Gambling in China. 171 



down was, years ago, specially noticeable among the 'rick- 

 shaw men who used to occupy the rank in front of the Club ; 

 for the members of that institution stimulated record break- 

 ing by liberal payment, to a much greater extent than did 

 the more sedate frequenters of other parts of the town. At 

 this club work, a coolie, in the early days, rarely lasted more 

 than six months. Since then, new pigtail generations, trained 

 on improved principles from their youth upwards, have ap- 

 peared, and the mortality from this special cause has greatly 

 decreased. The distressed breathing, from heart disease, of 

 some of these coolies is most painful to hear. 



The Chinaman is nothing, if not a gambler. In the streets, 

 the peripatetic vendor of various kinds of food carries in his 

 hand a cylindrical wooden box about nine inches long, three 

 inches in diameter, and open at one end, out of which project 

 the tops of about twenty thin sticks that look like knitting 

 needles. During all his spare moments, he shakes them 

 up and down in the box, and thus produces a rattling sound 

 which can be heard at some distance off. As the click of 

 the ivory balls is to the billiard player, the rattle of dice to 

 the lover of hazard, and the roar of the bookmaker to the 

 punter, so is the tinkle of the ends of the sticks on the bottom 

 of the bamboo box to the hungry Chinaman, who, on de- 

 positing the sum of one cash (about the tenth part of a farthing) 

 in the hands of the banker, has the privilege of drawing out 

 of the box, three sticks, on the outside of which, near the 

 lower end, are pips somewhat like those on dominoes. If 

 they contain a winning number, the investor gets his cake, 

 piece of pig, morsel of dog, or other dainty. If he loses, he puts 

 down another cash, and so on, until he obtains the object of 

 his desire, or gets ' broke ' ; just as we do when we try to 

 ' pick ' a winner. 



After a most enjoyable stay for nearly a month in 

 Shanghai, we went to Tientsin, where I had an invitation 

 to teach a class the art of giving horses good manners and 

 snaffle mouths. The steamers which ply between Shanghai 



