The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 6, 1898, Page 25

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1898, Weird round the gaming-tables when the Chinese sailors, stripped to the Waist, crowd around, and th2 soldiers, missionaries, globe-trotters and other travelers are tempted to take a hand at tables backed by big chests filled with gold and silver. times” on the the big game a man would lose an estate or win a fortune on a single trip between Memphis and New Orleans; also of the high gambling on the Atlantic liners, which, in spite of the efforts to suppress it, has been the cause of many a tragedy. But little, however, has ever found its way into print about such incidents on a voyage across the Pacific on the big steamers. They offer to their patrons opportunities for observ- ing, or, if they choose, participating in games that are about as unique and interesting as are to be seen anywhere in the world. Square games, but sure winners in the long run. Games that run day and night; where you can play anything from 5 cents to $5000 on a single bet, and have a chance to bet every two or three minutes all day and all night through. The games are owned and run by Chinamen who are employed on ship. You can find nice quist gar of whist or euchre and such going in the smoking-room, or even a game of poker with a small ante and a moderate limit, among friends, course, for there are no profess on on the Pacific liners ex passenger To see the real gambling you mus work your way through the mass o tics to the aft part of Ct e crew, kitchen and m nd coal passers are quartered. There you will in full the game called es be- i about s the great are ot fan-tan sid goi the bout eighteen curved at one side me r paying the Yokohams to 1 and run by the saloon 00 in its money HE Pacific Mail dock looks de- serted these days, but housed up aloft in the main building are hundreds of Chinese. The extraordinary employment of the big China malil steamers for trans- port duty has sidetracked these “na- tive sons,” ” “travelers” and “professional coolies,” all struggling to find a hole in the Chinese restriotion law and gain admission to this country. Not only does the Pacific Mall Com- pany guard these “bonded Chinese” with vigilant care, for it means a pay- ment of $500 if one of them escapes, put a lynx-eyed Federal custom house officer watches them night and day. At the foot 'of this stairway yester- day sat this customs officer in his arm bove was a crowd of curious acked like sardines in a tin. .They were all' striving downward toward the forbidden land of promise, where so many good American doliars were to be won. Only the presence of the man in uniform detained them. “It's getting on supper time,” he re- marked, as he waved them back, “that’s why they’re so excited.” on understood the reason for all , for just then a couple of huge by stalwart men, ap- propel peared at the entrance to the dock. More Chines emboldened by the ré- ent of the officer, emerged from led head , pigts peered surrep- titiously ove there was a subdued chorus of “heap good.” From a Mongolian point of view it was undoubtedly “heap good.” The trucks were laden with huge baskets of snow white rice, great ting of vege- table soup, hot and greasy, evil smell- ing fish of the Kind which the China- man particularly delights in, and, to wind up with, many c of steaming er; black tea. It was a feast to win the heart of an Oriental, though a Cau- casian would have turned from it in disgust. : “The great thing,” said Mr. Busse, the restaurant keep Whese men by contract, who feeds all is to give them chest, besides having a large reserve fund in bank at both ends of the run, San Francisco and in Hongkong. game is more largely patronized the cabin passengers than either of the others, as the men are -a little cleaner looking, and it has the better location—near the entrance to the nar- e and ill-smelling place where hold forth. e second game s run by the coal who are on duty four hours and It is the next in location to and next in favor with the who may not find place at ble. This game has a fund des a reserve in bank for Th by 5. n of the third game are of the crew, which from in down is made up entirely of It has a fund of $18,000, and 3 This game is almost patronized by the Chinese and Asiatic steerage passen- A white man could hardly stand turn in the place where it is lo- way back in the narrow passage veen the rows of bunks, which are ipied by half naked, ill e people in the cabin come tact with these games so far re- v and quickly enough. When the land has faded from view and you have got your things well arranged in re apt to take a stroll You see that there is £ thing which holds a crowd about it, and natu u seek to know what it is. You may shrink away with a kind of disgust at first, but sooner or later, as time begins to hang on your hands, you will go thaf way again and