Re: Moscow Peter Boil 4 Girls
Mathilda Gibby
Le Majeur has ink on her back; apparently it's a scene from some kabuki play. The Lagoon Crew is testing out her endurance by having her swim from the Buddha and back. While she does, Revy and Rock have a conversation about how fast the former took to their new girl. Revy boils it down to not wanting to make unnecessary trouble for yourself; be nice to others while you can and they are more likely to not shoot you in the back.
On the way back, they get into the singing contest; Majeur brought a boombox with her. First she and Rock sing away at "Kimi ha 1000%" by Omega Tribe, then they let Revy join by switching to "Easy" by The Commodores.
They stop by the Yellow Flag; Majeur needs a job when she's not rolling with the Lagoon or called by Hotel Moscow; Bao hires her as a bouncer. Eda shows up and she and Majeur immediately pull guns at each other; seems like the shorty recognizes a fellow spook. Revy defuses the situation by putting the two in a drinking contest. Since we already had Feng with massive alcohol tolerance, I expect Majeur to peter out quick.
...this feels incredibly lighthearted, but that's not a bad thing - although I am worried as to how this will come crashing down for Majeur; especially with both Bao and Dutch with Benny earlier commenting that she's incredibly lucky to have ended up in her position.Edited by FergardStratoavis on May 30th 2023 at 1:57:39 PM
I wonder if Majeur's going to be Revy's Yukio; a significant character that is a mirror to the other. Just like Yukio envied Rock his freedom while she was chained to her position as the head of the Washimine Clan, Majeur is commented on by other characters to be free and lucky and unrestrained while Revy mentioned a few times before she sometimes feels suffocated by Roanapur.
For Rock, a failure to save Yukio set him down on a path of cynicism (although he recovered somewhat thanks to Feng); thing is, Revy's already been down there since she can remember and is only now slowly climbing up towards idealism thanks to Rock and now Majeur. Another drop might be a lot for her. Of course, Majeur can defend herself if need to - but in both her and Yukio's cases, Hotel Moscow was the main reason for their ultimate states; if anyone can Break the Badass, it's Balalaika.
One thing that Majeur has in her favor that Yukio didn't is that Balalakia seems to have taken a liking to her (that her situation is not unlike her own backstory probably helps things). Plus Feng lived and also joined one of the three major gangs of Roanapur.
A more idealistic interpretation is that, given all the hiatuses and the anime adaptation being so old, Majeur is going to serve as the new "viewpoint" character now that Rock is too far down the rabbit hole. Making things easier on new readers as well as new viewers if the anime ever comes back.
- Balalaika opens a spanky new casino; Le Majeur gets drafted to be the bunny girl. She is absolutely not chuffed about it.
- Stiff dress code, so Rock has a fancy smoking and Revy in a "tight as hell" (her words) dress. Lipstick and jewelry too, so she looks almost like a different person.
- Big shots of Roanapur are around; Ronnie the Jaws notably isn't. Balalaika and Chang attribute it to him not being very social.
- Speaking of Chang, he's pulling on Rock's tongue; with Revy and Majeur off to crush the arcades, these two get up to philosophical discussion while playing the roulette; while Rock posits that the casino's success will help Roanapur, he also states that bringing attention to the city is not necessarily a good thing. Chang seems mixed on the idea, but it helps bring in a profit.
- Though he might have taken a step deeper into the city, Rock still maintains he might be able to help someone by extending a helping hand and changing their fate. Chang retorts that this just puts you in their life and threatens to swallow you in return. Rock retorts in turn that it's impossible to look into the person without getting that close.
- He calls Roanapur "God's final domain", the place where the scum and the outcasts come to languish - and then continues stating that maybe he can help the ones who were cast aside like he was. Chang isn't impressed; he states people in this city are destined to burn in the afterlife for the evil they've done.
- But, Rock isn't deterred; he's looking for the top viewing spot from which he can extend a helping hand as far as he can. Chang doesn't budge; people are destined to end up where they end up, and all Rock will accomplish is dying for nothing. Rock retorts... by playing va banque, all of his chips in - and winning. Going for broke, risking it all - that is how one reaches that top hill and has no regrets in the end.
- That impresses Chang enough to offer his support, to eliminate as many obstacles for Rock as possible - so that he too may see the world beyond.
