The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 21, 1900, Page 3

THE SUNDAY CALL. imporiance to be brought all the ERE in the heart of darkness yel- low men are skulking and spying and hating and killing. Some walk abroad bearing with them the knowledge that they are marked for death, .:d some go specting to meet it, all because of poor, little, helpless Jou Sing. She L ears old en she was coax- ed from her dull of Hongkong. It surrounded her the flelds and little h and it was pad- dle, paddle about the 1ds all with never an end to work. So man came and said that 2o had of Jou Sing’s prettiness, and that sr g village upid world thz world all rice- the very wife he wanted for a his in America, Jou That was four year Jou Sing sz The mother had looked upon t whole matter from a practical and so after she called a last word to Jou Sing she went back to the house, put the stew over the fire to cook it five minutes’ stirring. F f the five minutes she spoon and ran out upon the glit- tering white road again and stood with her long, lean eves. When she burning. Once in San Francisco. Jou Sing was turned over to the “husband.” She was never happy in his home. She had gone through a form of marriage meant to quiet her growing doubts, but the pleas- ures of San Francisco life were not what she had fancied All day she was kept in the little upstairs room where fresh air and sunshine tried now and then to sneak Sometimes a rat wo over the door board, and she was af of rats. They were not afraid of her & they grew more numerous and mor but always failed d poke his nose pudent, for Ho Kee, a hbor, was al- ways spllling crumbs of his rice cake on the stairs, as if to i the rats in At last Jou Sing hide her feelin wealthy, but wh advantage of his wealth taken her to the park had ce 1 1 Sunday noon, and then she f: that her dream of gayety w true, but he never took her me rebel- lous and begged, then demanded that she be taken back to her home, which was no duller than the American city, and harbored no rats in its household One night she heard the man and a friend talking in the hail It will not do to keep her here.” =aid one. “She becomes restless and in time her feeling will be discovered “Bhe had better be sent away."” “Where?" “To Marysville.” Less than a year after the time of land- ing in our port Jou Sing was taken to the Chinatown in Marysville. As a result of her unhappy life there, trouble arose. She took no pains to con- ceal her mise: and her ow pains to lessen it, for the Ching Marysville is a long way from sions, and therefore safe—or supposed to be so. But the owner was mistaken in this one case. A Chinaman who was interested in the mission work came to know Jou Sing and her trouble. Finally he decided that he would take the risk of helping her to escape. He sent me word of the case. He asked me if I would undertake the rescue of Jou Bing provided he made all arrange- ments. I realized that it would be diifi- cult and dangerous at such a distance from the home, but I could not refuse. So I said “‘Yes.” He told the girl all about ;ne and promise to save her. Togethcr they laid plans. She was to be ready on a certain night in December when I would come to the house. She would know me as the white lady who would come to her door and say, “Jou Sing!” All this time I had taken it for granted that the man would accompany me, oth- rwise I don’t know whether ! should ever bave had the courage to make my at- tempt. I bought my ticket and arranged to leave in the afternoon. At the eleventh hour he appeared and told me that I must &0 alone. “Why?” 1 asked. “Because I have received word from fricnds that I am suspected and my life would not be a day longer if I should #o with you to Marysville.” “But I can't go without you. know the house or the girl.” “You must go. She is expecting you to- might, and delay will mean failure. There is danger of our plans being discovered, and by another day poor Jou Sing may be spirited away.” ~I saw that there was no way out of it— I must go. | “Tell me how to find her,” I said. Bo he diew a diagram of the house and gave me a careful description. On tho main street of Chinatown I was to walik to a large one-story house on the left side —a house with a deep garden In front and a wall about the garden. The dia- gram showed the entrance of the house, the hall and the room where Jou Sing would be found. Chief Lees gave me a letter of Introduc. tion to Mr. Maben, the marshal there, After much trouble I found him—remem- ber that it was 3 o'clock at night and I took no wn of any mis- my I don't OU SING 1s the woman at the bottom of it. case, is the highbinder war. 3 One little sixteen-vear-old Chinese girl was of “It,” in this enough way from Hongkong to Marys- ville; to be sold into slavery for much clinking gold; to be rescued by a white girl at the risk of life; to be hunted down in our city by hundreds of scheming men, and finally to be smuggled on board a steamer and sent home over pounding winter seas. told here by the girl who rescued her. Her story is was alone in a strange town. Mr. Maben was as kind as a man could be and stool by me through all the struggles of that terrible night In the st place, he told me that the resc ought not to be attempted then, for there was a shooting fray going on among the Chinese and the quarter was already in a state of excitement. But T more flercely determined at t, and nothing would . Maben and a lfeu- th 1 had : engaged a room in the hotel where I could take Jou Sing, but I idn't help having my doubts about her r reaching it When we came to started out w her owner's house 1 knew it at once from the deseription. I led the w nd the officers followed behind. I had a clear mental diagram of the house plan. 1 entered without hesitation walked dir and the hall and ¢ tly down the length ot sened the last door on the right. A girl was sitting in the room, surrounded by a crowd of the roughest king Chinamen 1 have ever seen. They were loafing and smoking. The owner,was * 1 said. The girl sprang up and rushed tosme, screaming. SHe clutched my hand and dragged me out of the house. The offi- cers hurrfed along with us and we es- caped without hindrance from the group of dazed men. The real dlfficulties wers to come later. All the way to the hotel Jou Sing ran hard, dragging me after her. She cried constantly that she was afraid of cap- e and she beat her breast and shrieked er the manner of Chinese women. af When we reached the room and the door was locked she sank into a chair and cried after the manner of all women If 1 had b satisfied all might have gone smooth But I did a foolish thing. I me of my noticing that she was thin- ly clad. She told me by signs that she had packec r clothes in box ready for tra g and had left them in the room in the excitement of her escape. Then 1 made my great mistake. 