eventually try a turn at what seems to be and really is a simple and ‘“‘square” game. Once begun the chances are that you will put in a little time every day trying to add to what you may have won or recoup what you have lost, and then it is only a question of time when he game will surely get your money, for the percentage of chance is in its favor. Or again you may be strolling the deck or sitting in the saloon reading, le boy will come up smil- ou see China game, ‘fan- 2 Ver nici, good. I show you.” Under his guidance you are taken ai- v to the popular table, that of the saloon boys. You may or may not try it on the first vi but however you get there, the result is the same. A fan-tan game in full blast is full of interest to the student of human nature well as the gambler. Around the ble is a most promiscuous crowd of and spectators, jammed in as as th an stand, a preponder- E , of cour: of Chinamen, members of the ship’s company, some naked to the waist, others with only an under- irt and loose drawers, Chinese pas- gers, who are generally numerous natural and inveterate gamesters, 1d the not so many but the mucn- i patrons from the cabin, who zenerally well supplied with money credit and much inclined to larger k on a late trip was young £ the Duke of —, tour- made and lost with of five sov- 3 y after he left Then there was young 3 Cleveland, touring the world w ung wife. He parted with all hi in hand and a large am that he borrowed from the purser Lord , SO g San Fran Dr 1 his letter of credit, in all $8000. He had to cable from Yokohama for ad- ditional fi trip The d end of the table s the bowl full of buttons upside 1 on the table, and scraping away with his stick all which are uncovered Hole in the Law good rice. If the rice is of poor quality, or is burned or not properly cooked, there is sure to be a kick coming. I have learncd from experience what they want.” There was no need to call for volun- teeers to carry the repast above. Scores of Chinamen offered their services, and baskets and tins were transferred in & trice to the upper rooms. It was curious to note the natural eagerness of the Chinese to secure the best portions. To the Western eye one tin of rice was much the same as an- other, but the Mongolian has a better way of judging. Hach Chinaman. as he presented his ticket, tried Burrepti- tiously to pick out the best mess. This they did, not by looking at the food, but by lifting the tins. ““They're great at hefting,” remarked the steward, “they can tell to an ounce EN"’) you don’t, John; take the first n. This to & Chinaman who was calmly appropriating a prize lot from the back of the pile. “First come, first served, is the rule here; they've got to take the dishes in their order, or else we would have no end.of confusion.” At last every one was supplied with his meal, and we were free to walk through this human warren, threading our way, as best we could, amid con- fused throngs of Chinamen. The place, which forms a kind of mezzanine story to the dock, was originally used as an office by the Paeific Mail Company. It has only one floor, and is not much big- ger than an ordinary four-roomed cot- tage. Yet, on the day of my visit, no less than 357 Chinamen, including two women, were confined in this narrow compass. There they were, squatting on the floor. around boxes and bundles of all kinds, each one shoveling in rice with a pair of chopsticks. The rooms are of all sizes and shapes, it 18 a per- fect honeycomb of small apartments, and the mat-covered bunks rise in tiers five or six high. Right up on top, close to the celling, Chinameén in every stage of deshabille were perched; everywhere thre was a surfeit of hu- manity, Yet, to do the Mongolian justice, it must be admitted that, in spite of the overcrowding and insanitary condi- tions, the atmosphere was by no means signals for the bets to be made. He seldom speaks. About the square be- fore him the various bets are placed. When all is ready he raises the cup, sets it aside and proceeds to scrape away the buttons that it covered, four at a time, until the last scrape, which may have four, three, two or one but- ton. Now the cashier takes a hand. To those who placed their money on the side of the square next to the dealer, No. 1, provided one button remained in the last count, he pays them twice the amount they bet. To those on No. 38, Just opposite, he returns their bets. They neither win nor lose. BEverythin on numbers 8 and 4, to the right nng left of the square, loses. The same rule obtains in the other squares when the count ends in 2, 8 or 4. Even an occasional missionary is sald to have succumbed to the tedjum of the long and monotonous voyage and wooed the heathen goddess fan- tan to his sorrow. Not always 80, however. One reverend gen- tleman, with something of a spor- tive turn, found pitching quoits (the only recreation avatlable) a little too tame on the fifth day out