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Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
John Chinaman in New York
John Chinaman in New York - The New York Tribune describes the haunts of the Chinese in that city as follows:
In the Sixth Ward is a small district where most of the Chinese in New York live. A visitor to their opium smoking dens may go to Baxter Street, just below Franklin, where was formerly Donovan’s lane, the resort of the most desperate villains in the city, but which is now a Y-shaped court shut in on all sides by high tenement houses.
On the ground floor of one of these buildings is the establishment of "Old John", a Chinaman 74 years old, who has been in the United States 47 years, and was the first of his race to become naturalized. His quarters comprise three rooms. By the door is seated his assistant, who gives out the drug. Upon one side of the room is a low platform or dais; sometimes there are two, one above the other, like births upon which men are to be seen reclining in the different stages of opium intoxication. [How interesting - guess that’s where the word ’berths’ comes from].
The pipes consist of a bamboo stem and a porcelain bowl about 2 inches in diameter, in the centre [sic] of which is a small receptacle for the opium. A small piece of the drug is taken up on an iron rod and heated until it is dried to a proper consistency. Then it is inserted into the pipe, and the smoker slowly draws the smoke through, soon filling the whole room with a peculiar smell.
The proprietor furnishes his customers with pipes and a place to lie down. The drug is weighed out upon a rude pair of reed scales. The weight used is a silver coin. Each smoker is provided with a small horn box, which will contain about 15 cents’ worth of opium, enough to last an average smoker all night. The preparation is undoubtedly adulterated, since it costs the druggist $23.50 a pound.
A few doors below, on the same side, is another place where smoking is carried on, which does not differ materailly from Old John’s. There is, however, a temple connected with it. On the wall is hung a gayly [sic] painted picture of some Chinese god, at whose shoulder, on one side, man’s good angel is represented, and on the other, his evil angel.
The faces are very grotesque, and resemble those painted upon tea chests. Hanging upon the picture are numerous tinsel and paper flowers, with faces painted upon the petals, and a little below the picture is a shrine upon which stand two candles, to be lighted only upon festival occasions.
In the middle is a dish containing sand, in which are the burned fragments of several joss sticks. The pious Celestial lights one of these, and placing it in the sand on the altar prays to his deity. From the ceiling hangs two Chinese lanterns, and there is also a glass vessel containing some kind of vegetable oil in which floats a burning wick.
A cup of the same oil is placed in the shrine for the especial use of the god. Upon the wall are hung bulletin boards where the news which agitates the Chinese world is pasted. A curious scroll, resembling the red cover on a pack of fire crackers, attracts attention and proves to be a directory of business of the principal Chinese merchants in San Francisco.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 20, 1875
Bummers in San Francisco
Bummers in San Francisco ... San Francisco has a ...full ... of bummers. Nowhere else can a worthless fellow too lazy to work, too cowardly to steal, get on so well. The climate befriends him, for he can sleep out of doors 4/5 of the year, and the free lunch opens to him boundless vistas of carnal delights. He can gorge himself daily, for a nominal sum get a dinner that a king would envy for 50 cents.
There are two classes of saloons where the midday repasts are furnished - two-bit places and one-bit places. In the first he gets a drink and a meal. In the second he gets a drink and a meal of inferior quality. He pays for the drink, 25 or 15 cents, according to the grade of the place, and gets his meal for nothing.
This consists of,in the better class of establishment, soup, boiled salmon, roast beef of the best quality, bread and butter, potatoes, tomatoes, crackers, and cheese.
Many of these places are fitted up in a style of Oriental grandeur. A stragner entering one of them casually might be under the delusion that he had found his way by mistake to the salon of a San Francisco millionaire.
He would find mirrors reaching from floor to ceiling, carpets of the finest texture and most appropriate patterns, massive tables covered with papers and periodicals, the walls embellished with expensive paintings. A large picture which had adorned a famous drink bar and free lunch house was sold the other day for $12,500. Some of the keepers are men of education and culture. One is an art critic of high local repute, who has written ...very readable...San Francisco. Scribner’s.