Terry Abraham
Head, Special Collections and Archives
University of Idaho Library
Moscow, ID 83844-2351
208-885-7951A paper presented at the Joint Regional Conference Hawai'i/Pacificand Pacific Northwest Association for Asian American Studies,Honolulu, March 26, 1996As she stepped off the brig Eagle from Hong Kong at theSan Francisco wharf in 1848, returning missionary Charles Gillespie'sservant was undoubtedly unaware of her singular position as thefirst Chinese servant on the West Coast of North America.(Wegars,Priscilla. "Besides Polly Bemis: Historical and ArtifactualEvidence for Chinese Women in the West, 1848-1930," HiddenHeritage: Historical Archaeology of the Overseas Chinese, ed.by Priscilla Wegars. Amityville, Baywood, 1993. 230.) She wouldnot have realized that her presence signaled a shift in the domesticlabor market and that her sisters would not participate in thechange. Instead, the many Chinese servants who followed her werealmost entirely men, unlike the case on the East Coast where mostservants were women.(Katzman,David M. Seven days a week: Women and Domestic Service in IndustrializingAmerica. New York, Oxford University Press, 1978. 55.) Domestic service in the nineteenth century changed because ofindustrialization. Previously, servants were drawn from nearbyrural areas and were often distant relatives of their employers.Employment as a servant provided food and housing, if not a cashincome, under the paternalistic (or, as some say, maternalistic)eye of a wealthy (or wealthier) patron. Servanthood, in the agrarianage, was barely a step up from slavery.(Rollins, Judith. BetweenWomen: Domestics and their Employers. Philadelphia, Temple UniversityPress, 1985. 7, 203.) As industrialization progressed, the rising middle class and itsaspirations, coupled with a decline in the number of agriculturalworkers, sparked an increase in the demand for and supply of domesticworkers. There was a consequent erection of class barriers, ashift to working for wages, and change in the population of theservant class. Instead of poor displaced relatives, servants camefrom the class of poor displaced rural workers who were attractedto the cities seeking increased opportunities. As the supply ofCaucasian rural expatriates declined, employers turned towardAfrican-Americans and immigrants. In addition, the bulk of thosebecoming servants were female.(Rollins, Judith. Between Women:Domestics and their Employers. Philadelphia, Temple UniversityPress, 1985. 31; Katzman, David M. Seven days a week: Women andDomestic Service in Industrializing America. New York, OxfordUniversity Press, 1978. 45.) On the West Coast, the situation was complicated by the demographicforces resulting from the many gold rushes. In the West, laborwas always scarce as every laborer mistakenly believed that workin the gold fields was more remunerative than any other kind.At the very least, the gold rushes drained off large numbers ofworkers who otherwise would have been filling jobs and buildingcommunities. There was also a resulting imbalance between thenumber of males and females, with females in decidedly shortersupply. The shortage of labor for such tasks as building the transcontinentalrailroad meant that employers sought to import workers, eitherfrom the eastern coast or from across the Pacific. Coupled withoutward propelling forces such as war, famine, and floods, southernChina responded to the pull of work by sending laborers to westernports.In accordance with Chinese custom, these immigrant laborers werealmost entirely male; the women were expected to stay at homeand sustain the husband's family. The demand for domestic laboreventually met the supply of Chinese workers, resulting in maleChinese laborers assuming the usually female role of domesticservant on the West Coast of the United States and Canada, despiteefforts to recruit from traditional sources in the eastern andsouthern states. By 1870, seeking replacements for the Chinese,the San Francisco Elevator lamented the lack of African-Americanworkers on the domestic scene.(Katzman, David M. Seven days aweek: Women and Domestic Service in Industrializing America. NewYork, Oxford University Press, 1978. 207.) Domestic service involved cooking, cleaning, waiting table, laundry,child care, and the hundreds of other tasks that the primary caregiverin each home provided. Many households required servants simplybecause the amount of work was too much for any one person. Inaddition, social mores stressed the incapacity of adult womenfor domestic labor. The weak and wan dependent woman of popularliterature could not be expected to carry and boil tubs of waterto do the laundry every week. These kinds of jobs required sturdyimmigrant women who didn't have "the vapors," or faintingspells.