302 COFFEE. 



of the tape at each length, and these indications are to him as 

 plain as figures would be to a European cutter. They are expert 

 tailors, and work very cheaply. I had made to order in Hong- 

 Kong, by a native tailor, a blue flannel suit for $9 that would 

 have cost me from $35 to $40 in New York, and a white duck 

 suit for $5.50 that would have cost me $20 to $25 in New York. 

 I am convinced that this difference is not all in cheap materials 

 and cheap labor, but that New York tailors must charge exorbi- 

 tant profits. The fact is. Chinamen are very expert and skilful 

 at anything. They can imitate anything for which you will give 

 them a pattern, and indeed this imitative faculty is quite remark- 

 able. They always follow the exact pattern ; they are " realistic" 

 in every sense of the word. It is an old story which many 

 readers may have heard, but perhaps it may be new to some, 

 that a gentleman wishing a dozen pairs of " nankeen " trowsers 

 made, left a pair of old ones with a Chinese tailor as a pattern. 

 This pair happened to have a patch on the place that usually gets 

 the most wear. The goods were delivered to the gentleman 

 punctually, according to agreement, but what was his dismay on 

 examining them to find that every pair had a patch upon them ia 

 the same identical place as the pair which had been left as a 

 pattern. In California I heard the story of a Chinese cook, whom 

 the lady of the house desired to teach how to make an omelet. 

 "Breaking the eggs as usual, the third one which came to hand 

 was not fresh, and consequently she threw it away. The China- 

 man never required showing again ; the omelets were always 

 perfect, and were consequently frequently ordered. Happening 

 into the kitchen one day, however, at the time the cook was pre- 

 paring an omelet, she, to her surprise, observed him throw away 

 an egg which was perfectly fresh. Investigating the matter, as a 

 frugal house-sVife ought, she found that John Chinaman had been 

 literally carrying out her example ever since the first showing, by 

 throwing away every third egg that he broke, without any. refer- 

 ence whatever to its quality. There are many other features in 

 Chinese life which are novel and interesting, but in the limited 

 space of this letter I am obliged to omit them. Suffice it to 

 say that Americans in America see only the worst side of the 

 Chinese, for those who emigrate, as is usual with aU nations, are 