from Honolulu, and longed for something more exciting. So when the Chinese waiter, who looked upon him simply a8 a man, extended an invitation to see the “ver’ nice” fan-tan, he accepted. He did not play the first time, but he did go back and did play, at first los- ing nearly all his ready money. Then, the “luck turning” in his favor, he won some $450, which in Mexican money made a rather unhandy parcel to con- ceal from his wife and two female co- workers who were voyaging with him. He succeeded in doing so, however, un- til he got the purser to give him gold for his silver. He might have had the gold instead of silver at first if he had not been too secretive to let any one know what he had won. Through the purser the story got about the ship. Such things, even for missionaries, ex- cite but littls comment on an ocean steamer. Fan-tan on these steamers is sure to win in the end, as many of the soldier boys who went on the China to Manila can testify, or the large increase in the contents of the three strong boxes might evidence. Most of the boys had more or less pocket cash. The three games are sald to run without Inter- mission throughout the voyage. Few Elbows in Their Zeal to Play the Games. that patronized them had a cent left when they reached Manila, and many of them had pledged their pay for sev- eral months ahead to get funds to play the game when their own were ex- hausted. 000000000000000000000C00000000000000 RAISES SNAKES TO [AT. HERE are snake stories and snake storles—this one differs from the others in that it is true. Down on the Colorado River, a few miles below the Needles, on the Arizona side, llves a man whose steady dlet consists of snakes. He is not an Indian, nor an epicure, but just a plain American citizen by the name of Carl Bond, who eats snakes because he likes to do so, and more particularly because they come handy. He lives in a little old cabin made of cottonwood, with a queer sort of scaffold or trellls built*near the door; and here in the sunny season he dries his legless and wingless game and so hoards up pro- visions against a rainy day. He is a simple man and not at all averse to talking about his gastronomic specialty. Visit him and he will ex- plain the trellis and the mode of “jerk- ing” snakes and ask you to dinner to boot. Say to him: “Snakes! Why, you don’t eat snakes?” and he will smile as amiably as though he had never Big Chests Heaped With Gold and Silver Are Behind the Games. Ope of the Fan-fan Games in Full Blast on Board the China Steamer’ fatten my best snakes on frogs.” Then he will lead you around behind the cabin to a large willow cage full of assorted serpents writhing and hissing. heard the same exclamation a thou- sand times before. “What do you eat?”’ he will ask by way of argument. And when you say beef, mutton, pork, veal and fowl he will tell you that he has forgotten all these grosser fleshes; that butcher shops do not abound in his neighbor- hood; that snakes are easy to catch and first-rate to eat. “I used to eat frogs, long time ago,” he will go on, “like the dudes in the city, but soon as I once tasted snake I saild good-by to frogs. Why, now I Scenes on the Pacific Mail Dock Where Several Hupdred Cbinese Are Held “in Bopd,” This is where he fattens them. And with a stick he will poke them into hiss and action and show off their points as a farmer would the points of his prize swine. “You see the river here,” pointing a finger, “is full of fine big frogs. When- ever I go on the hunt and catch a snake that is not quite rive for killing. I bring him home alive, throw him in a cage and give him some frogs for company. Snakes all like frogs. I've seen one snake get awcy with six or seven life- sized frogs in a day. Of course the snukes are a little shy at first, but hun- ger soon thaws them out. It would do you good to see the way they put those big hopping frogs out of sight. And the more they eat the fatter they get. You see a snake's ribs are about like ‘a beef's, they tell the condition. As soon as the ribs ar. well covered over, and the skin smooth and shining I know that my meat is ready. Besides snakes are easier to handle when they're full of frogs. They get a big bulge just back of the head and will mope around like a fat cat. Bnakes are ~ood enough for me. The lowest I ever got was lizards, which aint very delicate eating.” And then if you have been very pa- tlent and interested, Mr. Bond will in- troduce you to the mysteries of the cuisine. First, he catches his snake by deftly surrounding him with a - hair hoop, which tightens as it reaches the fat- tened neck. Holding him out at arm’s length, he speaks admiringly of his con- dition. A keen hatchet removes the head, the body is hung up, and, still wriggling, goes through the process of dressing. After the disemboweling the skin is cut in strips and peeled off as the small boy peels the salmon. Then comes the cooking. If it is & roast he wants, Mr. Bond will place the remains in the ashes, where they will do to a turn in three hours; if a fry, small pieces are in order, and no grease is needed in the pan. And all that is left over goes into a fancy stew for the morrow. Mr. Bond eats all sorts of snakes, from the harmless garter to the deadly rattler. “Only I'm careful about the rattlers,” he will say. ‘‘Sometimes they bite themselves in the catching, and I don’t want any of that kind of indiges- tion.” —_——————— A sermon defeats itself when it 18 not— shall we say?