The west shore., October 01, 1886, Page 298, Image 8

298
THE WEST SHORE.
but one left, the first corner was the lucky one. There
were complications of the gnme by which a bet could be
divided or doubled, but in his efforts to explain these
the proprietor got hopelessly astray in his English, and
finally wound up by saying "you no snbbe." After
watching the game, for n few minutes, inspecting the
barred cage in which the cashier enshrined hiuiBelf be
fore a huge iron safe, and biking up a collection to hire
tho orchestra to stop playing, we said good-night and
passed through the many guarded jxirtals into the
street
Wo were much interested in a pawn shop, and stop
jsmI to observe tho Chinese method of "soaking" valu
ables. Within a wooden stall, accessible only by a stair
way in tho rear, reached through a securely bolted door,
stood tho pawnbroker. The stall was so high that he
could not wo over it, and was surmounted by an iron
railing extending to tho roof, but pierced in the center
by an operturo almut two ftet square. Tho needy Mon
golian advanced with a pipo and holding it up, thrust it
through tho hole above his bead, tho broker taking it
from his band. In a minute a slip of paper was passed
back on which was writ Urn tho amount the broker would
advance on tho pipe. This was apparently not sufficient,
for tho paper was returned and tho pipo handed back to
tho customer, who took his departure. Neither party to
this transaction saw tho other, lly pursuing this courso
tho broker never knows who are tho owners of tho arti
cles in his jxNutession. Across tho hall from tho pawn
broker's stand was a counter where lottery tickets were
being sold. Chinese lottery is indulged in extensively,
not only by tho Mongols, but by many whiles, some of
the latter developing into regular " lottery fiends." For
twenty-fivo cent one can purchnso a ticket upon which
are printed alxiut forty characters. He marks a certain
iiuiiiIht of these with ink, taking one ticket himself and
leaving a duplicate with tho seller. Every night there
is a drawing, and if ho has marked a sufficient number
of tho winning characters ho is paid a sum of money iu
proportiou to his success in guessing. Tor a larger sum
ho can mark a greater number of characters with the
MMutibility of his winnings being proportionately in
creased. It sometimes happens that a small investmont
brings largo returns; but like every other lottoiy game,
where one wins a multitude lose, and the persistent
player is certain to drop a great many quarters into the
money bos.
In the liasomout below a popular beer hsll wo found
saloon devoted exclusively to the Chinese. It con
tained a bar, seats, and an old pool table, and it was
ooiuieal to see the awkward handling of the cues by
these imitators of the gilded youth of America, In
their potations they by no means ooufiuod themselves
to beer, but indulged in mixed drinks as well The fa
vorite eecmed to be a cocktail, which the bibulous
Chinaman considers the very acme of liquids. They
rested thoir elbows against the bar, soat upon the floor,
tilted thoir hats upon the backs of their heads, and in
other ways conducted themselves in tho most regulation
style. In this particular, at least, they are becoming
Americanized, but the direction their education bos
taken is not encouraging.
Our last experience was in the theater, whose orches
tra had been giving us a noisy invitation the entire even
ing. Ono needs never to inquire the location of a Chi
nese temple of Thespes, for the odoriferous air of Chi
natown is continually affrighted by the din of tho never
tiring orchestra. No sooner does one reach the confines
of that delectable neighborhood than his ears are saluted
by the Bgonizing wail of the one-stringed fiddle, the
gong's incessant clang, the rattle of the drum and the
twang of the three-stringed banjo, supplemented by
other nameless and equally harrowing instruments. We
paused before a doorway from which these dulcet tones
wore issuing, and entered. The first thing we observed
was a holo in the wall about two inches wide and four
high, through which a Chinaman passed a quarter and
recoived a piece of cardboard in return. It requires a
great doal of faith to put twenty-fiue cents into a little
hole whore one can neither see what becomes of it nor
anyone from whom he may reasonably expect anything
in return, but the man appeared satisfied with the re
sult As for us, being representatives of that great
free for all institution known as "the press," it was un
necessary for us to try the experiment On the contrary
were mot on tho Btairs by the smiling manager and es
corted through the entire establishment
At tho head of tho stairs we observed two door keep
ers , a white man and a Chinaman, a peculiarity our es
cort endeavored to explain by saying, " One man come,
Chinaman sabbo; noddor man como, Chinaman no sabbe,.
Mel i can man heap sabbe. You sabbe me? " lie was
assured that his explanation was remarkably lucid and
conveyed in the choicest English, whereat he smiled
with pleasure. We found the interior to be somewhat
similar to that of the ordinary small American theater,
consisting of an auditorium surrounded by a gallery,
tho sides of which wore divided into apartments open to
the front and partialty to the Bide, the seats being inno
cent of any upholstering whatever. We mounted to the
gallery to obtain a better view, and gazed down upon
the audience. They were packed in rows upon long wood
en benches, each with his soft black hat resting squarely
upon his head and his pigtail hanging straight down the
middle of his back, the whole presenting the lifeless
uniformity of a group of tin soldiers in a Christmas box.
In several of the gallery stalls were seated a number of
gaily-dressed and gaudily-pointed ladies, evidently of
the better class, dividing their attention between the
performance and a package of confections. The stage
consisted of a raised platform at one end of the room,
devoid of curtain, flies, scenery or stage settings of any
kind, even being used for seats by a portion of the audi
ence. At the rear were two doors, the one used for an
entrance and the other for an exit Between these was
stationed the orchestra, whose perpetual muscularity
found vent in agonizing solos, discordant duets and tho
deafening din of a general engagement The stage