather :
" Jarllche Jans Krund BJorneske
Bjorsnesaekessen 1 Hodflicklendlenen
dgakromlnleke thorlikijd sounden de
smockerlck ach eada tralnege ausgek
ommek I
And then the race began. The train
came along, waited three minutes, and
sped away, and long, long after we left
the station we could look back and see
that rash immigrant from the land of
Njordvaldsen shooting himself into a
job lot of partl-colored vests, and haul
ing upon himself an avalanche of com
forters, in the vain hope of snowing
himself under in time to catch the next
train.
" I have often wondered," the jester
said, musing, " why the immigrants
never bathe from the time they leave
Castle Garden until they get to their
homes In the far West. I understand
it now. ' That man, iu his laudable de
sire to wash up, will lose a whole week
before lie can dress himself. And even
then he had not got undressed far
enough down to wash his neck."
"Wauseon!" shouted the brakeman.
" Was he on i1" queried the fat pass
enger. " Was he on what ? He wasn't
on the train by twenty miles, but he
was on a whole Chatham street bank
rupt stock of vests and comforters, and
don't you forget it. What was he on,
anyhow V
How She Cured Him of Swearing.
The husband of a Nashville lady was,
before his marriage, a furious swearer.
Through his wife's Influence he left off
this bad hablt,texcept one favorite cuss
word, which clung to him under all
circumstances, and which, to the great
annoyance of the good wife, he would
unconsciously use everywhere-the word
"damn."
Several months since he arose one
cold morning, before the servant came
in to make the wood fire, and, after a
long effort, andthe fruitless burning of
many matches, turned and said: "Bai
lie, this damn Are won't burn." To
this the good wife earnestly said : " Yes,
the damn wood is too green, and the
damn servant has forgotten to, bring up
any damn kindling to start the damn
Are with." He looked at his wife in
absolute dismay, but at once saw the
point and said nothing.
A longer period than usual passed
without the favorite expletive being
used, but later on he wanted a basket,
and said after looking for it: "Bailie,
where has the damn basket got to?"
The wife, quietly, as if putting a child
to sleep, said : "Ask the damn cook to
get you the damn basket damn her,
she keeps it." As before, he said noth
ing, but months have passed, and if he
damns anything it is not where she is.
She says it was like taking quinine, and
she always went and washed out her
mouth afterwards, but he is cured.
Then and Now.
Wendell Phillips, in a lecture deliver
ed id New York, cited some striking
facts to show how wonderful has been
the advance in journalism of late years.
When the battle of Waterloo took place
the London Times devoted only one
third of a column to a description of it ;
whereas a full-page history of the re
cent Ute massacre of ten persons in
California was given to the readers of
our great dailies. Mr. Phillips could
find no detailed account in any of the
files of the Boston papers of 183-5, of
the mobbing of William Lloyd Garri
son, which occured in that year, and
was an event "which shook the city
while it lasted." President Harrison
had been dead ten days in 1841 before
the news reached Springfield, 111., and
then Abraham Lincoln would not be
lieve it because it seemed Impossible
for it to have come in so short a time.
Now you can buy in the afternoon a
newspaper in which you " may read the
words Queen Victoria spoke to her par
liament since the sun rose in England."
To illustrate the degree of enlighten
ment afforded by newspapers, Mr. Phil
lips said: "The man who reads the
paper lias a telegraph wire that con
nects him with the world, and the man
that does not read might as well be Rob
inson Crusoe on his Island."
Table D'Hote Abroad.
Breakfast on the continent always
means only bread and coffee; to the la
boring people it means a bowl of broth
and a bit of bread, or bread alone. The
American, however, will find himself
served with butter and eggs or meat,
unless he lias previously ordered a "plain
breakfast," when he will receive the
usual bread and coffee. The noted table
d'hote Is perhaps the least susceptible of
change. It usually la served at 6 o'clock
an hour when the day's toll Is over
and the meal can be taken at leisure.
It is the social meal of the day, and all
the guests of the hotel are expected to
meet at the table. It requires never less
than an hour, oftener two, and unless
your company is entertaining, It is a
long and dreary process. Perhaps you
have been told that there will be ten or
fifteen courses, and if uninitiated, you
have your mind made up that for once
you will have your usual "square meal,"
hut when the waiter, with neck-tie and
shirt front of immaculate whiteness,
brings you a small piece of bread and a
dish of slightly colored water called
soup, you proceed with quiet resigna
tion, with the belief that you will have
dinner presently; but your curiosities is
only the more aroused when the plates
are changed, and, after a long, dreary
waiting, you receive a very small bit of
fish, then the table is cleared again, and
you are served with a bit of chicken ; like
a true American, you have dispatched
your bread long enough since, and you
take chicken and "play it alone;" but
you conclude it is " passing strange"
when you learn that buttered chestnuts
and nothing else, or a bit of cheese alone,
will be served as a course, and so you.
continue for an hour or two in patient
expectation of the meal that never
comes. My Yankee friend puts it ex
actly right when he said : " There is a
mouthful to eat and then a square acre
of silence." I shall always respect the
American who, the other day, when he
had borne patiently until the meal was
half over, thundered out to the waiter,
" Good gracious 1 Life is too short to be
wasted in this manner, sir ! For heav
en's sake bring me something to eat."
Ostriches.
A large business is done at Cape
Colony in the way of farming ostriches
for their plucking. It Is only twelve
years since the business was started in
Cape Colony, and the industry Is most
profitable. Last year ostrich feathers to
the value of $ 2,500 ,000 were exported
from the Cape. A guaranteed good pair
of birds, aged four years, can be pur
chased for $1 ,000, and these bring in the
first year $100 for feathers. If the
breeder has ordinary luck they ought to
hatch twenty chicks, which when six
months old are worth from $40 to $50
each. Thus, in the first year, the farm
er is often repaid for the whole out-lay.
The first plucking takes place when the
birds are about twelve months old, the
feathers being then worth about $2.50.
The next plucking realizes about $7.50,
and so on, Increasing in value as the
bird ages. Ostriches require very little
room, the breeding birds being kept in
small paddocks of about four or five
acres in extent, and they feed upon
Indian corn, or almost any kind of
grain.
tS"Ihe United States Treasury build
ing in Washington contains over $1,400
000 of unclaimed interest upon Govern
ment bonds. This sum is growing larger
every day. This money can be drawn
by applying for it to the Secretary of the
Treasury by those entitled to it, stating
the number of the registered bond upon
which the Interest is due and unpaid.
There are thousands of person who have
bought bonds and not knowing how to
get the interest on them, prefer to lose
the same rather than expose the fact
that they have the bonds. Others have
interest due them and actually forget
the fact, and it lies in the Treasury
vaults waiting for them to apply for it
Should one of the clerks in the bond
division inform a person to whom in
terest is due of the fact, and the same
be discovered, he would be Instantly
discharged.