—hearable. So - Anthony Trollope says about books: *“Of all the needs & book has, the chief need is that it be readable.” Wilkie Collins has the same thought. “Let me add that I never {‘o‘t any good out of & book that did not in= terest me in the first instance.”—Homl- letic Review. #o bad as might have been expected. ‘“We treat a Chinaman just as it he was a chest of tea or & box of opium,” sald the inspector. “We hold him till we get authority to set him free, and the company, meanwhile, is responsible for his safe-keeping. If a Chinaman escapes, the Mail -Company has to pay a fine of $600, so you can understand that it is:careful.” There are men in this place who have been detained for weeks and months owing to some defects in their papers. In one instance the term of imptison- ment was lengthened to over half a year, yet this was an exceptional case. On the whole the Chinamen seem cheerful and happy. Their meal over, they settle themselves down to gamble, though heaven knows most of the poor wretches have little enough to lose. Dominoes, exactly like those used by the Europeans, seem to be the favorite :gort, but there ‘are many who prefer e funny looking Chinese playing- cards, long and thin, and covered with all sorts of curious spots. In one corner of the building, after passing through a maze of narrow rooms, we come upon Jealously locked door. - “The women's quarter,” says the attendant, as he feels for his key. '{here are but two Chinese maldens here now, and, squatted on their bunks, they greet us with feminine coquetry. Obviously they know their importance and the difficulty which attends their admission to Uncle Sam’s land of gold. Eve, a vivacious little thing, gnaws smilingly at her apple, and poses for the artist with the utmost composure. “Look, see,” she cries, as he exhibits the rough draft of her picture. Eve chuckles with delight as she gazes on the sketch. ‘‘Me, me,” she cries, and, her English being exhaust- ed, exchanges voluble Chinese comment with her sister in captivity. It must not be supposed, however, though there are such a large number of Chinese at the Mail dock hotel, that there has been any great increase in 4mmigration of late. It simply hap- pens that there are no steamers in port, and consequently the Chinese have to be detained ashore. When a steamer is In port the company prefers to Keep them on bhoard a vessel. So That They Gan Greep Into This Gountry. B. B. Meredith, the chief of the Chi~ nese bureau, is of opinion that the number of Chinese In the State is rapidly decreasing. “The annual de- artures,” he said, ““exceed the arrivals y at least 2000. That is to say, if 6000 Chinamen leave in a year, only 4000 re- turn. - A little over twenty years ago there were more than 60,000 Chinamen in San Francisco alone. To-day there are less than that number in the whole State.” Mr. Meredith estimates the Chinese population of California at about 55,500, divided as follows: San Francisco, 25,000; Los Angeles, 4000; Sacramento, 8000; Stockton, 3000, and 20,000 in small- er towns and scattered over the coun- try. The application of the exclusion law is now so stringent that it 18 ex- ceedingly difficult for a Chinaman to get in fraudulently. The old tricks have long since been exposed and the statute gives no opening for new ones. Since 1882 a strict record has been kept of every departirig Chinaman, and his photograph preserved in the custo: archives. Consequently it is almost impossible for a substitute to com# back in his place. There is more trote ble, however, with the so-called native sons, for they all claim to have been born here before 1882, when thers was no_registration of Chinese. In these disputed cases the examina- tion may be a long and tedious ome, and may end by a resort to that fa- vorite legal device, a habeas corpus writ. The attorney and the customs officers fight it out, and meanwhile the unfortunate subjects of the dispute are gpflmned at the Mail dock, paying eir own board, and uncertain whether they will not have also to pay for & re- turn ticket to China. J. F. ROSE-SOLEY. ORISR “T don't like that Mamie Strawboard. Eh% looks ;ly 5 > “Y:ae.s sho does. Ehe looks to me like : rl_ who would announce her e o e Skt Buch. & ab W i M faveland Plai Dealer. % ppose will gradually dte over b:‘!a.n “K{ker %ll i “‘Possibly; but statistics show it is not Hkely to d!_fltfl‘fl!_