[After struggling to read this, I found it to be an excerpt of Scribner’s Monthly, July 1875, "The city of the Golden Gate", by Samuel Williams, p. 274].
Gazette & Courier - Monday, September 13, 1875
A little Chinese girl
A little Chinese girl about 8 years old, and born in California, has been admitted to one of the primary schools of the City of Sacramento. Application for her admission was made in the usual way to the Superintendent of public schools, but he referred the matter to the Board of Education. This is the first time that a Chinese parent has made application for the admission of a child to the public schools.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 23, 1875
Packed for the other world
A defunct Celestial was yesterday packed and ticketed through to China heaven by Mr. Wilson, the undertaker. The receptacle for the body was a costly casket, for that pendant pigtail had swung from a "way up" head during life. Around the body was packed an abundance of little pieces of paper, all spotted with gold, such as are seen scattered along the way when the defunct Mongolians are carried to the grave. These pretties are very glittering, and easily blown about by the wind, and are to attract the attention of the Chinese devils and give the deceased an opportunity to escape while his tormentors are in pursuit of them.
The remaining emptiness of the casket was filled with pork, rice, chicken, candies, etc., upon which the dear departed is expected to feed while journeying to the unknown. He was also abundantly supplied with Chinese coins with which to defray the expenses of the journey. In his mouth was placed a United States ten cent piece, to show that he came from a land of civilization, and as a passport to better seats and society over there. Lastly he had a fan placed in his hand to cool his heated brow, and as a badge of high rank in the land of his earthly nativity. With all this preparation he is expected to make a rapid and safe journey to the "Land of the Leal" and a triumphant entry into Kingdom Come (Virginia (Nev.) Enterprise.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, August 2, 1875
A piano as it appeared to an Oriental
One of the Siamese ambassadors, on returning home from Europe, gave the following description of a piano forte [See Fortepiano in Wikipedia], or as he called it "a great trunk set upon legs". He said "A woman sits in front of this and tickling a sort of tail it has with her toes produces a variety of sounds by beating rapidly with her fingers on a number of little bits of ivory in front of it".
Gazette & Courier - Monday, July 26, 1875
Arrival of "Yellow brothers" in San Francisco
Long article. [See the New York Times online index for July 11, 1875, entitled "Arrival of Chinamen: one thousand seven hundred landed at San Francisco: Scenes at the Wharf"].
The Chinese native soldiers who insulted the American consul and wife, and made hostile demonstrations against the British consulate at Chin Kiang [i.e. Zhenjiang], have been punished and the affair is now settled.
It is well enough to keep track of the difficulty between the English and the King of Burmah, as a very lively war is likely to grow out of it before long, the result of which will probably be one of the most important territorial acquisitions the English in India have made for a quarter of a century. The grounds of the dispute are twofold: a little doubt about boundary lines, and the charge that the Burmese government sympathized with and assisted the Chinese who recently massacred in Western China a British exploring party of 80 persons.
/ The fact that the Chinese general who was responsible for this affair was recently received with honors in Burmah [See Burma or Myanmar in Wikipedia], has rendered the English highly indignant. The English papers intimate that war is scarcely avoidable. This is very likely to be true, for the reason that the English want a war, but certainly not because the provocation is sufficient to justify it. For according to the accounts received hitherto, the Burmese government cannot fairly be held responsible for sympathizing with an atrocity committed in China by Chinese. But the English want to annex Burmah, and that will be the secret of any war that is undertaken.
/ Disraeli is willing to add a little military glory to his administration, and British merchants sigh after the Chinese overland trade which the acquisition of Burmah would open to them. Negotiations are now pending between the two governments, and the English and Burmans are collecting armies. Of course the result of a war would be a foregone conclusion. Hostilities in that region will make it lively for the missionaries.
Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Lawrence celebrated the 20th anniversary of their wedding Mon. eve., with a party of 75 friends. A fine china tea set was conspicuous among the presents.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, April 19, 1875
Official mourning for the death of the late Emperor of China
Official mourning for the death of the late Emperor of China, was suspended a few hours on Feb. 25, in order to allow rejoicing over the new accession. The new Emperor being duly honored, grief was resumed.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, April 5, 1875
News about home: Greenfield items
Everybody, accompanied by his wife and children, attended the reception of Mother Goose and her friends at Washington Hall last Tues. eve. It was the first public masquerade party ever given in Greenfield, and a triumphant success in every particular. At an early hour the stage, the gallery and seats on the sides of the hall were packed by the spectators.
/ Soon after 8 the doors were thrown open and in marched Mother Goose with a long column of the most ridiculous looking creatures it is possible to imagine. In they poured and so numerous that the floor of the hall was completely taken up by the grotesque masquerade. A greater variety of costumes it would be difficult to collect together, or a more complete mingling of the grave and the gay, the sublime and the ridiculous.
/ Over 200 characters were represented, so we can not attempt to review them all in detail. A dark-robed courtier mounted the stage and introduced Mother Goose and her associates as they passed before him. Among them was the man who went to London to buy him a wife and who was returning with his precious load in a wheelbarrow. Jack and Mrs. Sprat put in an appearance. Robinson Crusoe, with his coat from the old nanny goat, accompanied by his man Friday; Beauty and the Beast, King Cole and the Three Fiddlers, the Babes in the Woods who were, by the way, as fine specimens of 'diminutive' babyhood as one would care to see. Then "Rub a dub dub / Three men in a tub" came the Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick Maker, with the implements of their calling, and the Four and Twenty Tailors that went to kill a snail / When the best man among them durst not touch his tail",
/ The Old Woman who lived in a Shoe was wheeled along in the procession, while her many children poked their heads out of the shoe at every available crack and crevice. Old Mother Hubbard with her dog, the Four Kings and their Queens, with the Knave of Hearts were there, and Cross Patch, Little Boy Blue, Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater, Jack Horner, Tommy Tucker, Bo-Peep, Wee Willie Winkle, Red Riding Hood and Grandmother, the Three Black Crows, and a host of other characters from the famous nursery rhymes, while a Flower Girl, Sinbad the Sailor, St. Nicholas, Rip Van Winkle, Modock Jack, Maud Muller http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2464/maud.html , the Heathen Chinee, an Italian Organ Grinder and Tambourine Girl, a Phantom Band, Monks and Nuns, Lords and Ladies of low and high degree were scattered among the motley throng, and an orang-outang in native garb roamed at will through the crowd.
/ Noticeable among the costumes was that of a Chinese lady of rank, not a cheaply improvised affair, but one direct from the Celestial country, now in the possession of a lady of this town. Another dress that attracted especial attention was made of copies of the Springfield Republican, a real natty dress affair, with elaborate trimmings and furbelows. The Pet of the Grangers, whose presence was anticipated as one of the sensations of the evening, was unavoidably absent, but King Kalakua came back to the United States that he might grace the occasion by his royal presence.
/ A few figures were danced by the masqueraders and the floor was then open to all. When masks were removed, there was a season of mutual recognition. Some of the disguises were complete, many not being able to make out their best friends. The music was furnished by Osbon's Orchestra. Cream and cake were served by the ladies, and the evening was made as pleasant as possible. As a financial success the party is almost without precedent. Between 800 and 900 admission tickets were sold and the net receipts $275.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, March 29, 1875
Hampshire County items
Dr. Rhodes, the proprietor of the Orient Springs, Amherst, has failed with heavy liabilities and no assets. Among the largest creditors is the Barnstable Savings Bank, which took a mortgage of $14,000 on the property, which will not bring $5000. Several of the leading papers of New England and New York have advertised the Springs extensively, and have claims amounting to several hundred dollars. We had a little experience with Rhodes a few years ago, and told him then, unless he settled our account we would show him up. It brought the money.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, March 8, 1875
Hampshire County items
Dr. Rhodes [George W. Rhodes] http://tinyurl.com/5otl96 proprietor of the Orient House http://tinyurl.com/5f2g9f at Pelham [a sulfur spring where clients can 'take the waters'. Also known as Orient Springs], has become a petitioner in bankruptcy, with supposed liabilities of $16,000 and $14,000 of which is secured by mortgage. His creditors are said to be principally Amherst merchants.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, February 22, 1875
Where they come from
Where they come from - by Olive Thorne [the pen name of http://www.harpers.org/NightMonkey.html Harriet Mann Miller ]. You’ll be shocked, I fear, when I tell you that your doll came out of a rag bag; her curls from the back of a goat, and her elegant china tea set out of a small hole. But what will you say when I tell you that your http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC3180.htm jelly is made out of old boots, and your delightful perfumery from horrid smelling coal tars. You don’t own all the made over things in the family, either.