1 de- cided to go back for the box. yu Sing was left at the hotel, and 1 rted out. The police advised me not to wnother trip to Chinatown, but 1 was t upon having the garments. The poor < shivering for want of them, and hat she might become sericusly So Mr. Maben sent me off with a po- liceman It was late by this time 1d the streets were We went straight to t and attempted to ener as bef » door was locked The policeraan knocked and shouted and 1 the door, but no sound came from within. At iast I peeped through a corner of the window where the curtain was pushed aside, and saw a great, heavy- d, cruel-eyed. Chinaman. We learned he was the owner, who d returned. Then the policeman threatened, but there was no response, o the door had to be broken in. I went to the door of Jou's room and found it locked. The owner followed, and the policeman demanded the key. It was refused, and thereupon came the dreac- ful struggle. There the three of us were, at the back of a long hall, out of reach of help. I stood by while those two men, the little, wiry white one and the great, savage yellow one, fought like animals. At last the Chinaman drew a revolver. Then I was truly frightened, not so much for myself as for the plucky little officer whom I had brought into all this troublc. T 'seized the Chinaman's arm and a frightful struggle ensued. How we did It I don’t know, but the policeman and I managed to drag that man to the front gate, and there a crowd of Chinese gathered. The officer was de- termined by this time to arrest the man and would not let him go; so I held one of his long, strong arms—held it with all my strength—while the policeman reached for his whistle. He blew and blew, but no help came. It was not until I induced two white girls to run for help that the police knew of our difficulty. While we waited for them the struggle kept on, and every lt- tle while the mob pressed forward and threatened us, but, half afraid, they made no attack. Finally help came and the owner of Jou Sing was sent to jail. We were safe for the time, but he and his tongs were silent- ly cherishing a grudge for the arrest that grew greater for the cherishing. For about two weeks after Jou Sipg and I reached the Mission Home in San Francisco all was qulet. Then a China. man who is a frlend of ours sent me a message, saying that the hostile men ‘were about to get out a warrant for the girl's arrest on the ground of petty lar- ceny. The next morning our bell rang and ) went to the door and saw through the glass a strange Chinaman and a San Jos constable. I knew then that the me: sage had been true, so I flew upstairs and bade our Interpreter hide Jou Sing. Then I returned and ushered In the callers with all the suave surprise I could muster. For a long time I kept the constable at bay. He told me that he had a warrant 1o arrest one of our gUls: but as he did WAS ATHEAVY FACED CRUEL EYED CHINAMAN Al .t have the name correctly T could truthfully tell him that no such one was here. Finally he came abruptly to his point “It's no to put us off any longer, Miss Came “You know and I know girl we want is here and I shan't go back to San Jose without her “Then I'll call to the schoolroom every girl in the building d let this man iden- tify er if he can,” So I rang for the 1d they flocked in. Tall id short, thin, pretty plain, all shaki The Chinaman looked gusted man whe excitement. over and was “We must search the ! constable, “We know she Is here Chinaman says he saw her at the »w this morning.” ‘omb hair,” d the Chinaman h. Foolish little Jou an upstairs window that very day having her hair combed and plastered and stuck full of gorgeous ornaments, for there is a little lurking vanity in her heart despite her hard life. Men must have been watching the house all day. When I found that the house was to be searched my only thought was how to get Jou Sing away. So, on the pretext of sending for our wyer, 1 induced the constable to delay a little while, and in the meantime 1 went about arranging her I gave directions to have her in my mackintosh, hat and veil. She was to slip out the silde door and nurry to a Powell street When 1 at everything was moving smoothly the interpreter came to We can't get out of the side door unseen,” she whispered. “Every time w start the men outside gather around the door to watch.” I was in despair. One way finally oo- curred to me; it lay through the dack shed and by way of the church on the next street. So I shouldered an ax and went forth to chop through the fence. When this was done we got the girl through, hid her under the shed and waited. The house w carched. No room or closet was left unopened. At last the twe men went away, the one hissing Chiness oaths at the whole mission system, the other swearing in plain English that he would never leave for San Jose without the girl he s after. As soon as they were gone I made for the shed where Jou Sing was, and togeth- er we ran for a carriage I had ordered. asked the driver, where,” I said; “only drive.” For an hour we drove about town, and then we went to the home of an American fricnd. She kert the girl a few days, and wien we thought all was safe we brought her back. On the 2d of January another constable and another Chinaman came to the home and the searching was repeated. Dozens of Chinese were hanging around the hous: and calling in through the basement win- dows. * They were open, and most of the searching was going on in the basement, where our kitchen is. *“‘Look behind that barrel,” one would shout in Chinese; and another “Turn over that box.” All the pantries were turned topsy-turvy and sticks were poked into the rice bin and the tea canister was opened and the pepper sprinkler was shaken, but ro Jou Sing. During all this three of the little girls clung to me and watched the men In open-mouthed terror, but uttered no word, although they knew the hiding place as well as I; and the cook went on calmly stirring apple sauce as if the whole household were not breathlessly watche ing the game of “warmer-colder.” The same week little Jou Sing was sent to China. We smuggled her on board a steamer and she is now on her way back to the stupld old rice fields which, per- haps, won’t be so stupld now that she has learned what the promised paradise of America is not. I wonder if, when she plods along the white, glittering road from Hongkong—I wonder will a yellow woman stand before a hut with lean hand shading narrowed eyes while she watches to see who is the girl plodding village- ‘ward. JOU SING'S OWNER THE GREAT SAVAGE- “THE LITTLE GlRLS CLunG To ME anD WATCHED THE MEMN IN OPEM-MOUTHED JERROR" AND ELLOW ONE FOUGHT LIKE AaNItMaLS ™ @