Collection: Books and Periodicals > Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins

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Title: Volume 002-2 - March 1949 Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Collection Name: Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins # of Pages: 2 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2013-11-30 12:37:18 OCR Software Version #: tesseract 5.4.1 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 04:05:29 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 04:05:29

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

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TH OLD CHINESE OF PLACER MINING DAYS— A Memory Ill I have recorded the few characters of the China Garden settlement and will now take up the characters I may have contacted more closely. I might start in with ‘‘Ilishee Boy” one of my earliest recollections. Just why Irish Boy is anyone's guess, but anyway that was the name under which he suffered many arrests for his many trivial encounters with the Law. ‘‘Ilishee Boy’ I think was a laundryman in China town, and it seemed that periodically he ran afoul of the law and the white constable would have to “run him in.” It was a familiar sight to see him with handcuffs as bracelets wandering about town. Many, many times he would beg of the local blacksmith to chisel off the adornment. Just how the punishment fitted the crime was hard to say. Whether a fine was paid or just what the procedure was “with the Law.” In a day or so ‘‘Ilishee Boy” would be back in China town at his occupation—until the next rumpus. In this China town situated up the creek a few hundred yards from the China Garden settlement ran most of the gambling. Night after night I have heard while in bed the familiar call of “bi-yen-ah” or a word that sounded similar. A call that went forth for the starting of a new game of Fan Tan. The playing ran all night through. When the Chinese were prosperous, sizable bets were made or when some sport would arrive from Moores Flat such as Ar Deen, the name was more likely Ah Dee, but he was Ar Deen to us and I'll say this much, he was never called “Sardine.”” Maybe the days of wisecracking are more or less recent. Ar Deen, or Ah Dee, it’s immaterial, was a sport, a dandy maybe, maybe a hick town Beau Brummel, but he certainly could wear his clothes. He was a rather good looking Chinaman, good size for the general run of Chinamen we knew. His clothes were of good cloth and well made. The silk in his queue was just a little longer and seemingly of finer grade and the way he could toss that queue about! The average high school lad with his hanging forelock was no more adept at tossing the thing about than was Ar Deen with his queue. The arrival of Ar Deen on the stage from Moores Flat mcant the occasion for a rousing game. No penny ante stuff. The stakes were all the traffic would bear — and whoeve heard of a Chinaman who didn’t love to gamble? Charley On Goon was a sort of dashing young fellow from Moores Flat. When the diggings began to play out in Moores, he brought the old lumber, large boards 18” wide and 11/.” full thickness used as sides of the flumes for mining, down to our Chinatown and built himself a house. I think his means of livelihood must have been running a China lottery or “bookie.” Old Kite Robinson was a Chinaman who was not a bit modest in his appraisal of one who had excited his wrath. Charley had refused recognition of a winning number by Kite. Old China Mary, the only one of her sex in the district, had moved in with Charley upon the completion of his house. Charley did no hard manual labor, and old Kite in his wrath and with utmost contempt cited to one and all his opinions. One was to infer that Charley was a contributor to delinquency and to moral turpitude in fact. Then one day appeared in Chinatown ar other dashing young Lothario by name Ah Soon and with him a tiny delicate lily of great beauty, seemingly to our eyes. His appearance in our Chinatown was occasioned due to a kidnapping episode that had created considerable excitement in the Nevada City Chinatown as well as in the Chinatown of Marysville. Therefore he had fled with his lily to our community. Now there lived in Moores Flat a young lady just full of the Old Nick. She had known Charley On Goon very well in that place. She was aware of the excitement caused by the kidnapping incident and decided to improve upon it. In between stages on her way home to Moores she happened to meet Charley On Goon and informed him with great seriousness that a gang of highbinders from Marysville, six of them to be exact, were on their way for vengeance upon Ah Soon. Well, that set off the works in Chinatown. China Mary with the little lily in tow begged aid of Mother to hide the lily which Mother good naturedly did, and she stayed with us during the hours while the “underground” in Chinatown got busy and found out that the whole thing was a hoax cngineered by the young lady from Moores Flat. (To be continued) Vol. 2 -No. 2 NEVADA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY