SERVANTS AND TRADESMEN
On your first arrival at an out-port, and as you are crossing the
pontoon which leads from the steamer to the bund, a most beaming
celestial meets you and presents an open letter, which runs something
like this:--
"I hereby certify that the bearer, Lao San, was my boy
for eight months, and I found him honest and willing.
TOM JONES."
The celestial smirks and jabbers something in pidgin English, which
not being able to understand you answer with a grunt and pass on.
The celestial says, "All right, savez, can do," and vanishes.
Reaching your quarters, you find two or three more beaming natives,
also armed with letters of recommendation, probably borrowed for the
occasion, and who severally inform you "My b'long welly good boy."
These letters of recommendation become kinds of heirlooms, and as
foreigners seldom know the correct names of their Chinese servants,
they are, for a consideration, handed about from one to the other
when seeking employment.
You must have a boy anyhow, and are just beginning to inspect the
candidates when a friend suddenly turns up.
"I'm awfully sorry, old man, I couldn't manage to come and meet you on
board, but the steamer arrived earlier than was expected, so I came
straight on here, and knowing you would require a boy, brought one
along who wants a job. I don't know anything about him, but he says
he's all right, and they are mostly pretty much alike. Anyhow, you
might give him a trial, and if he doesn't suit, just kick him out."
Before you can reply the door is thrown violently open, and your
luggage, which you had left for the time being in your cabin on the
steamer, is brought in on bamboo poles by half-a-dozen coolies and
dumped on the floor, the beaming celestial who met you on the pontoon
following close behind, carrying your collection of sun hats,
umbrellas and sticks. He immediately pays the coolies, unstraps rugs
and trunks, and commences to arrange the room.
Your friend says, "Oh, I didn't know you had brought your own boy,"
and goes on to talk of other things.
You feel rather pleased at all the luggage having turned up without
any effort on your part, pleased at being freed from the importunities
of out-of-work boys, and dumbly acquiesce, so that Lao San remains
until you have the time or inclination to engage a really good boy;
but as you seldom have the time, and never the inclination, he is
already pretty firmly established.
In the course of the day he introduces a cook as well as two or three
coolies that you do not want but must have, and explains that all
these men are of exceptionally good character, and that he "can secure
b'long all ploper." You submit, of course, and so your household is
arranged by the boy without you really having had a word to say. A day
or two later you suddenly remember that nothing has been said on the
subject of wages.
You ring up the boy, and after a short discussion it is arranged that
he is to receive eight dollars a month, the cook ten, and the coolies
six and five. Everything is arranged with the boy, the other servants
not appearing on the scene at all, and so it is that, having obtained
situations for his friends, they are by "olo custom" obliged to pay
him a squeeze on their salaries, the cook probably two dollars a month
and the coolies one each. Without your consent or knowledge the cook
introduces a young friend of his into the kitchen to be known as the
"second cook," or simply "No 2." His position corresponds to that of
the scullery-maid, washing up pots and pans, lighting the fire and
running errands, in return for which he receives very little, if any,
pay, but learns the art of cooking. Your house is now in going order,
and at first things really work very well under the boy's supervision.
A few weeks later it suddenly dawns on you that expenses are mounting
up in rather an unaccountable way, and you look into matters.
Nothing very serious comes to light, and any doubtful little points
are most clearly explained away by the boy. However, it is not long
before you again begin to feel uneasy and insist on knowing details of
the various small accounts which are monthly presented to you by each
individual on the premises.
You are being squeezed by all!
The boy charges for a number of small items such as lampwick, matches,
soap, candles, etc., that you have never had, or in half the
quantities stated. Also, on things which you have had, a large
percentage over cost price is levied. All the native tradesmen are in
league with your servants, and while you know that you are being
swindled it would be quite impossible to prove it, for should a
shopkeeper or butcher tell you what his prices really were he would
lose much of his business, as servants in foreign employ would, in
time, by some means or other, take the custom elsewhere.
