WEST SHORE
irrigating Ii t"li nnl watering can, lie sn-un h a niiir- ' everyone. I once Haw a group of white men endeavor
vcloun quantity of vegetables from a very small patch tit lift from the ground two baskets left at the foot of
of ground, a flight of stairs, and there was hut one in the whole
Oiif of the most novel and uii-Caiiriiiiiuii sights to I lot who roiilil straighten up under the burden, and he
Ik wen in America in tin t'liimw vegetable peddler j could not carry it. In a few moments a Chinaman
trotting down the Htrcrt, with his peculiar, springy - caiui' cluttering down the stairs in his wooden-Hoy
t i
gait, Utweci) two hllge baskets of Vegetables, which
re niinN-iided from cither end of a IimiiiUhi hiIc rent
ing tiNin hin nlmuldi-r and bending under it h bnrdeiiH.
With bin nt.uk thus transM.rted, lie got frmii house to
house to supply bin cunt crn. The weight a China-
man can curry in thin manner in h constant marvel to
.' If. IV' f-''lJ "riv'
v'ux: ting
mm:- mm.
hoes, and though he was smaller and thinner tlmn
any of those who had failed to lift his load, he put his
shoulder under the pole, straightened up with a grunt
and after standing an instant to balance the banket,
started oil' with a trot, which he maintained until he
disappeared around a comer several blocks away.
Several ot the more enterprising lirms these gardens
sivin to lie partnership all'airs have adopted wagons for ped
dling, but in doing ho their economical instincts have lieen
given full swing. Any vehicle that will answer the purpose in
procured, and to this are attached two horses as bony and
aged iiH the famous steed of Don (juixote, one of them gener
ally small ami the other large. Thus equipped, the peddler
h up to the door in style and tells you that he has "pw-
" you want in the wagon, to inspect which the hulv of the
muse, or of the kitchen, as the ease may be, is invited to pay
visit to tiie conveyance at the gate.
The language employed in these
commercial transactions is a sad
corruption of English "as she is
writ," and it requires considerable
experience for one to le able to
converse intelligently with one of
these sons of the east. Some of
them know no more of our great
tongue than the price nnd names
of the vegetables, and to all extra
neous questions reply " no sablie "
(don't understand). This is. also,
the resort of every Chinaman who
is asked a question he dites not
want to answer or who does not
care to be Itothered with questions.
Even the most intelligent, who
sM'iik English with comparative
fluency, when a topic is introduced
that they do not care to discuss,
will say " no sablw " with a smile
'f such childlike inntx-ence as to
eonvinceall but the most skeptical
that their ignorance is profound.
Prohubly the time will come
when the gulches will all be filled
up and used as building sites, but
no doubt for many years yet the
visitor in Portland will be able to
vi'W this most novel sight of an
Oriental garden in the heart of the
city.
L' JTv ,- 'i 'I?,IW