China in Our Kitchens

IN those days when the Boston stage-office was in Elm Street, girls with blooming cheeks came from the pine woods of Maine, the breezy hills of New Hampshire, and the green valleys of Vermont, to do housework in the city. They arrived by stage over Charlestown Bridge, and beheld with wondering eyes the shipping in the harbor. Westward they saw the spires of Cambridge, while before them rose the city of Boston with its labyrinth of streets and lanes. Down through Union Street galloped the horses, the people rushing to their doors and windows, to witness the event of the day, — the coming-in of the stages, — and refreshing their eyes with the sight of health and beauty.

The stage-coach with six horses on the run was the highest ideal of progress. Society, at that period, moved only at the rate of nine miles an hour. Farmers from all “ Down-East,” from the Canada line, and from the Berkshire hills, came in midwinter to Boston market, and there was an annual throng of red sleighs round Faneuil Hall. In those years there was no lack of children in the land, and M. D.’s and D. D.’s did not feel constrained to write tracts and deliver lectures to the women of America upon the baby question. Farmers had daughters by the half-score, who could spin, weave, knit, sew, milk, make butter and cheese, and who, by hard work from dawn to twilight, at the wheel and loom, could earn fifty cents a week.

Those who had a surplus of daughters were always on the lookout, when at market, for situations where a dollar a week and board could be earned by Jane and Mary ; so, when the girls came whirling into the city in the stage, they knew where they were going, and what wages they were to receive ; for it had all been settled by the prudent father.

Ah ! there were capital chambermaids and cooks in those days, many of whom have bloomed into matrons during the lapse of years, and are now sitting in their parlors, vainly wishing that they could find girls as willing and capable to work for them as they had been for others, and sighing for those good old times when there was respect between employer and employed, and when respect and confidence often ripened into friendship and affection.

But the times are not as they were, neither are the servants. The farmers’ daughters have disappeared ; we ne’er shall look upon their like again. The new servants have come; we never looked upon their like before.

The change from the old to the new was like the coming on of an eclipse,— like the transition from light to darkness. We know when the obscuration began, and many a vexed housekeeper would like to know when it will end. It began in that year when three men went up from Boston, and lounged along the banks of the Merrimack, at Pawtucket Falls, pretending to be fishing, but in reality speculating how they might dam the river. Their brains were full of wheels, and their thoughts were spinning down the current of time. They bought the waterfall, dug a canal, erected a row of brick buildings, filled them with machinery, scoured the country, gathered up the farmers’ girls, gave them a chance to earn four dollars a week, and the result of it all is Lowell, Lawrence, Lewiston, and a score of manufacturing towns.

It is a mystery to know what becomes of all the pins, and equally a puzzle to know what has become of the farmers’ daughters. They were in the factories, but nearly all of them have disappeared. Ireland is tending looms in mills as well as holding sway in our households.

“ Do you know of any American girls doing housework in the city ? ”

I have put this question to several of my lady friends, and the invariable answer has been : " No; not one.”

And yet there are some, as I have ascertained by inquiries at intelligence offices. Of house - servants in cities about one in a hundred are of American parentage. In the country and in suburban towns the percentage is larger ; for the daughters of Cork and Killarney prefer the city to the country, while American girls, as a rule, are more willing to go where they can have fresh air, and where they will not be compelled to climb from basement to attic several times a day.

From some cause or combination of causes, — the increase of wealth and Consequent increase of luxury, hot-air furnaces, close rooms, warm bread, want of out-door exercise, and a following of fashion, American women are less able than in former years to do their own work, while, at the same time, there is vastly more to be done. There was a time when two girls were sufficient for a household of twelve ; but in these days twelve servants are sometimes required for a household of two. It has come to pass, therefore, that Ireland is getting on bravely, not only at the ballot-box, but in our kitchens and chambers as well.

The supply of house-servants not being equal to the demand, the employed are able to dictate terms and take such liberties, that it is not definitely settled whether the woman who sits in the parlor or the lady who makes the beds is mistress of the establishment.

During the war, when fugitives from slavery flocked northward in search of employment, there was some prospect of relief for afflicted housekeepers ; but, like birds of passage, our colored allies have nearly all flocked back to Southern climes. The mercury drops too near zero, and the winters are too dreary for their comfort, here.