You are the means whereby a large but limited circle of Chinese manage
to live and oftentimes save money. All members of the circle regard
you as their prey, and tacitly combining to play into each other's
hands they fleece you with impunity, it being extremely difficult, if
not impossible, to get one Chinaman to expose or bear witness against
another, especially if it be with the object of benefiting the
foreigner.
The best way for a bachelor to run his house is to set aside a certain
sum which he knows should be sufficient for monthly expenditure. If he
can keep his expenses below this figure so much the better. If he
cannot, and they exceed it, he should cut down the various accounts
until a sufficient reduction has been reached. It is useless trying to
argue the case, he would always come off worsted.
I heard of one bachelor who had been drawing a salary of six hundred
dollars a month, but he kept up such style that he could only just
cover expenses. After a time his business partly failed, so he sent
for the boy and explained he could only spend four hundred dollars.
The domestic pulled a long face, but the style of living was not
altered in the least.
Again bad times came and expenditure had to be further reduced to
three hundred dollars a month. The bachelor informed his servant that
he had better get another situation as he feared it would be difficult
for him to come down from six hundred dollars to three hundred, and
that it would be wiser to start a fresh establishment more in
accordance with his reduced circumstances.
After reflection the boy decided to struggle on, and this he did with
such success that the style of living was exactly the same as it had
ever been.
The word "boy" bears no reference whatever to the individual's age,
which may be anything between sixteen and sixty. It is merely a term
applied by foreigners to their personal attendants.
The duties of the boy are those of the ordinary housekeeper in
England, with several additions.
He looks after the other servants and is generally responsible for
their good behaviour. He pays all wages and the accounts of the local
tradespeople, on which, of course, he levies a recognised squeeze. He
waits at table, answers the bell, makes the beds and brushes his
master's clothes, in fact, makes himself generally useful.
As a rule, he accompanies his master to all dinner-parties to assist
in waiting. Also, it is a common and recognised practice for the boy
of a house where a big dinner or a dance is being held to borrow
requisites from the boy of another house, and often without reference
to the owner, so that when dining out you not infrequently drink from
your own glasses, use your own knives and forks, see your own lamp on
the dinner-table and are waited on by your own servant.
A Scotchman who had recently married brought from London a goodly
supply of fine glassware for the new home. At one of the
dinner-parties given in honour of himself and bride, after replying to
the toast of the evening he proposed the health of his host and
requested the company to drink it with Highland honours by placing one
foot on the table and one on the chair. Bumpers having been tossed off
he added that it would not be fitting for glasses consecrated by such
distinguished service to thereafter descend to ordinary usage, and
suiting the action to the word, flung the tumbler over his shoulder,
so that it was shivered to atoms against the wall, the other guests,
numbering upwards of a dozen, following suit.
His boy's placid comment on the proceeding was, "Truly master b'long
too muchee foolo, he no savez b'long he new glass."
They were indeed his own beautiful tumblers, borrowed for the occasion
without his knowledge.
If anything is lost in the house, the boy, being answerable, is
supposed to make the loss good, although he seldom does so. It may be
imagined that his post is no sinecure with an exacting master, but it
is lucrative and one much sought after.
The custom of servants mutually guaranteeing each other's good conduct
is a great safeguard, for in the case of theft or other misdemeanour
by one of them, all the others are responsible and severe measures may
be taken against them with the view of discovering the culprit, so
that in reality while subject to numberless irritating, petty
pilferings, against which there is no guarding and for which it is
impossible to obtain redress, it rarely happens that any serious
offence is committed.
Amongst themselves the Chinese carry this principle of responsibility
to such great lengths that if after committing a crime the culprit
flees from justice, the officials can, and often do, arrest his
father, mother, wife and whole family, and both imprison and persecute
them until the fugitive gives himself up; and such is the strength of
the family tie that this arbitrary method is seldom known to fail.
The cook is, next to the boy, the most important of the other
servants, and as a rule is fairly efficient, some indeed being
excellent, although great care must be taken to guard against their
natural love of filthiness. A kitchen into which the master or
mistress of the house does not go once or twice every day should
never be visited at all if one wishes to enjoy one's meals.
