SUPERSTITIONS OF CHINAMEN.
DISCOVERY OP A DEVIL IN A GARDEN HOSE AND ITS SERIOUS RESULTS. On a farm in the southern part of California a young Chinaman was employed to do odd jobs. His one great delight was to sprinkle the lawn with the hose. One afternoon when he was at his favourite occupation a visitor thought it would be a good joke to cut the water off by turning a faucet at one end of the piazza. < Now, the Chinaman had sprinkled the lawn hundreds of times, but had not the remotest idea where the water came from, taking it for granted that it was the most natural thing in the world for water to flow from the hose. Therefore, when the visitor carried out his idea and the water stopped "unning, the Chinaman was sorely pei~plexed to know what had happened. First he threw the hose on the ground, stamped upon it and shook it, and then as this vigorous treatment produced no beneficial results, he blew down the hose. Just then the owner of the house stepped up to see the fun. The visitor, seeing him coming, said m a low voice : " Just see the fun. The next time he blows down the hose I will turn it on full force." Sure enough, in a few minutes the Chinaman started to blow down the hose, and as he did so the visitor turned the .water on full. " Did you ever see such an astonished Chinaman?" remarked the visitor gleefully. The Chinaman certainly was astonished. Ho threw the hose on the ground and made one bee-line foi his room, which was next to the tank in one of the outbuildings. In a few minutes he returned with a small bundle under his arm, and going up to his employer said — " Give me my money. Me no stayee. Debbil in hosee. Debbil in hosee." The joke had turned out to be of a more serious nature than he had expected. The Chinaman walked off in spite of all remonstrances. The owner of the farm laughed, and said he would go to the Chinese agent and get another boy. Bright and early the next morning a new Chinese boy arrived, and as everything seemed satisfactory he went with his small paper bundle to his room, the same one occupied by his predecessor. He had been in the room only a few minutes when he ran out, and going up to his employer, said — "Me no likee. Me no likee. Me no stayee." Upon being questioned he would give no answer except that he didn't like it, and wouldn't stay. Recourse was again had to the Chinese agent, and the next morning another Chinese boy arrived with his invariable little bundle under his arm. Going to his room, he returned almost as instantly, and, with a mystified way, said like the former one : — . "Me no stayee. Me no stayee." -- Things were .beginning to look serious, and the visitor wished he hadn't played that practical joke. For the third time the Chinese agent was called upon. This time the agent made some inquiries, and promised to call the next morning, and try and find out the trouble. The next morning he arrived, and after looking round the place, went to the Chinaman's former room. There he discovered, written on the side of the wall, in Chinese characters, the information that the place was haunted and was inhabited with strange spirits or devils, and that Chinamen had better keep clear of it. This explained it all, and after removing the writing no trouble was had in procuring a new Chinese boy. — San Francisco Democrat.
SUPERSTITIONS OF CHINAMEN.
Otago Witness, Issue 2375, 7 September 1899, Page 56
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