(Katzman, David M. Seven days a week: Women and DomesticService in Industrializing America. New York, Oxford UniversityPress, 1978. 111, 120, 149.) In addition, the rich social lifeof upper and middle-class women required more "free"time than continual house-cleaning and cooking provided. Afternoonsocial calls, teas, receptions, and dinners were part of the life-styleof the socially conscious. Florence Grohman, interviewing one"nice-looking girl," was surprised, after listing theservant's duties, to be asked, "What part of the work doyou do?" Startled, she answered forthrightly, and oh-so-patronizingly,"I ha[ve] a great amount of needlework and letter writing,and many social duties and a great deal of necessary reading toget through. In fact, if [you] only le[ave] off being busy whenI d[o], [you will] have a hard time."(Grohman, Florence."The Yellow and White Agony: a chapter on Western Servants"in, Fifteen years' sport and life in the hunting grounds of westernAmerica and British Columbia. by W.A. Baillie-Grohman ; with achapter by Mrs. Baillie-Grohman. London: Horace Cox, 1900. 358.)Others had their doubts about this distribution of the work-load.One observer noted: "For what good purpose this assistancesets the women free is not easy to guess; rocking the chairs seemsthe most arduous duty in many Californian homes, and it is onewhich is faithfully carried out."(Shepherd, William. Prairieexperiences in handling cattle and sheep. Freeport, Books forLibraries Press, [1971 reprint] 1885. 116-117.)Into this economic niche resulting from overwhelming demographic,social, and political factors stepped the Chinese laborer. TheChinese were no more suited for domestic service in the West thanwere the Basque fishermen who became sheepherders there; thiswas just an artificial economic niche that circumstances madeit possible for them to fill. Yet, they filled it in ways uniquelyChinese and -- as well -- uniquely western.It is difficult to discuss the typical Chinese servant in theNorth American West in the latter half of the nineteenth centurybecause there is little in the way of aggregate evidence to deducecommonalties. There is a quite a bit of anecdotal evidence butnot much in the way of quantitative summary data. (In an 1868 statistical report approximately 7 per cent of the Chinese immigrants in California were domestic servants; cited in Tsai, Shih-shan. China and the Overseas Chinese in the United States, 1868-1911. Fayetteville, University of Arkansas Press, 1983. 21.) In addition,it is useful to note that not all servants were always and foreverservants. Gin Chow reported that after his arrival in southernCalifornia he first washed dishes in a French restaurant, andthen went into domestic service for six years. Following thatperiod he became a gardener. Eventually he bought land and becamea farmer.(Gin Chow. Gin Chow's First Annual Almanac. Los Angeles:Wetzel Publishing, 1932. 29.) Ted Loy (Eng Moon Loy) started ascook on a Columbia River steamboat. He stopped at Lewiston, Idaho,at the end of the run from Portland, and joined the wealthy Vollmerfamily as houseboy. Within a few years he was in the restaurantbusiness for good.(Yu, Li-hua. Chinese Immigrants in Idaho. PhDdissertation, Bowling Green State University, 1991. 113.) WingYee, on the other hand, began as a houseboy, then became a cook.He remained with the same family for many years, assuming greaterresponsibilities as general farm manager. He was encouraged tobring a wife from China, who became housekeeper in his place;and his employers built a home for his growing family next tothe main house.(Wong, H.K. Gum Sahn Yum: Gold Mountain Men. n.p.,n.p., 1987. 125-130.)With that in mind, let us sketch in the experiences of a "typical"Chinese servant. Usually teen agers or younger when they arrived,most knew no English and had little idea of what to expect; manysuffered extreme homesickness. Often labor contractors assignedthem to specific jobs, and both the contractor and the employerexpected them to learn on the job. If successful, they learnedto cook and clean, acquired some English, and found a good home.The permanence of such a situation was not expected; and few wereas fortunate as Wing Yee. Any surplus funds were mailed back toChina to support the family remaining there or saved for a triumphantreturn to the ancestral village. Over time, and through carefulmanagement of their money, they moved on into other occupationssuch as restaurateur or laundryman. A successful servant coulddo well. Hang, cook for the Roe household in Montana, returnedto China with the immense sum of $1200 in savings.