Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 1908)
THE SUNDAY OREGOXTAX. POHTLA'NT, XOVTDIBEIt 15, 1903. CHINESE MINEISS1 WILL'KQl? BE ALLOWED TO COME IN NATIVES ARE INFER - I OR AS" UrDiiKC3KUAIJ WORKERS JS)W() V vx$" ! ;f'K"sSi... u'l E .jr- v-v- . I HI. Mill " - ( , , i :i i i x f ?: 1 1 ', i VXJri,?. II. At, tin VAxSAi.Z , ' 1 - - B VfUI I ,1 . s , ' S,i r ' " ' - 41 BT FRANTC G. CARPENTER. JOHN CHIXAilAN must get out of th Transvaal. GenerI Botha' hand has written that decree on the Indus trial wall of South Africa. No more coolies are to be Imported. The first shipment of S000 bade to China was made, now more than a Tear ago. and others will be exported at Intervals until these yellow slaves, as they are called. re eliminated from the sol den treasure vaults of the Rand. Trie ChLnese and the World's Gold. This movement will affect the whole world. It will, for a time, dam tho enor mous 'streams of the yellow metal which have been following out of these mines and will cut down the gold supply of the na tions. Within the past 20 years South Africa has produced a billion dollars' worth of bullion, and about half of this has been turned out since the Boer war. It has been mined largely by Chinese cheap labor, and now that the Chinese are to go the mining nabobs are in de rpair as to getting others to take their places. Gold mining in the Transvaal Is a low- fcrade proposition, and it must be carried cn at low wages. Out of the 66 or 70 mines now on the Rand more than one- third do not yield over t7.50 worth of gold to the ton. and in some the yield is still less. The quantity of ore is prac tically inexhaustible, and the output is limited, almost entirely, by the amount of labor at hand. Last year It was about JI30.000.0"0. or between one-third and one-fourth of the whole gold supply of the world. It could be doubled or trebled If the Rand had the labor, and If it 4is It not tt must fall. There are more than 60.000 Chinese here at work, and they form the best of th unskilled labor Xhat the Rand has ever had. The Native Labor Supply. But first let me tell you something mbout the native labor of South Africa. There are about 6.000,000 negroes In the British possessions south of the equator, and there are perhaps 1,000.000 more In Portuguese East Africa over the way. Of this, however, a large number are comprised of old men. women and chil dren. Tha men employed in the mines range In age from 16 to 40. and it Is esti mated that there are only something like 00.00 available employes In the whole population. Moreover, the natives will not work kingur than six months at a time, so this cuts the constant supply drnro to a possible 200. 000. which, even 1f It could be relied upon. Is far less than the wants of the country. Before tb,e Boer war there were 111.000 natives employed In the gold mines. This number dropped to almost nothing dur ing that struggle, and the high wages then paid by the armies and others so disorganised the Industry that when the war closed and the mines again began to work the ahortage in the labor aupply was S0.0i0 arid mora. It was then that the possibility of getting Chinese was discussed, and. aa a result, the Celestials were brought here by the shipload. How the Chinese Came to Africa, The Importation began In 1904. The flnrt shipment came In July, and by the close of that year S0.CV0 of these almond eyed, plg-talled workmen were getting out gold. Sines then about 80 or more steamer loads have been brought, and the total invasion has amounted to 60.- 000 or more. This has been decreased by exportation and In other ways until at 1he first of last year there were about IS.OOO. and at present there are 60.000 or less. The cost of brLnging the Chinese was about S- per head. They came for terms of three years, with a possible extension to six years, but no longerr and they were to be paid at the start $15 a month. It was providod that they were to live In compounds, or walled yards, durirnt (heir stay In South Africa, and that no one could employ them except under li cense. The most of them came from North China, and more than half were shipped from Tien-Tsin. They were brought in on a contract between the British and Chi nese governments, and were washed and scrubbed, vaccinated and photographed and medically examined before leaving. They got two months' pay at the start, and they were so well cared for that very few died on the way. It was a part of the agreement that they were to be carried back home, and the Trans vaal was assured that the Chinese would not be allowed to obtain a foothold In the land. With the Chine a Miners. During my stay bora 1 1 have srone through the minea and watched these Chinese ax work. They are far mora Indus ti-lous than the negroes and form a much better labor supply. While going through the underground workings of the Simmer and Jack, the greatest oroducing mlna of South Africa. I was . . S r r-- '4 i