Heathen Slaves and Christian Rulers

by Elizabeth Wheeler Andrew; Katharine C. Bushnell

No. 7. This girl was aged 14 when rescued, and had been placed in a vile life four weeks before. Two days later she was taken to court on a writ of habeas corpus. Her case was put off three times, and finally came to trial. The Judge remanded the girl to the custody of the M.E. Mission Home. He said, on dismissing the case, that never in all his experience had he listened to such perjury, and that the alleged mother should be punished to the fullest extent of the law for her lying. The girl seemed very happy and contented in the Home, but nine days after she was committed to it she was again taken out on a writ of habeas corpus and appeared before another Judge, who returned her to the brothel-keeper. (This was before the new guardianship law came into operation).

No. 8 proves that the buying and selling of children takes place in America up to the present day. It is but one instance of this sort out of scores of others given by the missionary:

"She was sold when she was but four weeks and five days old. Her parents being very poor and having several other children, she was disposed of to a man who was a friend of the father. The wife, however, was an inmate of an immoral house. Part of the time the child was kept there and part of the time in a family house where we often saw her in our rounds of visiting prior to the earthquake and fire. We did not know but that she belonged to the family in whose care we saw her.

"After the fire the man returned to China, leaving the woman and child. The woman took to abusing the child, and word was brought to us of the condition of things. We appeared on the scene one morning about 10 o'clock with an officer. Leaving him outside, we entered, and found the woman and child eating breakfast. Three other women and two men soon came in. After talking for a while I saw the woman was anxious to get the child away from the table, so I informed her we had come to take her, and proceeded to do so, catching the child up and darting into the street, leaving my interpreter and the officer to follow. We ran several blocks, followed by the irate woman. Finally hailing a man with a horse and wagon, we sprang in and were driven away to where we could take the street cars for home. The child did some screaming and crying, at first. But once we were seated in the street car, her tears were dried and her little tongue rattled along at a rapid rate; she was delighted to get away.

"The case was in court for some weeks, but the woman was afraid to appear, and had no one to assist her but the lawyer, and as he could not prove any good reason why the child should remain with an immoral woman, we were given the guardianship."

No. 9. A young girl came to San Francisco from China as a merchant's wife, and missionaries used to visit her at her home in Chinatown. Once when they went they were told that the wife had gone to San Jose, but she could not be traced at the latter place, and the missionary was suspicious. A year passed, and one night the door bell at the Mission rang, and when it was opened a Chinese girl fell in a faint from exhaustion, across the threshold. A colored girl stood by her holding her by the cue. The colored girl said she saw her running, and divined where she wished to go, and seizing her by the hair to prevent her being dragged back, rushed her to the Mission. It was the merchant's young wife. She had been confined in a brothel not two blocks from the Mission, and often saw the missionary pass by, but had no means of attracting her attention. The merchant told her one day that he wished to take her to a cousin to learn a different way of dressing her hair, and he would leave her there a day or two while he was away from town on business. The young wife went without fear, but never to return to virtue until she escaped to the Mission. She was tied to a window by day to attract custom, and at night tied to a bed, for she was no willing slave. When rescued she was horribly diseased. Three days before her rescue, the Chief of Police and an interpreter had gone through the house questioning every inmate as to whether they wished to lead a life of shame or not. She was asked the question in the presence of the brothel-keeper, the head mistress, and all the girls. She had been told beforehand, "If you dare say you want to escape, we will kill you." The Chief of Police had it announced in the papers that he had made this investigation, and that no slaves existed in Chinatown. Immediately after his visit, she was removed to a family house, lest her rescue might be effected, and one man and two women set to watch her day and night. She feigned willingness to lead a bad life, and the two women, lulled into a sense of security, turned aside to gossip, while the man dropped off asleep. She suddenly rushed out of the house, and but for the quick wit and good offices of the colored girl might have missed the way to a safe harbor.

The following are cases of rescue reported from the Mission Home of the Occidental Board of Missions of the Presbyterian Church:

No. 1. Qui Que. This little girl was taken from a gambling den at Isleton, a small town on the Sacramento river. The woman who brought her from China died, and she was thus left to the care of this gang of gamblers. When Miss Cameron and her escort arrived at the house, the little girl of six or seven years sat on a table rolling cigarettes for the men who sat around it gambling. They were taken by surprise, and before they quite understood the situation the rescuers were gone with the little girl. When they discovered this, they fired several shots after the party, but no harm was done. The officer, with one hand on his revolver, drove rapidly for the boat landing, and Qui Que, safe in Miss Cameron's arms, will probably never know the danger risked in securing her freedom.

No. 2. Ngun Fah. This child was a domestic slave in the family of a well-to-do merchant in Chinatown, but so cruelly was the child overworked and abused that the matter was finally reported to the Mission, and little Ngun Fah rescued. When found at the home of her master, she was in a most pitiable condition. Weary from hard work and worn out with crying, after the cruel punishment which had just been administered, the lonely little girl crawled on to the hard wooden shelf which served as a bed, and with no covering but the dirty, forlorn garment worn through the day, had dropped off to sleep. Thus she was easily captured and carried to the Mission, where upon examination it was found that her head had been severely cut from blows administered with a meat knife, the hair was matted with blood and the child's whole body was covered with filth, and showed signs of former punishments. After the first fears of "being poisoned" were allayed, Ngun Fah expressed herself as being very happy to be rescued from the suffering and weariness of her life in Chinatown. Her master sent many emissaries to the Home with offers of bribes, and many promises of better treatment in the future, but all these overtures were rejected, and when at length the matter of guardianship came up, there was no one present to claim the child but her new friends at the Mission Home.

No. 3. Suey Ying. Our dear baby was surely sent to dispel any clouds of sadness which may be hovering round, for she takes all of life as a huge joke. And where did Suey Ying come from? From a part of Chinatown, dear friend, that you would not dare to enter, and the strangest thing about her coming is that she was carried to the Home by a fugitive slave woman, who was escaping to China. Long ago this woman had spent a day or two in the Mission and was impressed by the happy life of the children here and by the kind treatment she herself received. Later on she purchased for $120 a little baby girl. She grew to love the tiny waif, and when at length troubles of many kinds drove her to sudden flight across the ocean, instead of selling the baby she brought it to this Home of happy memory and asked that we keep it always.