(Roe, Frances.Army letters from an officer's wife, 1871-1888. New York, D. Appleton& Co., 1909. 311.)The employers of servants in the West were not enthusiastic aboutthe choices presented to them. Catherine Hubback noted: In this country of happy equality young women consider domesticservice a disgrace, and contrive to make it such a grievance andmortification to their employers that were it not for China boysI don't know what we should do. Do our own work I suppose, whichis not so bad where there are 2 or 3 women to help but comes uncomfortableon one, who has not been used to it. But at present there is nolack of Chinese as they come over in ship-loads.(Hubback, Catherine.Letter, Oakland, CA, June 23, 1872. Bodleian Library, Oxford.Ms.Eng.lett.e.150.fols 19-20.) While "white" servants were desired, they were nextto unobtainable. Another woman wrote: "When I first wentout to British Columbia with my husband, ...I do not think thatthere were more than three families in Victoria, the capital,employing white servants. These could not be obtained in the country,but had to be imported at their employer's expense from the oldcountry. The white girls thus brought over seldom stayed in theirplaces long, as they quickly married, or left to obtain higherwages."(Grohman, Florence. "The Yellow and White Agony:a chapter on Western Servants" in, Fifteen years' sport andlife in the hunting grounds of western America and British Columbia.by W.A. Baillie-Grohman ; with a chapter by Mrs. Baillie-Grohman.London: Horace Cox, 1900. 333.) Those who were fortunate enoughto hire "white" labor displayed no little pride in theirfortune. "If my girl [Bridget] were not the best naturedin the world, she would be put out sometimes; but fortunatelyshe never is under any circumstances. She is a treasure and worthher thirty-five dollars a month in this part of the world. Ourneighbors have Chinamen and pay them thirty dollars. I would rathergive five dollars more and have a good reliable woman, althoughthe Chinamen make excellent servants, good cooks, and excellentwashermen and ironers."(Allen, Mary Julia. Letter, March15, 1868, [Camp Steele], San Juan Island, to Sister Carrie. Photocopy(of a typescript copy) in the Asian American Comparative Collection,Laboratory of Anthropology, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho.)Employers saw the "ship loads" of Chinese as a specificsolution to a specific problem. Later, it was conveniently overlooked that, as one commentatornoted, "...the cry against the Chinamen, because in familyservice they are underbidding white labor[,] can not be consideredworthy of much attention, when it is known that there has neverbeen a time in California when a wholesome, capable white person,willing to do house-work, could not readily find employment atbetter wages than they could command in the Eastern States forthe same labor."(Gibson, Otis. The Chinese in America. Cincinnati,Hitchcock & Walden, 1877. 107.) While domestic wages were higher in the West than in the East,the Chinese were able to compete almost entirely on price at first,not quality.(Wages in California in 1899 were estimated at $4.57a week, Katzman, David M. Seven days a week: Women and DomesticService in Industrializing America. New York, Oxford UniversityPress, 1978. 307; $30 a month was the rate on San Juan Island,Allen, Mary Julia. Letter, March 15, 1868, [Camp Steele], SanJuan Island, to Sister Carrie. Photocopy (of a typescript copy)in the Asian American Comparative Collection, Laboratory of Anthropology,University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho; $40 per month and room andboard in Lewiston, Idaho, Yu, Li-hua. Chinese Immigrants in Idaho.PhD dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 1991. 113; $40-$75per month, Yu, Li-hua. Chinese Immigrants in Idaho. PhD dissertation,Bowling Green State University, 1991; $40 per month, Donaldson,Thomas. Idaho of Yesterday. Caldwell 1941 p. 49; quoted by Yu,Li-hua. Chinese Immigrants in Idaho. PhD dissertation, BowlingGreen State University, 1991. 132; $10 per week, Trull, Fern Coble.The history of the Chinese in Idaho from 1864 to 1910. MA thesis,University of Oregon, June 1946; $15-$25 per month, Gin Chow.Gin Chow's First Annual Almanac. Los Angeles: Wetzel Publishing,1932. 29; $18-$30 per month, Grohman, Florence. "The Yellowand White Agony: a chapter on Western Servants" in, Fifteenyears' sport and life in the hunting grounds of western Americaand British Columbia. by W.A. Baillie-Grohman ; with a chapterby Mrs. Baillie-Grohman. London: Horace Cox, 1900. 