A CHINESE SOLUTION OF OUR DOMESTIC 
PROBLEMS.—II. 
HE Chinese are everywhere credited with being 
trustworthy and industrious. The Chinese popu¬ 
lation at the East is so limited that experience with 
them as farm hands is unknown, but at the West they 
are very highly prized, and they have done a great 
deal towards developing its resources. A frien J from 
Oregon recently said that without the help of the 
Chinese that Sbate would never have been what it is 
to-day. It is the Chinese who have cleared up the 
land which is now covered with vast wheat fields, 
which are a source of wealth to the whole country. 
No other people could or would have done it, at the 
prices the inhabitants were able to pay. And truth¬ 
fully no one else wanted the job (not even our Eastern 
immigrants), yet they stood like the dog in the manger, 
and barked because the Chinamen were doing it. As 
you perhaps know, the Chinese do such work in gangs. 
They have one head man who acts as an interpreter to 
make arrangements for them and contract for work. 
When contracting to clear up a tract of land, they 
usually build a hut in which to eat and sleep, generally 
preferring to board themselves. Then they go to 
work and work steadily until the job is completed to 
their satisfaction. Sometimes it may take longer than 
they expected, but after they have taken a contract 
there is no grumbling, and they never leave until it is 
finished, even if they lose money on it. There is a 
thoroughness about their work which might well be 
emulated by higher classes of people. Neither will 
they take a contract for a second job, until the first 
one is completed. Even the head manager will not 
listen to any future plans. But when the first con¬ 
tract is fulfilled and they have received pay for it, 
they take a day off to rest and wash their clothes, and 
then they are ready to hear your plans and make an¬ 
other contract for a second piece of work. This is 
another of their good points, which insures a good 
ending as well as a good beginning. The Chinamen 
are also good as gardeners and to work in the vine¬ 
yards of the coast States, while for house-servants 
they are unequaled, and you find them filling that 
position in thousands of homes on the Pacific coast. 
Would not a few ship loads of them be a boon to the 
Eastern States ? The hired girl question would be 
speedily settled once for all, and housekeepers as well 
as servants would have one less grievance. It would 
not be wronging the girls, for if they tell the truth 
none of them wants to do housework, and there are 
not enough good girls to go around anyway. 
Of course the Chinese have to learn our ways of 
cooking and serving, but when we consider the fact 
that a Chinaman never needs to be told how to do a 
thing but once, for after doing a thing once he always 
does it the same forever after, it would be a delight¬ 
ful privilege to teach them how we wish our work 
done. When we think of the foreigners who are 
engaged at Castle Garden as house-servants and out¬ 
door help, who not only have not the least idea how 
to dc American work, but who are often-times so hope¬ 
lessly dull that after repeated teaching they are in¬ 
capable of being trusted to cook a meal, or serve one, 
it seems as if Chinese servants would only have to be 
tried once to be appreciated. In fact that there would 
not only be a call for them, but a demand. They are 
neat, trustworthy and honest, and as launderers they 
are unexcelled as even we Easterners know. The 
Chinese laundries bear evidence to that effect by their 
success everywhere. Yet they have not seriously in¬ 
terfered with that scarce commodity the g jneral wash¬ 
women who have usually more work than they can do 
because generally they work cheaper than the Chinese 
do, so that the work of the laundries generally con¬ 
sists of only the fine things-from the general wash of 
people who do their washing at home, or the part of 
the wash which formerly was laundered at home, 
rather than entrusted to incompetent persons. 
When we consider that the number of Chinese in our 
land is only about 75,000, against 150,000 in the 
seventies, it seems as if the recent agitation in regard 
to restricting Chinese immigration was quite uncalled 
for, and it seems also as if we were not making the 
most of our opportunity in not encouraging them to 
stay among us and serve us as they wish to do. 