This is also a lucrative post, for besides wages and a heavy squeeze
on every article brought into the kitchen, the remains of each meal,
whether half a chicken, half a leg of mutton, or both, are regarded by
the cook as his perquisite and carried off for sale to native
restaurants, unless special orders have been given to the contrary. A
reason for this is that in hot climates food, if not eaten at once,
quickly becomes worse than useless. Also, owing to the cheapness of
meat, eggs, vegetables, etc., it is by no means the serious loss that
it would be at home, and so the householder is generally not sorry
that the remains of each meal should disappear and thus get fresh food
at every repast.
The cooking in foreign houses is entirely European, the Chinese
cuisine being of a very different and truly wonderful kind, although
excellent in quality. Western ladies have often taken great pains to
train their cooks to a high standard of proficiency, a well-served
dinner in China not uncommonly far surpassing in excellence the
corresponding meal at home. Of course, the reverse is frequently the
case, still, it serves to show that the Chinese have a great faculty
for the culinary art.
In England a dinner-party must be arranged some days beforehand in
order that the necessary preparations may be made, and it is
practically impossible to suddenly announce at tea-time that there
will be eight people to dinner instead of two.
This matter is certainly managed better in China.
Oftentimes on returning from office at five o'clock I have sent for
the cook and said, "To-night eight piecee man catchee dinner. Can do,
no can do?" and the reply has invariably been a laconic "Can do."
At once there would be great bustling but no confusion, and it has
always seemed to me that these sudden demands on the kitchen staff,
instead of evoking complaints and sullen looks, are regarded rather as
a source of pleasurable excitement. "No 2" hurries off to market and
quickly returns with fish, chops, chickens, eggs and fruit. Meanwhile,
the cook dashes another pint or two of water into the soup and gets a
jam pudding well under way.
On returning from the club at seven o'clock you find that the boy has
tastefully laid the table and decorated it with leaves and flowers.
After seeing to the wine and cigars you go up to dress, and on
receiving your guests at half-past seven the dinner is ready.
I remember with feelings of pleasure the following incident which
occurred at Chinkiang.
For some days I had been engaged to dine with friends living in the
next house, and was actually on my way there, when an old
acquaintance, who had just arrived by the steamer from Shanghai, met
me in the garden and wanted particularly to see me with regard to some
private affair. As the steamer would be leaving again in two hours and
my friend was obliged to continue his voyage to Hankow, I had no other
means of meeting his wishes than by forfeiting my engagement. This I
did in a hastily-written chit, making the best excuses I could, and
then sent for the cook. On his appearance I informed him that I wanted
dinner for two--chop chop! Without moving a muscle he answered, "Can
do." Thinking to hurry up matters a little I went to the kitchen, but
found it in darkness and without any fire. The servants meanwhile had
all disappeared, and I returned to my friend with the information that
we must possess our souls in patience, so we settled ourselves on the
verandah for a serious talk, but hardly had we done so than the boy
announced dinner.
Following him in considerable amazement I found that, the night being
warm, he had laid a small table on the lawn and that the soup was
already served. It was delicious, as were also the samli, the
woodcock, the lamb cutlets and the ice-cream. Things having taken so
happy a turn, I uncorked a bottle of champagne and we had a banquet
fit for a king.
[Illustration: HOUSE-COOLIE, BOY, COOK AND "NO 2."
_To face page 37._]
My friend complimented me on the prowess of the cook, and we smoked
our cigars and chatted over the coffee until the steamer's whistle
announced that, cargo being finished, she was ready to start. After
seeing him off I joined the party next door in order to offer
apologies and explanations to the hostess, who freely forgave me,
though her husband lamented that I had missed the samli, the woodcock
and the lamb, which were the first of the season.
I discreetly held my peace, but inquiries next day confirmed my
suspicions that prime helpings from each course of my neighbour's
dinner had been carried off by my cook.
Immediately under the boy for indoor work is the "house-coolie," whose
business it is to swab floors, polish grates, light fires, trim lamps,
clean knives and boots and make himself generally useful about the
house. Oftentimes he is unable to speak any English, wears a short
coat in contradistinction to the boy's long one, and while ranking
below the boy is considerably above the other coolies as having better
pay, pleasanter work and holding a position of trust.
At the chief entrance to most residences is a gatehouse, tenanted
during the day by an old man who serves as gatekeeper, and who is
responsible for keeping bad characters off the premises as well as for
not allowing anything to be taken away. At sunset he goes home, being
relieved by the night-watchman, who remains on duty till sunrise. He
also is responsible for the general safety, and is not supposed to
sleep during the night, but to be on guard. Every two hours, that is,
at each of the five watches into which the night is divided, he should
make a round of the outbuildings to satisfy himself that all's well.
This he does not do quietly, but to the beating of a bamboo rattle, so
that thieves may know he is on the lookout and run away. Sometimes, in
order to keep up his courage, I have even heard him shout "I see you,"
"I know who you are," "I'm coming," "Who's afraid?" etc.
Ridiculous as this may appear to English burglars it is yet very
effective, though for a very curious reason.
China is the country of guilds, every trade being in the hands of a
certain section of the population, who combine against all intruders.
There is a guild of water-carriers, a guild of fortune-tellers, a
guild of pipe-makers, and even a guild of _thieves_. This last is a
recognised body, and is treated with by all householders, until it has
become a kind of insurance agency against theft. All gatekeepers and
night-watchmen pay a small monthly fee to this guild in order that no
thieving may take place on the premises over which they have control,
and the system works well, for not only is anything rarely stolen,
but if, occasionally, something does go it is almost certain to have
been taken by a free lance, who would be promptly done to death should
he fall into the clutches of the guild thieves.
A friend of mine who employs many hundreds of coolies pays a regular
monthly salary to the head of the thieves in that district. This man
comes to the office on pay-days like other _employes_ to draw his
wages. If, however, anything has been missed from the factory during
the month the value of it is deducted from his salary until the
article is restored, which is invariably done.
I have heard of a case where a reforming spirit determined not to
submit to such an iniquitous tax. The gatekeeper and night-watchman
immediately resigned and could not be replaced, while by the end of
the month most of his portable belongings had been surreptitiously
removed. Thoroughly cowed, he recalled the two servants and instructed
them to pay the tax, whereupon the stolen articles promptly reappeared
and security was again restored.
Largely owing to the influence of Buddhism, cattle are regarded by the
Chinese solely as beasts of burden, it being seldom that any are
slaughtered for food; and although many natives will eat beef when it
comes conveniently to hand, still, there is a strong prejudice against
it. This prejudice extends both to milk and butter, neither of which
is a common article of celestial food. From this it may be easily
imagined that Europeans are often put to considerable inconvenience in
securing an adequate supply of these daily necessaries. Good milk is
especially hard to get. So long as it is white the native dairyman
considers that his obligations to customers are discharged, while the
more water he can add, the better it is for his own pocket. At Hankow
the supply was so adulterated that a friend of mine actually found a
small live fish in his morning cupful. With a view to exposing fraud I
purchased a lactometer and found the usual proportions of milk and
water to be half and half.
This was too much, so calling the dairyman to the house I abused him
roundly and threatened that if he did not send pure milk in future I
would ask the consul to punish him severely. He vowed and declared
that the lactometer "no talkee true," and that no water whatever had
been added to the milk, adding, that if I did not believe him he would
bring a cow to the kitchen door and I could see it milked myself.
This seemed satisfactory, so I got up early next morning, and after
shivering in my dressing-gown during the milking, carried off the pail
in triumph, fully convinced that I should now be able to enjoy the
pure article. Vain delusion! On testing it there was still a large
percentage of water, and the dairyman, beaming with justified
satisfaction, ambled off, leading his cow.
Feeling sure that the lactometer must be at fault, I consulted my
friend the doctor, who examined and found it quite correct.
How to reconcile these discrepancies seemed an insoluble problem.
After pondering over the matter for several days, I determined on
milking the cow myself, this being an accomplishment of my boyhood. To
the celestial's amazement I did so and instantly tested the proceeds.