It is apparent that, if we are to have our dinners cooked and beds made by other hands than those of our wives and daughters, we must look in some new direction for help. Thus far, most of our domestics have come from the other side of the Atlantic. Ireland has been emptying itself into America at an astonishing rate; but the supply is running short, and the prospect of liberal legislation has already had its effect on emigration. Wages have risen in Ireland as well as here ; the lot of the peasant has improved, his future is brighter. Why then should he leave the greenest isle under the sun ? Throughout Europe liberal ideas are gaining ground ; the people are obtaining such influence as they never enjoyed before ; under these circumstances there is more inducement for them to remain where they are. Land in the United States is dearer than it has been, while the cost of living has also increased greatly ; and the prospect now is that there will be a gradual falling off in emigration from this time forward, unless it is stimulated by unforeseen events.

The difficulty of obtaining good houseservants, united with false conceptions of the aim and end of life, has driven multitudes out of their own homes into boarding-houses and hotels. A story both pathetic and amusing might be written concerning the trials and experiences of housekeepers, the mistakes of the cook, the tantrums, the sulks and saucy words of the chamber-girl, the petty pilfering and wholesale robberies by both, and their leaving at a minute’s notice. Undoubtedly there are two sides to all stories, and Bridget’s is very doleful when rehearsed to sympathizing friends, for it is a story of the bad temper of mistresses, and the perfect slavery to which the servant is subjected.

On each side it is a tale of antagonisms rather than of good-will, and there is very little sympathy or esteem between employer and employed. Democratic ideas, universal suffrage, and a lack of servants, are just now in Bridget’s favor. Having become mistress of the situation, she does not hesitate to make her power felt.

But it also happens just now that we are laying down a service-pipe to an immense reservoir brimming over with labor. The Chinese have already found their way to our Pacific coast. They are at work on the railroad, in mines, forests, fields, factories, and the kitchens and chambers of our friends in California. They are in Oregon, Montana, Nevada, and Idaho. When the Pacific Railroad is completed, they will be at Salt Lake City and Omaha, and in time will make their appearance in Chicago and Boston.

But Bridget and Patrick already comprehend the situation of affairs, and have declared war against the interloping Celestials. The possibility that Hop Kee and Woo Choo may be able to solve the servant-girl problem leads us to consider the qualifications of the Chinese, not only for general labor, but for household service.

The supply of labor in China is unlimited, We are to think of a territory not larger in area than the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, but containing a population of four hundred millions. One half of the people are only able to gain their daily bread. Two hundred millions in that country have faint hope of ever making any headway, and hence the readiness to seek their fortunes in foreign lands. They are at Singapore, where several hundred thousand have taken possession of the lower end of Malacca, and trade with vessels touching at that port. They are on all the islands of the Indian Archipelago. They swarm in the gold-fields of Australia; the Sandwich Islands will soon be in their hands, and they will supply San Francisco with sugar. They are to be found all the way from Chili to Oregon.

Nearly all those who are thus seeking their fortunes abroad are from Southern China, where a remarkable spirit of enterprise and adventure has been lately developed. Companies, like those established in London two and a half centuries ago for the settlement of North America, have been formed at Canton and San Francisco for the encouragement and protection of the Chinese emigrants. The one hundred thousand now in this country are but pioneers of the millions who will follow by and by.

It is evident that henceforth we are to look westward, as well as eastward, for laborers. We are accustomed to think of the Chinese as belonging to a degraded race, ignorant of civilized life, and unable to compete with the skilled labor of Europe. But we have this fact before us, that China as a nation makes the whole world her debtor. We want her tea and silks, and can obtain them only by paying cash. We have also the fact that the Chinese have established themselves in the woollen mills of California, producing cloth which won a prize at the World’s Fair.

It would not be strictly accurate to say that they have driven Patrick from the railroad and Bridget from the bedchamber, for these worthies were not present in California when wanted ; but Hop Kee and Woo Choo, being there, took up the shovel and broom, and, having acquitted themselves to the satisfaction of their employers, will remain.

“ But what sort of servants do they make ? ”

The question was put by our nextdoor neighbor, whose Christian fortitude is sorely tried by what goes on in the kitchen, and what does n’t go on upstairs.