Some one says that “ the Chinaman in America, 
socially an alien in taste, ideas and modes of life, 
politically a nonentity, and religiously a heathen, is 
not a desirable citizen.” Sad to think, it is a reverend, 
who makes this statement. Yet he would doubtless 
be among the first to favor spending thousands of 
dollars in sending missionaries to China in order to 
Christianize them, and would probably complain loudly 
if the missionaries were not treated well by these same 
heathens, and the world would doubtless uphold him 
in his views, though I do not think Christ would. For 
although he commands “ Go ye into all the world 
and preach the Gospel unto every creature,” yet he 
does not say that we must drive the heathens out from 
among us because they are willing to do our dirty, 
hard work for us. It was his daily practice to teach 
and preach to, and help these common people who 
surrounded him and worked for and with him, whether 
they were Jews or Gentiles, and t ie Pharisee who 
stood aloof thanking God that he was not as other men, 
and who despised Publicans and sinners, was held in 
very small regard by the most perfect of men. Would 
it not be more Christ-like and would not our influence 
be greater if we taught those at our doors first, in¬ 
stead of sending them away and then sending our mis¬ 
sionaries after them ? Some few people are doing this 
in our Chinese Sunday-schools, and a great many of 
the Chinese eagerly grasp at the truths of our religion, 
and when they do not, possibly the influence with 
which they can be so easily surrounded in a Christian 
land will have good effect later on. That the Chinese 
cling to the manners and mode of life of their native 
land is not strange, and that they do not crowd into 
our social circles or interest themselves in politics 
seems to me a matter for congratulation. It is not 
strange that as strangers in a strange land they should 
cling together, and as their object in coming to this 
country is to earn a living honestly, it seems to me that 
they do well to keep out of politics altogher. The 
plea that has great weight with some is, that they 
save their money, and return to their native land to 
spend it. Is that not true of one-half the immigrants 
who come to this country, and is it not true of our own 
people who gn to foreign lands ? Do the Americans 
who are making fortunes in China, Japan, India, 
Australia or Africa, intend to become citizens of those 
countries ? Certainly not! They go there to make 
money, and as soon as they have acquired a compe¬ 
tence they will come home to spend it. Meanwhile 
those who have families will send their children home 
to be educated, and in that way they are sending 
money home to their native land all the time. Where¬ 
in is our system better than that of the Chinese; or is 
what is right for us, wrong for them ? I say No, with 
a capital N. 
The Chinese are among the most orderly of our 
immigrants. They seldom commit crimes, although 
they may have an occasional brawl among themselves, 
but they take every precaution against making any 
outside disturbance. Their weakness for opium is no 
greater than the white race’s love for liquor and “ Uncle 
Sam” has fixed a good duty on it so that it pays 
well financially, and the Chinaman when intoxicated 
crawls into his den out of sight of even the policemen, 
and sleeps it off instead of wandering about as the 
victims of liquor do, creating disturbances and com¬ 
mitting crimes. The Chinese are generally industrious 
and to my last question as to Chinese tramps, I think 
all will say that, that vast army comprises every 
nationality under the sun, with the exception of 
“ John Chinaman,” which is my closing argument in 
his favor. alice e. pixxey. 
CLIPPINGS. 
T cannot be denied that in these days of newspaper 
gormandizing, there is a vast amount of wit and 
wisdom nearly or quite wasted. We read hastily, are 
impressed by some thought perhaps, and say that it is 
worth remembering, and we will not forget it; other 
items of equal interest crowd before us and soon all 
we have left of any is a hazy memory. 
Any method by which this waste of good material 
may be stopped seems in order. A pair of pocket 
scissors, and the editor's prerogative freely exercised, 
will furnish us with many valuable clippings; but what 
shall we do with these frail newspaper slips? Few 
have either time or inclination f or the sticky, disagree¬ 
able work of making scrap books, which if begun will 
soon become so bulky that the finding of any special 
article would be like looking for a needle in a hay 
stack. A friend was fortunate enough to get for a 
nominal sum an old cabinet of drawers such as mer¬ 
chants use for sewing silk; this was painted over and 
each drawer properly labeled. When set on a corner 
stand, with a pretty scirf thrown over its top, it made 
an attractive bit of furnishing, as well as a safe and 
convenient receptacle for his literary treasures. My 
own way of saving clippings is a sort of rough and 
ready one compared with my friend’s, but the end is 
accomplished just the same; a package of large en¬ 
velopes and a rubber band are my only safeguards. 