Johnny’s new http://www.bharattextile.com/dictionary/66 beaver cloth overcoat was worn out on the back of a beggar, and perhaps even played the part of a scarecrow in some farmyard, before it went into the rag bag and began to come up in the world again; and the http://www.adrynight...20Physiology129.html "Table Gelatin" which everyone in the family likes to eat, once did duty as skin on the back of a rat. The pearl of your paper knife lined the shell house of a modest little creature at the bottom of the sea, while mamma’s shell comb was the comfortable roof over a Sea Tortoise.
Your guitar strings were indispensable to the internal comfort of some poor pussy or unfortunate sheep, and your piano would be but a dumb wooden box, without some of the same internal arrangements of a horse. Your nice hair brush first saw the light on the skin of a hog, and its pretty back of papier mache came out of the ragman’s bag. The crinoline that stiffens the bottoms of ladies’ dresses was used originally to switch the flies from the back of a horse, and the mattress on which you sleep so comfortably served the same use before it fell into the manufacturer’s hands.
Your dainty toilet soap - dear me, how can I tell you! - was made of dead cats and dogs, found in the streets, and the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond "bitter almonds" which so delightfully flavors your candy came from the horrible smelling coal tar, while the choicest are as deliciously flavored with -- putrid cheese. The scent hairs of that offensive creature, the skunk, furnish some desirable additions to the toilet table, used for removing freckles and tan, and the dreadful stuff left in drains is changed into a fashionable toilet article, and adorns the face of ladies. To be sure these disagreeable materials have some pretty rough handling before they come out in their new colors. The old boots, for instance. They do not step from the gutter into the jelly kettle by any means. They go through a long process of washing and soaking in lye and smoking with sulphur, and steaming and boiling, before they come out white and delicate, and fit for the table. T
he coal tar to grow into perfumery goes through the hands of chemists, who treat it with I don’t know what dreadful chemical processes, and the dead dogs and cats are boiled to extract the grease, purified, whitened and perfumed before we use them as a soap. The doll whose ancestors inhabited a rag man’s den endured unheard of operations of washing, soaking, bleaching, chopping, molding, and so forth, before she took her place in the nursery to amuse the little folks, and the clay from the mud hole was washed and patted and whitened and kneaded, and baked and glazed before it ventured to call itself china, and take its place on the tea table.
The horse tails that stiffen the dresses and stuff our mattresses are washed, and soaked, and boiled and baked before we use them, and the intestines which make the voice of guitar and piano went through long processes of scraping, soaking in lye, and washing, before they were drawn out into the fine, tough strings you are familiar with. The rat skin which we eat under the name of gelatin first flourished as the thumb of a kid glove, and after being worn out in that capacity went through ever so many purifying processes, somewhat as the old boots did, before it ended on our table.