told by Mr. Searraves, the manager, that the Chinese will do at least one- third more woraj than the native Afri cans. Said be: . "We have Increased our output that much with 10 per cent less men, than when we worked negroes only. It Is only a few years since that we had 6000 native Africans. we nave now vmj Chinese to take their places and our product la one-third greater and the work more satisfactory. The Chinese are more easily, handled and are mora re liable." Speaking of the teachability of the Chinese as we watched them drilling the holes for blasting and loading the ore Mr. Seagraves said: "Those men came to us green. Their homes are not far from the Chinese wall, and they probably never heard of dyna mite until they reached here. Notwith standing that they were doing efficient work within two months after their ar rival, and at the end of six months they were equal to our best white miners at home. To glv you an Idea of their re liability In comparison with our ordi nary labor supply we had to have white overseers with every nogro gantr, and we have thorn-still. The Chinese could get along by themselves. I have some thing like 6ty white men employed In these underground workings, and I could. If necessary, dismiss them alL" "Is it not uncommon to get labor from North China. I thought most of the emigrating coolies were from the south?" "Tea, that Is so as a rule." replied the mine manager. "The Chinese of the United States come largely from Canton, while those of the Philippines are from about Amoy. We tried the Cantonese, but we And them hard to handle, and. not efficient as these men from the north. Our Chinese are happy and con tented. They do not smoke much opium, and, as a general thing, they are orderly and law-abiding. Their chief vice is rambling. They will bet on anything. and they spend their holidays in playing fan-tan. Now and then we have a sui cide from a man who has played away all his savings. Sometimes the men hang themselves, and others take enough opium to cause death." Do Not IilVe Native Miners, "Hyw wiU you get along without the Chinese?" I asked. 1 really do not know." was the re ply. "Ton see. tt takes some time to teach the native how to work, and he will not contrast lor mora than a few months. Half of his term is spent in learning, and as soon as we have mads him thoroughly efficient he wants to leave. The negroes here will not work more than one-third of the year, and we cannot be sure of more than three or four months from any of them. The Chinese works right along year in and year out. The native when he has four months' wages ahead. like as not, goes home and buys a wife, and we see hint no more. It would take 160.000 or 300,- Ono negroes, supposing each man worked -only tour months, to eaual the steady work of the Chinese, who are now .to be shipped back home." ' In the Chinese Compounds. During my visit to the various mines I have gone through many of the Chinese compounds and have watched the men both at work and at play. They are healthy looking fellows, taller and more muscular than the Chinese of the United States, and. as a rule, better clti sens. The compounds are wailed lnclos ures, entered only through turnstiles, so that every man who comes in or goes out leaves a record. Each China man has his number, and this is taken when he comes In. He Is paid by his number, and by It he gets his food and supplies. In fact, the 4000-odd Celestials In the Simmer and Jack mine are not known to their employers by name. Each Individual Is only a number. He may have been Wun Lung before he came In, but now he Is 1876 or something else. It Is by these that he gets his bed. his clothes, and. strange for a Chinese, his bath. In the Bathrooms. I understand that many of these Ce lestials never had a bath until they were stripped naked and scoured at Tien-Tsin before they took ship for South Africa. Since then they have enjoyed this luxury regularly, and they now wash them selves quite as much as the whites. The bathroom of the Simmer and Jack must cover about a quarter of an acre. It is filled with gTeat tuba and vats, and during my visit to it I saw at least 60 of these yellow-skinned men splashing about in the water. 