Pure milk!
I seized the dairyman with a hazy idea of making an end of him, when,
lo and behold, there slipped from his capacious sleeve a piece of
thick bamboo containing about two pints of water. From the lower part
of this wooden bottle projected another piece of bamboo about the
thickness of a cigar, which served as a tube.
The swindle was now discovered, and the culprit, after the first shock
to his feelings had abated, showed me, with evident if subdued
satisfaction, how the ingenious device worked.
Concealing the bottle and letting the sleeve fall well down over his
wrist, he held the bamboo tube and a cow's teat in one hand, and so,
the moment one's eyes were averted, he was able to turn on the tap
and let water flow into the pail together with the milk.
I now had the upper hand and promised to refrain from taking steps
against him if he would in future furnish me with a pure supply. This
he cheerfully agreed to do, and for a time I fared sumptuously, but it
was not long ere my boy informed me that, the cows having run dry, the
dairyman had returned to his home in the country.
Prior to the Manchu conquest of China two hundred and fifty years ago,
men allowed the hair to grow long and then rolled it up in a tuft on
the top of the head.
The Manchus, however, introduced the custom of partly shaving the
scalp and braiding the back hair into a pig-tail, any man not
conforming to this rule being considered a rebel, and as such liable
to summary decapitation. This visible token of loyalty to the present
dynasty is therefore universal, and obtains from the cradle to the
grave, it being a matter of considerable importance to all who value a
whole skin, and "Olo custom" being an extremely strong _motif_, it
would now be well-nigh impossible to abolish this badge of servitude,
even were the enforcement of it abandoned. In addition to this
national obligation it is the custom for men to clean shave until they
become grandfathers, when a moustache is cultivated, and later on
sometimes a beard, though these hirsute appendages are of a lean and
meagre kind.
As you may readily imagine, the amount of tonsorial operations
indulged in by so dense a population call for an unlimited number of
shavers and braiders of hair, albeit it is considered an employment of
the lowest grade; but although the number of barbers is legion there
are none who know how to _cut_ hair until taught to do so by
Europeans, so that in out-of-the-way places it is often very difficult
to get the operation performed. On several occasions I have been
obliged to rely on my mafoo, who with horse-clippers and iron scissors
proved to be effective if somewhat unartistic.
Of course, a Chinaman will soon learn, and at treaty-ports barbers are
a convenient luxury, for at the cost of a few dollars a month one will
come to your bedroom every morning at a stated time to perform the
daily shave, as well as cut the hair when required. Oftentimes I have
been still asleep when, leaving his shoes outside the door and
creeping in noiselessly with bare feet, he has adjusted the towel,
lathered and shaved me in bed without my having had more than a dim
consciousness of what was going on.
Tailors are cheap and plentiful. A West-end cut is not achieved, but
for flannels, light tweeds and all such clothes as are worn in the
tropics, they are very passable.
"Boy."
"Sai."
"Talkee that tailor-man four o'clock come. Wantchee new clothes."
At four o'clock the tailor is there with a bundle of patterns from
which you select a thin serge and a white flannel, and order a suit of
each. On asking the price you are informed that the serge "b'long
welly cheap" at fourteen dollars and the flannel at twelve.
Your surprise and indignation are great at the exorbitant figures, and
after a good deal of haggling, eleven dollars and ten respectively are
agreed upon, the clothes to be finished in two days.
"Can do."
Out comes the tape and he measures you all over, taking mental notes
but writing nothing down, the Chinese having marvellous memories.
Next morning he appears with the garments loosely stitched together to
try on, draws a chalk line here, puts in a pin there and hurries off.
The following day you discover both suits neatly folded up on your
bed, and on inspection find them to be of good and comfortable fit.
Another plan is, after selecting the material, to hand the tailor an
old suit with instructions to make the new one a counterpart of it,
which, as a rule, he will do to perfection. In fact, he has been known
to let a couple of patches into the seat of the new trousers in order
to make them correspond exactly with the pattern.