349; $12-$30per month, Hubback, Catherine. Letter, Oakland, CA, September23, 1872? Bodleian Library, Oxford. Ms.Eng.lett.e.150.fols 29;$10 per month (as opposed to $30-$90 for a "white" woman),Vernon, Di. "The Chinese as house servants." Good Housekeeping,12(January 1891)20.) As one employer noted, "It is scarcelyfair to compare poor John with the trim English maid in her capand apron, who has been well trained in modern civilities as wellas her duties, nor can his culinary productions compare with thoseof a finished European cook; but with the average plain cook andthe inefficient housemaid the contrast would be all in his favour."(Grohman,Florence. "The Yellow and White Agony: a chapter on WesternServants" in, Fifteen years' sport and life in the huntinggrounds of western America and British Columbia. by W.A. Baillie-Grohman; with a chapter by Mrs. Baillie-Grohman. London: Horace Cox,1900. 333) Over time, and through on-the-job training, the Chinese developeda reputation for quality service worth paying for. An unusualletter from a "white" domestic, printed in the newspaper,underscores her perception of the economic disadvantage. What are the chances for getting employment in your city? TheChinese barbarians have captured Boise and will soon rule thewhites. I would like to know if this is a free and independentcountry? If so, why should the Chinamen carry on their bull-dosing[sic] operations? I went to Boise city to try and get employmentbut the answer at each house was, "We've got a Chinaman."I inquired the amount of wages paid. The answer usually was $8a week. I asked several of them what they would give a good cookand house keeper if they could get a white woman. The reply wasabout $4 a week. I left them disgusted, and subsequently met afriend, Mrs. ---. She wanted a girl if she could get one, havingjust discharged her Chinaman. I asked what she would pay a goodcook. She said $3 per week; she said she had given her Chinaman$7, but he was much better than a white woman. I bade her goodday, with a tear in my eye, wishing I was a Chinaman.(Idaho Avalanche(Silver City), March 31, 1877, as quoted in Yu, Li-hua. ChineseImmigrants in Idaho. PhD dissertation, Bowling Green State University,1991. 130.)Filling a vacant position was relatively easy. Grace Pfafflinnoted that in Lewiston, Idaho, they recruited their Chinese helpfrom local merchant "Quang Sing's voluntary employment bureau."(Pfafflin,Grace. Pioneer Chinamen of Idaho. Seeing Idaho, 1:9(February 1938)23. In one case, the employer placed a newspaper advertisementendorsing cook for a new position. Lewiston Northerner, 1:31(May22, 1875)3, as quoted in Wegars, P. Chinese at the Confluence(unpublished manuscript).) Many cities had employment agencies,often run by entrepreneurial Chinese, that brokered opportunitiesand vacancies.("Idaho Recorder on April 18 of 1894, furthernoted that a Chinese company called Fong Kee & Co. had openedan employment agency for Chinese cooks and laborers. [p.2,c.3],"as quoted in Yu, Li-hua. Chinese Immigrants in Idaho. PhD dissertation,Bowling Green State University, 1991. 130.) Selecting from theapplicants was not without its perils. As for engaging a boy, it would take too long to tell of all thelittle tricks practiced, the frauds perpetuated, the knaveriescommitted by the "officeman" and the boys he sends outto engage as servants. Some of them promise to come to work ata certain time, and then never appear, while the hapless housekeepersits waiting at home for the boy that is not to come. They askto see the kitchen, they put all the regulation questions as tothe number in the family, the time for meals, the size of thewash, generally winding up with, "no make beds." Ifthere is one thing above another that a Celestial seems to hate,it is to make a bed. The Chinese will take a place, representingthemselves as finished cooks, and when the first attempt at ameal shows their ignorance of how to boil potatoes, or to lighta fire, with a bland smile, John will say, "You teachee methen I sabe."(Vernon, Di. "The Chinese as house servants."Good Housekeeping, 12(January 1891)22.) Mrs. Hubback acquired her cook through Samki, an employment agent.At one point, hearing strange voices in the kitchen, she foundher cook and another Chinese who said: [H]e "had come from Samki, you savez Samki, he say that mango back to Samki -- he no learn cook -- I come here, I learn cook,my broder he go to city, he go to Samki." Meanwhile Moon'sface assumed a [frowning] look... & he said not a word. Aftera great deal of palaver & gibberish the other man was ejected,& Moon went & locked the door & then poured out atorrent of pidgeon English quite unintelligible. Howeverwhen he had calmed a little, I made out that Samkee wants himto make cigar boxes -- "I no like make boxes -- I likee learncook I no go" and he wants to stay here, but appears to bea good deal afraid tha[t] Samkee and an unknown but overwhelmingforce of Chinamen will come when I am out, & carry him away.If they come when I am at home, I am to say to them "Go [a]long,get out, get out, dam smart."