1 then went on to the kitchen, where hundreds of great kettles of steaming beef stew were ready for distribution. Each kettle contained about' as much as a cider barrel and the aroma was ap petizing. There were also great pots of rice and vegetable, the whole compris ing the rations for about 4000 men. As I looked tlie Chinese came in to get their food. They marched in in reg ular order, each being known by his number. I saw many of them eating and observed that they used knives and forks. At first they would eat -with nothing but chop-sticks. Now many are adopting Western clothes and West ern ways. The rations allowed each man are one and one-half pounds of rice, one pound of meat, one pound of white bread and one-half pound of vege tables per day. They drink a great deal of tea and the managers supply them with all the urns Juice they, will consume. The men sleep In bunks. In rooms about 40 feet square and 30 feet high, with nothing but a ino roof overhead. Such a room is supposed to accommodate 80 Chinese, although it has seldom more than 4S. Daily Idle of a Chinese Miner. The dally life of one of these Chinese may interest you. He wakes about 4 o'clock in the morning at the sound of the bugle, and takes his place In a gang of which is to charge of a ttse boy who leads them Into the dining hall for breakfast. v He eats under the electric light, sitting at a table. At the close of the meal a bugle again sounds and the men march out gang by gang. The roll la then called and it Is ascertained Just exactly what coolies are working, and the reason for the absence of those who are not in the gang. Then the bugle blows again and the Chinese move off to the shafts and go down underground. Each takes a half loaf of white bread along for hiB luncheon at midday. As to 'the time the men stay in the mine this depends on their skill and on the Jobs on which they are working. If on piecework! they can depart when they have done a certain amount. For in stance, the hammer boys, who drill holes for the blasting, are supposed to make two feet in a day, but if they can drill that in three or four hours, they are at liberty to return to the surface, or they can stay and work on at the rate of one cent per inch for all above that. The most ever made by any one In a day Is 78 Inches, and one of the Chinese gangs here has art average of 54 inches per man, which means that they make about 56' cents per day in addition to their board and lodging. As a rule the men work on until 6 o'clock, when they march back to the compound for dinner, thus closing the day. The New Labor Supply. The question as to how the loss of the Chinese is to be repaired is discussed everywhere in the Transvaal. At pres ent there are in the mines about 18,000 whites, 98,000 natives and in the neigh borhood of 60,000 Chinese. The number of mining companies employing Chinese is over 30, and these companies produced in 1906 more than $60,000,000 worth of gold. They paid out in wages and salaries something like 325,000,000, and in addi tion considerable in the way of food sup plies and other stores. Their dividends were between $7,000,000 and $8,000,000. When the Chinese have gone it is sup posed that . their places will have been filled by natives. There is a great preju dice here against the Hindu, and it 1s hardly probable that he will be imported. As to the negro labor supply, a large part of that now In the mines is from Portuguese East Africa. It was brought here by contractors, who pay the Portu guese government $4.25 per head and agree to give the natives good waces and good treatment. Indeed, it is said that before the Chinese came more than 80 per cent of the colored labor was brought In from outside the Transvaal. On my way down the Coast I met the agent of a labor organization who had been drumming British Central Africa for labor. He had contracted for a large number of negroes of various tribes, whom he marched down to the port of Chinde and there loaded them on the steamers. Central Africa is not thickly populated, but I am told here that about 10,000 natives can be annually brought from there to the Rand if the proper in ducements are offered. At present the wages in that part of the world are about 3 or 4 cents a day, so that the 50 tents or a dollar paid in the mines seems riches. Men From Rhodesia. Another possible source of labor Is Rhodesia. There are now many negroes from Basutoland and Bechuanaland here. During my stay in Rhodesia I was told that the negroes of that country nRke fairly good workmen, and that if rightly superintended they will form an effi cient labor supply. They move slowly, but they work steadily and do not "loaf on the Job." The ordinary working day is about 11 hours long, and the wages In the mines there Is $10 per month. In cluding the cost of feed. On railroad con struction ordinary workmen are paid $3 a month, and receive their food In addi tion. The extension of the Cape to Cairo railroad Is being constructed with native labor, and I am told that these negroes can lay track almost as fast as the best track-laying machines of the United States when manipulated by our white labor. During the last stretch of the railroad which ends at Broken Hill they laid 5V4 miles In 11 hours, and on the average they laid more than a mile of track per day for something like 400 miles. In this work the rails and steel ties were brought along on the cars aa took the rails from the cars and carried took the rails fro mthe cars and carried them to the ties. About 16 men were re quired to each rail, and the stream of carriers went on continuously from day- ; light to dark. I doubt not they could do equally well in the mines. Johannesburg, South Africa. How Disease Germs Spread and Are Killed Some Simple DirectUons for Protect ign Exposed Person From Contact With Deadly BacllL BT CHARLES WILLIAMS, M. D. THJ3 demonstration of the germs as being the causative agent in many of the ailments to which the human family Is subject, has enabled scientists to provide means . of protection in most instances. Tne.e measures are grouped under the head of prophylaxis, and include quar antine, vaccination for smallpox, anti toxin injections for diphtheria, disinfec tion and other protective measures. All have witnessed the growth of the yeast plant In starch. Under favorable conditions, with a proper amount of heat and moisture, the yeast plants rapidly Increase In numbers and general mani festations until they reach a maximum, after which evidences of their existence become fewer and fainter, and they rap idly die in the very substances their own existence has produced. Several germs by their growth produce a substance that limits their time of ac tivity. These substances, because of then- opposition to germ life, are called anti-toxins. They manifest themselves in typhoid fever, measles, smallpox, diphtheria and other diseases, by inhib iting the germ activity after a definite period, and thus terminating the disease. Unfortunately this is not true of the ba cillus tuberculosis in the human body. The object of the quarantine is gen erally accomplished when the Infected person Is Isolated and precautions taken to destroy the germs thrown off by him. In yellow fever and malaria, where the mosquito is the carrier, it Is necessary to screen infected persons, to prevent the mosquitoes from becoming infected by biting them, and In turn Infecting others by a second hlte. Like measures are taken for protection against the bubonic plague where the flea is the Intermediate host of the germ. The flea is assisted In his migration by the rat, who may himself be infected, or may be only a carrier for the flea that may have be come infected by biting another infected rat or person. Vaccination and dlphtheretic antl-toxln need no defense. Disinfection in prac tical terms means nothing more than killing the germs. How easiest to kill them depends on where they are found. Those on walls, furniture and other things not washable Are easiest killed by formaldehyde vapors. All surfaces of articles to be disinfected should be freely exposed in a tightly-closed room. One half pint of a solution of formaldehyde is sufficient for a room 10x10x10, or 1000 cubic feet; for larger rooms use a pro portionate amount. The solution should be placed in a pan on a hot stove or over an alcohol lamp, and the room left closed for at least six hours. For per sons afraid of the fire, one-fourth the weight of permanganate of potash may be added to the solution of formalde hyde. It will be necessary to make a rapid exit, as the gas is liberated very rapidly. Clothing and other articles that can be boiled should be boiled at least 15 minutes. For the hands, body and floors, a so lution of bichloride of mercury 1 to 7 grains to the pint, or carbolic acid one teaspoonful to the pint, should be used freely and vigorously as a wash. Solu tions of mercury will corode metals. They should be used In granite ware, earthen or glass containers. Three-fourths of the streptococci Infeo tions commonly known as blood poison might be prevented If scratches and abrasions were well cleansed with the carbolic solution and a cloth wet with the same, bound on the injury shortly after the accident. Let us for a few minutes consider whether it is worth while to attempt to apply some scientific facts to some every-day horrors. With a single germ the Death Angel slays, in the United States alone, each year 150,000. That germ Is the tubercle bacilli, and the re sult of its Invasion Is named consump tion, or tuberculosis. The bacillus of tu berculosis Is a red-shaped germ, about 1-10,000 of an inch in length and very slender. They are so small that if they were cows and the head of a pin the pasture, a thousand of them might have abundant range. A dozen might ride on the small particle of dust that we so Indifferently Inhale. An infected person may at a single expectoration throw off millions. A careful estimate for an or dinary advanced case places the num ber of bacilli at 1.000,000 dally. These ba cilli are colorless and Invisible even with a microscope unless stained. They are very difficult to stain and only visible with the higher power lenses. The breath of a tubercular person car ries but few If any bacilli, but the small particles of sputum that are thrown out in coughing are often full of them. They are further scattered by drying and mov ing about on particles of dust. When inhaled, they frequently find conditions favorable for their growth, and manifest their success by marking another victim for the great white for most persons, those