The envelopes are each labeled plainly; Poetry, Hu¬ 
mor, Recipes, etc., and each will hold so much that 
is useful and interesting I soon have a valuable cyclo¬ 
pedia of ready reference. As to the using of the slips, 
let me illustrate with a little incident. Our neighbor 
fell ill and for the time became in rather straitened 
circumstances. Some one suggested a pound party to 
cheer and help him at the same time. Everybody in 
the neighborhood was asked; a mixed crowd it proved 
but all affiliated well enough until after refreshments 
were served; then cliques gathered in corners and be¬ 
came as unsociable as a “ church social,” to the mani¬ 
fest discomfort of host and hostess; just here I came 
to the rescue by reading aloud a humorous anecdote 
from a slip, taken from this pocket-book. Others fol¬ 
lowed grave and gay, until people came out from their 
corners, talk and laugh became general, and all too 
soon we were saying and feeling good-night. 
Much that we read worth keeping in mind is printed 
in periodicals and books that must not be mutilated, 
and here comes in the extract book. The first of these 
I ever saw was at a church sewing society where “gos¬ 
sip ” was prohibited, and a preventive provided in the 
shape of a reader each week. One day our reader, the 
wife of a brilliant lawyer, prefaced her task by saying, 
“I asked my husband what I should read to-day and he 
replied, ‘ your extract book; if the ladies find it as 
entertaining as I have, they will be suited.’” It was 
so entertaining that we eagerly asked her method of 
selecting so many gems. “My way is simple,” she said, 
“before sitting down to read I provide myself with 
paper and pencil, and when I read something partic¬ 
ularly good, I jot it down giving author and book. 
Afterwards in some leisure hour, if my selections seem 
worthy after a second reading they are carefully 
copied out in this,” and she held up a calf bound little 
book that had been blank. 
From that afternoon’s reading, dat°s my first ac¬ 
quaintance with more than one author’s productions 
since grown dear to me. But my extract book has 
failed to materialize; so far it has been I regret to say 
“ My wish that failed of act.” mary manx. 
SERVANT GIRLS. 
W HAT does the word “servant” make you think 
of ? Is it not a girl with untidy dress, careless 
hair, boots run down at the heels and half the buttons 
off ; grimy hands with finger nails in mourning for the 
soap and brush they have so rarely seen, a girl who 
thinks she is paid for the work of her hands and feet, 
with her head left quite out of the question ? She 
washes glass, china, unscraped dinner plates and pots 
all in the same water, and then, as a final triumph, 
simply lifts the pots out of the now well thickened 
water and sets them dripping on the hot stove to dry. 
Perhaps onions had been cooked for dinner in that 
frying-pan, yet to-morrow she will not be able to im¬ 
agine why the next thing cooked in it tastes more of 
onions than anything else. Then the water is squeezed 
out of the long-suffering dish cloth and as much of 
the floating scraps and grease as it will hold squeezed 
in, and it is flung into a corner of the dresser ready to 
nicely thicken the water in which the tea dishes will 
be washed. Is she lazy ? Not in the least, quite the 
contrary. Simply lack of training, lack of gumption, 
and yet she will object to being called a “ servant.” I 
don’t wonder ! The proper name has yet to be in¬ 
vented for her. O girls, girls ! why are you not worthy 
of your calling ? Why haggle so over one little word ; 
it is in the work and character so many of us have 
made it represent. Do the work so that you are sure 
no one can do it better and you will soon cease to 
trouble yourself about a name. d. 
A cream of tartar baking powder. 
Highest of all in leavening strength. 
—Latest United States Government 
Report. 
Royal Baking Powder Co., 
106 Wall Street, New York. 