Nearly all the things that we throw away in [?] or even in our drains - the most disgusting things you can think of - are valuable, and after going through the hands of skilled workmen, come out in new shapes and have new fields of usefulness. The feats of old fashioned fairies, who turned pumpkins into carriages, and shabby old gowns into elegant robes, do not compare with these wonders performed in our work shops by rough looking men in shirt sleeves and white aprons.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, February 22, 1875
Telegrams from Singapore report a disturbance among the Chinese prisoners in jail at that place which was not suppressed before 67 were kill
Telegrams from http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Singapore.html Singapore report a disturbance among the Chinese prisoners in jail at that place which was not suppressed before 67 were killed and injured, including 16 wardens of the jail.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, February 22, 1875
G.F. Seward [George Frederick Seward], the United States
G.F. Seward [ https://www.law.ucon...eward%22%20consul%22 George Frederick Seward ], the United States Consul General at Shanghai, has been offered the Danish decoration in token of the friendly services rendered to Denmark.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, February 22, 1875
Further trouble is feared between China and Japan, owing to certain humiliating restrictions imposed on the Japanese by the Chinese custom house regulations.
Further trouble is feared between China and Japan, owing to certain humiliating restrictions imposed on the Japanese by the Chinese custom house regulations.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, February 15, 1875
Golden wedding
Golden wedding - The relatives and friends of Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Harris met at their residence in West Halifax, Vt. Jan. 13, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their marriage. Although the day was stormy, there were 70 present. Mr. H. lives in the house in which his father and grandfather lived and died, it having been built 83 years. There were 4 sons present with their wives - all they have left of 7 children - and 7 grandchildren present, 6 absent. Among the attractions of the eve. were one large motto cake bearing the date of their marriage in beautiful raised letters on the frosting, Jan. 13, 1825, and 4 other motto cakes, representing the births of their surviving children, and a rosebud, signifying the birth and death of an infant child; also two full blown roses to emblemize two daughters who died, one nearly two years, and the other nearly one year ago. These emblems were gotten up and arranged for the occasion by Mrs. Arsena Thurber and Mrs. Chester Thurber and exhibited much taste and skill. Then there were exhibited some family relics. An old Bible 267 years old [from 1608!], which but few at the present day would be able to read readily, an old candlestick and a cider pitcher, both of which were used in their courting days, bringing back pleasant memories, and a china tea-set and other relics. Then Mrs. H. enlivened the entertainment by carding some wool as she used to do in her younger days, and by taking a johnny cake on a board before the fire in the old fireplace, of which there was a bounteous supply, and an interchange of pleasant good feeling seemed to reign. Rev. H. Fowler addressed the bride and bridegroom in a very appropriate manner for the occasion and gave a distinct elucidation of the emblems. Remarks were made by the bride and bridegroom, relative to the guests of 50 years ago, there being but one present of the 11 who are living of the 45 witnessing their marriage. There were numerous presents, a nice lounge and arm chair from their children, a silver case, a nice tobacco box and pipe, a castor, some greenbacks and many other articles. The eve. was highly enjoyed by all, and about 11 o’clock the entertainment closed by singing "When shall we meet again?" and prayer by the Pastor.
Gazette & Courier - Monday, February 15, 1875
The mound builders
The http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/sci/A0834239.html mound builders - After the last mammoth was slain, it is very probable that many centuries passed before the http://www.harvestfi...Links/02/Chap10.html mound builders came to occupy the soil where these animals had been. The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mound_Builders mound builders were a race of men who never saw the mammoth at play [or they would have] carved or painted his likeness, as they did those of the birds and beasts they knew...Unfortunately we do not know what they looked like, and as they wrote no books we do not know what language they spoke. All that we know of them is from the wonderful works of industry and skill that they left behind, and especially from certain great mounds of earth they built. It is from the great works that they derive their name. One of the most remarkable of these mounds is to be seen in Adams County, Ohio. It represents an immense snake a thousand feet long and 5 ft. thick, laying along a bluff that rises above a stream. There you can trace all the curves and outlines of the [?] and a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_Mound tail with a triple coil...Sometimes they are shaped like animals, sometimes like men...In other places there are many small mounds, arranged in a straight line, at distances nearly equal, and extending for many miles. These are supposed to