Let us look at the peculiarities of a Chinese servant. He is small in stature, has a solemn countenance, twinkling black eyes, retreating forehead, high cheek-bones, and broad, flat nose. He will never be hung for his beauty. He wears a blue cotton tunic reaching to the knees, large, flowing trousers, and thick-soled slippers turned up at the toe. All his hair is shaved off except a small portion upon the crown, which is braided into a cue reaching nearly to the floor. When about his work it is coiled upon the top of his head, but it would be a breach of politeness were he to appear before us with his pigtail thus arranged. It must be at full length, to show not only his respect for us, but for himself.

It would be strange indeed if all his habits of life commended themselves to us at first. He has been poor in his own land. Cleanliness is not set down there as being next to godliness ; washing-days do not come regularly every Monday. But he is imitative and quick to learn. He is not an expert in pastry, but show him how to make one pie, and he will make a dozen — a thousand if you want them — precisely like the pattern; with just as much dough for the crust, the same amount of spice to a grain, and with twelve holes and no more in the upper crust, if you made so many, to let the steam out, though he will have no idea of their use.

He works patiently, and will not stipulate for three evenings a week to visit friends. St. Patrick’s day is not in his calendar. He wants only a week at New Year.

The Chinese are not disposed to be aggressors upon the rights of others, neither will they allow any infringement of their own. They wage no war, but, If treated unkindly, quietly go their own ways, seeking business somewhere else. “ I no do for you, you no do for me. I go.” And he is off at once. He fully understands what some Anglo-Saxons as yet have failed to comprehend, that the hiring of servants does not include the privilege to abuse them.

“But are they not a thievish set? Won’t they steal all they can lay their hands on?” asks my excellent neighbor, whose napkins, towels, sheets, and pillow-cases have mysteriously disappeared, and the chamber-girl has no idea what has become of them. The sugar bucket gets low very often. The tea-caddy wants replenishing every week ; and although there are only four in the family, a firkin of butter lasts, to use the words of the lady, “no time at all.”

“ I have my suspicions,” she adds, “ as to what becomes of a large portion of our groceries.”

Having suspicions, though she does not declare them, it is perfectly natural that she should ask if the Chinese are not a thievish set. Upon this point we give the testimony of those who have employed them.

“ I have had a Chinaman,” says a gentleman of San Francisco, “nine years. When he came into my family he could not speak a word of English. He knew nothing about cooking. My wife went into the kitchen, and showed him how to make a pudding and a pie, and after a few days’ observation he mastered the mysteries of the culinary art, and has cooked to our satisfaction from that time to the present. He is faithful and honest. I would intrust every dollar of my property to him as soon as I would to one of my own countrymen.”

Another gentleman gives this testimony : —

“ I have had a Chinese servant several years, and when I go into the country I leave my house in John’s hands. He hides my silver plate and other valuables, and does not leave the premises a minute. When I return I find everything in perfect order. I do not think he ever took a dollar that did not belong to him, though he has had opportunities to do so. He purchases all my groceries, and invariably makes better bargains than I can myself. I would trust him much quicker than I would many Americans in my employ.”

The Revs Mr. Nevius, ten years a missionary among the Chinese, thus speaks of their qualifications : —

“ It is the testimony of foreigners that the laboring classes make excellent servants. There are exceptions to this statement, some persons representing them as very inefficient and unreliable. The probability may be inferred, in these cases, that the employers have been unfortunate either in the selection or management of those in their service. During our residence of ten years in China, we hardly ever had occasion to dismiss a servant; in nearly every case a strong attachment sprang up between them and us; and in more instances than one, I have felt personally grateful for services and attentions which I could not reasonably have required, and which were all the more gratifying because rendered spontaneously and heartily. The only thing which I recollect to have had stolen was an old clock, which was taken by an opium-smoker, and found a few days afterward. We had so little fear of theft that our doors and drawers were often left unlocked, and servants and numerous visitors had free access to every part of our house. I am aware that others, both missionaries and merchants, have had a different experience, and that, especially in the foreign communities, it is as dangerous to leave coats and umbrellas near the hall-door when unlocked as it would be in New York or Philadelphia. I have travelled hundreds of miles in the interior, at different times and in different parts of the country, sometimes entirely alone, and have been completely in the power of perfect strangers, who knew that I had about my person money and other articles of value ; but have always felt nearly as great a sense of security as at home, and have hardly ever been treated with rudeness or violence, though I have been often annoyed beyond measure by exorbitant charges and useless detentions, I have heard the testimony of prominent merchants who have had large business transactions with the Chinese, both in China and California, who have represented Chinese business men as very prompt and reliable in meeting their business engagements. The confidence often placed in Chinese agents is seen in the fact that they are sent into the interior with large sums of money to purchase silks and tea, the persons employing them having no guarantee or dependence but that of their personal honesty. I have known genuine ‘one-priced stores ’ in China where you are sure to obtain a good article at a reasonable price. There are also false ' one-priced stores,’ and it is not safe to trust them from simply looking at the sign.