white blood corpuscles that are desig nated as phagocytes destroy the germs that gain entrance into the lungs. Since post-mortem examinations have become more common, it has been proven that many cases with a former pulmonary tubercular Infection bear mute evidence of the Invader. There are tubercular Infections of many other parts of the body, but for the present purpose they do not need mention. The whole wotH was horrified at the great loss of life during1 the Civil War; yet the annual death loss to both the Confederate and Union Armies was not equal to the present annual death loss to the gTeat white plague. All that is done in most cases to pre vent Its horrid repetition is to pin on a piece of crape and fearfully wait the next victim. The loss in the United States in earn ings and by expense for caring for the sick of tuhercujosis reaches the enor mous total of $1,250,000,000 annually. It would take the total wages of an army of 126,000 teachers at $600 per year to pay 6 per cent interest on the death loss for a single year. No estimate Is possible of the sorrow, and the social loss caused by the great white plague. In spite of the enormous loss not 1 cent has been expended by Congress to exterminate the cause. Millions have been spent fighting po tato blight, beetles, tuberculosis in cat tle, cotton weevil, and hog cholera, but to save annually 150,000 lives, not 1 cent. An organization of some of the ablest persons in the United States known as the Committee of One Hundred, with headquarters in New Tork, are doing much to secure influence and legisla tion for a National Department of Pub lic Health for the proper supervision of all diseases. To get rid of thistles we only need to get rid of the seed and their source of supply. To get rid of tuberculosis, we need only to provide suitable sana toria for the care of the infected and destroy the germs from the same. Such an expenditure by the United States Government would save more to the people for the amount Invested than any appropriation save that for quar antine. With the Department of Public Health given prominent mention in the platform of both parties, let us hope that the time is not tar distant when the annual death loss to the great white plague of 150,000 lives shall be a matter of history. Let us hope for the time and hasten the day when the air we breathe in school and church and theater shall be free, from this most destructive of germs, the most powerful ally of death. M'Minnville. Or. . A Pair of Sheets. Every good housewife is Interested In the care of sheets and many of them will like to hear a few suggestions made by an economical and clever woman. She says: "I never have my sheets made with a small hem on one end. There is always a three-inch hem on both ends so there is not top or bottom and the sheets were Just twice as long as they otherwise would. It is not diffi cult to do, for I always have my sheets made in the house by a seamstress, so they will be the right size. And, speak ing of size, do you know what to do when ready-made linen sheets are too short for the beds?" Of course I did not, BO she told me that a false hem might be added, and either fagoted or hemstlched to the one already on the sheet. In this way the sheet could be easily made as long as desired and the embroidery only added to the beauty of the sheet. This is certainly very useful Informa tion, for many a mother has a tall boy who is constantly complaining that the sheets are too short. The addition of the false hem is quickly done and the exra material required does not form a very large item in the family expense account. for Diana of the Il recto! re. Chicago Evening Post. Bring me my new felt hat, mamma. I want to put it on It is wider than the widest tuUs we wore in years agone, It is three feot wide and the brim is thick and It has lots of weight. And It makes me -wear three headt of hair Just to keep it sitting straight. My shoes? Ah. yes, I have put them on. and the heels are good and hiKli And they press against my tender feet till 1 feel that I must dfo; Yet I wear them so as I come and go and I force a pleasant smile For one has to be In style, mamma, ons bas to be in style. And now my dlroctolre gown, mamma; I've managed to don my stays; Tou will have to slip mo Into tt, for my arms I cannot raise, And I'm willowy as you may see. with the -wlllowness of atssl It will' be tonight ere I take a bite, for I cannot hold a meal! And now I go for a little stro. and I go to make a call And I shall not sit upon a ehalr. but shall lean against the wall. For I can't sit down In my ntee new gown, for I know that If I do Til be certain to break In two, mamnta, I'll certainly break in two! The answer to the question: "At we a h.,r-eatm-. nation?" is given In the fju:t that Swift Co. sold $250,000,000 worth of Deef IrTa Kr: Armour, 270.0VX0. and others $2S0,0no,0O0. bringing the total te $770,000,000 tor beef alone.
