IN THE FRUIT PIT.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 101, 30 April 1909, Page 7

IN THE FRUIT PIT.

AN HOUR AMONG THE CHINESE SKYLARKING CELESTIALS. THE BANANA AND ITS FUTURE* Sitting about, and sometimes spitting about, from the emerald and golden altitude of the encased fruit from Fiji and Rai-otonga, the Chinese at the market place do not look lovely, but it is said that their commercial manners, on the wholesale scale, are neater than their bodily appearance. They are shrewdgbuyers. Their almond eyes have an X-ray capacity for gauging the calibre of the boarded-in bananas ; and they go for quality. The retailing alien does not mind putting a doubtful orange or two in the bottom of the bag for tha unsophisticated European, but he takes care to buy no bad fruit. What does he do with the sound commodity? Does he eat it himself? Does he tell it, privately, to the wealthy ? These questions have often occurred to white folk who have seen beautiful samples in the pyra^ I mids in the wiifdow iront, a.nd have found "crooks" in the bottom of th« bag. The star fruit remains on show, apparently, till its lustre begins to wane. Then it goes into the dim recesses be-* hind the counter, there to await its turn for the bag conjuring. The Chinese retail cy.ole with the good and bad fruit ih lik'o »,h« cydb oi the festivo kitten chasing its own elusive tail. The good head pursues the evil tail, but never, catchefe up. "But why don't they cub off the tail, and let the head go ahead ?"• asks the .puzzled European. The an* swer is sealed up behind the unpicks able lock of the Asiatic mind. JOVIALITY. How many people have seen Chinese laugh heartily in- New Zealand; .John smiles, and grins, bo)? seldom laughs. Yet yesterday, in_ the market-place, some of, the celestials were hilarious.. Their faces opened, up with genuiuß laughter, at the pry ssure of the lever business success. Chic, especially, -jvith. a golrt tooth amorv^ a good ect of >rhite ones, flashed his oral ornament f r^squentn ly, at the impulse of rib-tickling mirth. And the oause of all this distivrbance of the proverbial Asiartic caliu was the humbje Fiji banan/i, the !aard, green, Fiji banana. The supply just now is running to aboufe 550Q 1 cases and- some hundreds of buwclaes, and John captured 1 the market yesterday. He was a fairjy successful "beta!," in spite of all ffforts' to "bull" tlwj slocks. He got tha prices down, and sat on tKem, and was very glad. F/e was inonacious that no further consi^jnenLs from Fiji- would arrive for f<H»r weeks, and. ho saw a chance to gel, in a month's supply. Some bananas will come, in the interval, irom Tonga, but it is said that the, Tongan species doen not keep so well as the fruit from- Fiji. The cases were turn-, bled in by the cartload, and the Chinese fell upon them with the zest of fishermen in pursuit of teeming warehou. They yelled in, their excitement like brokers at a wool .<=ale. Sleek Chinese and meagre Chinese, veterans an«B you austere, clamoured and gesticulated, ir^e call of tdje bauana fpund them e.-*ger, though wary, and in the fall ot t/bs afternoon a great content came upon Mxeni. They knew that they had enough, | 'green sausage" to ripen in the little I dark place? ab the rear of their shops, I by the gentle warmth oi gas or oil. So, in their glee, they played practic.*' jokes upon one another, and some had some mild horseplay. One serious-looking Asiatic stolidly approached a brother, solemnly lifted the latter's cap, turned it back to front, repfaced it, and passed T ii° w ? rk fvifcller mild mischiof. • Another pleyfuKy tapped a companion *i ?i bdlet <of woo< * from a case, tha the other pleasantly returned the compliment, ai*j then the pair wrestled to the accompaniment of much laughter from tho-.nselves and the Celestial spectators. After a good day with the banI anas the aliens were in the frolicsome, mood of pakehae after n good day witlj t-tr.3 horses at Trentham. RINGS THAT HAVE FAILED. John is fairly clever at the art and craft of ring-making. Some of them unite to get a liije of goods at a comparatively low price. Sometimes they succeed,, and sometimes they do not. Tha failure occurs when one ring clashes with, another, for one ring may include only 1 a portion of the Chinese buyers. Whea these collisions— .not very frequent— tako place, Celestial sparks fly. There is a noise like the simultaneous' explosion of many packets of crackers. Sometimes, in their excitement, they will break into English, of which they all know at leas* one phrase— "Don' lose "em." The members of each ring push one another to , the front, shrieking wild words at tha j auctioneer, "and seriously endangering his equilibrium on his little stool. Fun is also noticeable when the two rival* for the trade of a countiy town up the line get in conflict. One of (hd Chinese takes a trip to the city once a month" to buy bananas, and the ' other employs a compatriot here to purchase for him. But the identity of" the deputy is always discovered by the visitor, "vihol keeps a watchful eye on his rival's re-, presentative. Some of the Chinese are very larga buyers. They think nothing of taking a line of a hundred cases of bananas in one breath. One firm of dealers may control a number of shops in the city and several up country. There is also a fair contingent of small, independent shopkeepers who take only a few caset at a time. THEY DO NOT HAGGLE. Auctioneers seldom have heated de* bates with Chinese bidders. The aliea endeavours strenuously to avoid disappointments, but if, by one of those accidents unavoidable at wholesale rapid auctions, he finds two or three doubtful cases in his lot hi cheerfully accepts the misfortune, and pays for all, with* out demur. But he does, naturally, make some expostulation when he no^ tices a deficiency' of one or two cases, after he has footed his bill. He has bitter Oriental expletives for the person or persons unknown, responsible for th» shoitage. A HARD DEALER. Chinese do not usually adorn their faces in public, with anything more formidable than a light cigarette, but some of them affect well-matured pipes in the auction room. Yesterday one puffed vigorously at a chubby briar, which projected grotesquely from a rather dour face. This Chinaman desired two or three cases of fruit, but he wanted to bring off the deal at a shilling or so below the auctioneer's ideas of value. "Poor woman own these. Poor widow —not much money," exclaimed tho auctioneer. But John shook his head, aud pulled at his briar, sternly. 'Poor woman, poor widow, repeated the auctioneer, almost with tears in his voids. "You give 6d more." The Celestial again entered his protest "Mo poor widow, too," he muttered, to the delight of his brethren, who knew enough English to appreciate the joke. WILL BANANAS ADVANCE? It is reported that bananas may become dearer in New Zealand, for two reasons. The Queensland supplies, which, have sufficed for Sydney and other markets in Australia, are said to be dete-

riorating in quality, and the trade between Suva and Melbourne is to be developed by subsidised steamers. Melbourne will not only be a large consumer of Fiji bananas, but will be a distributing centre. With a Melbourne string to their bow, it is feared that the Fiji growers will command a higher price from the New Zealand lovers of the popular banana.