have been used for sending signals from station to station across the country. Then in other places there are signal mounds, sometimes 60 ft. high, sometimes 90, with steps leading up to the top, which is flat, and sometimes includes from 1 to 5 acres of ground. These mounds are scattered all down the valley of the Mississippi, and along many of the tributary streams. There are thousands of them, large or small, within the single state of Ohio. They are not made of earth alone, for some of them show brick work and stone work here and there, though earth is always the chief material. Some of them have chambers within, and the remains of wooden walls, and sometimes charred wood is found on top, as if fires had been kindled there...In Central America there are similar mounds, except that those have on their tops the remians of stone temples and palaces. So it is supposed that the higher mounds of the Mississippi Valley may have been built for purposes of worship, and that although their summits are now bare, yet the charred wood may be the remains of sacrificial fires, or of wooden temples that were burned long ago. It is certain that these mound builders were in some ways well advanced in civilization. All their earth works show more or less of engineering skill. They vary greatly in shape; they show the square, the circle, the octagon, the ellipse, and sometimes all these figures are combined in one series of works. But the circle is always a true circle and the square a true square; and moreover there are many squares that measure exactly 1080 ft. on a side, and this shows that the mound builders had some definite standard of measurement. There have been found in these temples many tools and ornaments, made of copper, silver and valuable stones. There are axes, chisels, knives, bracelets and beads; there are pieces of thread and of cloth, and gracefully ornamented vases of pottery. The mound builders know how to model in clay a variety of objects, such as birds, quadrapeds and human faces. They practiced farming, though they had no domestic animals to help them. They had neither horses nor oxen nor carts, so that all the vast amount of earth required for these mounds must have been carried in baskets or skins; and this shows that their population must have been very numerous or they never could have attempted so much. They mined for copper near Lake Superior, where their deserted mines may still be seen. In one of these mines there is a mass of copper weighing nearly 6 tons, partly raised form the bottom, and supported on wooden legs, now nearly decayed. It was evidently being removed to the top of the mine, nearly 30 ft. above, and the stone and copper tools of the miners were found lying about, as if the men had just gone away. Now when did this race of ancient mound builders live? There is not a line of their writing left, so far as it is known; nor is any distinct tradition about them. But there is one sure proof that they lived very long ago. At the mouth of this very mine just described there are trees nearly 400 years old, growing on earth that was thrown out in digging the mines. Of course the mine is older than the trees. On a mound at Marietta, Ohio, there are trees 800 years old. The mounds must, of course, be as old as that, and nobody knows how much older. It is very probable that this mysterious race may have built these great works more than a thousand years ago. It is very natural to ask whether the mound builders were the ancestors of the present American Indians. It does not seem at all likely that they were, because the habits of the two races were so very different. Most Indian tribes show nothing of the skill and industry required for these great works. The only native tribes that seem to have a civilization of their own are a certain race called Pueblo Indians (meaning village Indians) in New Mexico. These tribes live in vast stone buildings, holding sometimes as many as 5000 people. These buildings are usually placed on the summit of hills, and have walls so high as only to be reached by ladders. The Pueblo Indians dress nicely, live in families, practice various arts, and are utterly different from the roving tribes farther north. But after all, the style of building of even the Pueblo Indians are wholly unlike anything we know of the mound builders; for the mound builders do not seem to have erected stone buildings, nor do the Pueblo Indians build lofty mounds. Perhaps this singular people will always remain a mystery. They may have come from Asia, or have been the descendents of Asiatics accidentally cast on the American shore. Within the last 100 years, no less than 15 Japanese vessels have been driven across the Pacific Ocean by storms and wrecked on the Pacific coast of North America, and this may have happened as easily a thousand years ago as a hundred. It is certain that some men among the mound builders had reached the sea in their travels, for on some of their carved pipes there are representations of the seal and of the manati, or sea cow - animals to which they could only have seen by traveling very far to the east or west, or else by descending the Mississippi River to its mouth. But we know neither whence they came nor whither they went. Very few human bones have been found among the mounds; and those found had almoost crumbled into dust. We only know that the mound builders came and built wonderful works, and then made way for another race, of whose origin we know almost as little (Young Folks' History of the United States).
- Wed, Feb 24, 2010