“ I may say further, that I1 have met with some of the most beautiful instances of affection, attachment, and gratitude in China which I have ever known ; and that it has been my privilege to form the acquaintance of not a few Chinese, whom I regard with more than ordinary affection and respect, on account of the natural amiability of their dispositions, their sterling integrity, and thorough Christian principle and devotion.” ¹

We are not from this testimony and high praise to conclude that there are no thieves in China, or that all Chinamen will make good servants; but from diligent inquiry, at Canton, Shanghae, Hankeoo, and San Francisco, of men who are best acquainted with Chinese character and morals, I believe that there is not so much crime in that empire in proportion to the number of the population as in the United States. This may be a startling admission, certainly it is an humiliating one. I am assured by American traders in Canton and Shanghae, that there are no men in the world who have higher commercial integrity than the great Chinese merchants. “ I know,” said a gentleman at Shanghae, " men who are worth fifty million dollars, and I believe they would lose every cent of it rather than break their word.”

It is not pleasant to contrast this scrupulousness with operations in Erie Railroad stock in Wall Street, or with daily transactions in gold and bonds, in the great commercial centres of tins country. The time may come when we shall revise our opinion of the Chinese, and instead of setting them down as a nations of " thieves and liars,” shall arrive at a truer estimate of their character.

It will probably be some time before Chinamen will make their appearance in our Atlantic cities. Those who take up their abode in California do not intend to make it a permanent home. Wife and children are left behind, and emigrants hope to go back after having accumulated a few hundred dollars. As yet the Chinese know little about us, and what knowledge they have is not altogether to our credit. They think of America as a country abounding in gold, where provisions are plenty and where high prices are paid for labor ; but those who have been here have harrowing tales to tell of the state of morals. We are a nation of thieves, swindlers, and murderers. In our railroad stations, in public halls, in cabins of steamboats, there are placards cautioning the people to beware of pickpockets. The newspapers are filled with accounts of murders, poisonings, and robberies. In the largest city of the country twenty-two hundred policemen, armed with clubs and revolvers, are required to look after the ruffians, and, notwithstanding their vigilance eighty thousand crimes are committed during the year. Forty jails are filled with criminals, to say nothing of the large number daily sent to the houses of correction and the penitentiaries. If there is so much crime in one city, what must the aggregate be throughout the country ?

Chinese who are in comfortable circumstances will not leave their homes to trust their lives in a country where boys pelt them with stones, where rude men kick them from the sidewalk into the gutter, where they are plundered without finding redress in the courts, and maltreated not only by any ruffian upon the street, but outlawed by the State itself, as in California and Oregon.

It is only the lowest class of Chinese that have thus far reached our shores as servants and laborers ; but let these receive kind treatment, let them have the same protection for life and property which is given to all others, and in time a different class will make their appearance. It would be comparatively an easy matter to obtain Chinese labor through the societies already established at San Francisco and Canton. These are not emigration companies, but mutual-aid societies, and they might be used for conveying information to the millions in China concerning the field open here to laborers of every description, but especially to house-servants. Although the Chinamen cannot speak a word of our language when they arrive, in a few days they master enough to understand what we want.

It is to be hoped that, as the Pacific Railroad is now completed, the experiment of bringing to this side of the continent some of the Chinamen now employed as house-servants in California will be tried. If they prove to be as good as they have been represented, housekeepers may regain their lost liberty.