(Hubback, Catherine.Letter, Oakland, CA, February 9, 1873. Bodleian Library, Oxford.Ms.Eng.lett.e.150.fols 42-43.)Another woman advised that it was not necessary to "go toan intelligence office. Rather, you ask an interview with thebest specimen of the sort you have seen in the houses of friends.There is a good chance that he will bring to you shortly aftera man, the exact counterpart of himself, who he will call his'cousin.'"(Faison, Jean. "The virtues of the Chineseservant." Good Housekeeping, 17(May 1896)279.) "Cousin" was shorthand for a clan relationship. (Tsai, Shih-shan Henry. The Chinese Experience in america. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1986. 46) Lack of language ability hindered both sides of the relationship.The employer was not expected to learn Chinese and the Chinesewere expected to learn English by osmosis. "The only boyI could get is a man, Moon, he calls himself, who has a silk tasselin his hair, & he not only knows very little cooking, butstill less English. It is not easy to get on with no languagein common, so as you say -- it is a trial -- I took him on trial,& I find him such."(Hubback, Catherine. Letter, Oakland,CA, February 9, 1873. Bodleian Library, Oxford. Ms.Eng.lett.e.150.fols42-43.) Mrs. Hubback fired another servant for his lack of skill,"He knows so little English that I could not make him understandan abstract idea, he thought I was angry with him, & saidpathetically 'Me go, you no likey Wan.' with his hand on his heart,& his diagonal eyes blinking narrowly."(Hubback, Catherine.Letter, Oakland, CA, April 27 1873. Bodleian Library, Oxford.Ms.Eng.lett.e.150.fols 44-45.) Then as now, immigrant workerssought help learning the dominant language. Missionaries wereeager to teach English as a way of spreading the gospel. Employersalso mistakenly believed that Christian teachings would make theChinese better servants. The Chinese responded in their own fashion.All the Evangelical churches threw open their assembly rooms,offering to teach the heathen to read, in hopes that they mightlearn the A B C of the gospel. Nor were the heathen unwilling,and discriminating fellows that they were, crowded around thebright young girls whose zeal in the Master's service had ledthem to this path of duty. But ancient spinsters were rejected,with that lack of gallantry characteristic of Oriental nations."Me no likee old one," was what each seeker after knowledgesaid. After a time, however, slowly but surely, it began to dawnupon the minds of some of these good people that the wily Chinesehad simply used their Christian endeavors as a free day schooland an intelligence office.(Vernon, Di. "The Chinese as houseservants." Good Housekeeping, 12(January 1891)21.)Note how the otherwise laudable effort to learn the dominant languageand become socialized in the dominant culture is ridiculed anddemeaned. Newspaper articles complained that the only result ofsuch education was that the pupil would just quit and go "elsewherefor higher wages."("Chinese Domestic Servants,"Idaho Signal (Lewiston), 1:49(February 8, 1873)1, reprinted fromthe "S.F. Chronicle.") Mrs. Grohman found herself actingas teacher to her servant; in exchange for security she gave himlessons. "...I disliked being alone in the house during thelong November evenings. Although I had many kind friends who tookpity on my loneliness, very often I felt it would be more cannyif Gee could be induced to stay in the house till nine or teno'clock. He did not seem to like the idea at all when I suggestedit, and nothing more was said about it for a few days. Then hecame with a proposal; 'Missus Gloman, I velly solly you all aloneevening. I stay till half-past nine or ten, but I like you teachme lead and write English; I get book. After work I come in? Youtink so?'"(Grohman, Florence. "The Yellow and WhiteAgony: a chapter on Western Servants" in, Fifteen years'sport and life in the hunting grounds of western America and BritishColumbia. by W.A. Baillie-Grohman ; with a chapter by Mrs. Baillie-Grohman.London: Horace Cox, 1900. 336-337.)Learning English was one thing, learning to cook was another.Although some Chinese were reportedly trained in hotel kitchensbefore being sent to families in the hinterlands, most learnedon the job.(Pfafflin, Grace. Pioneer Chinamen of Idaho. SeeingIdaho, 1:9(February 1938) 23.) It was part of the price one paidto have inexpensive help. Catherine Hubback noted: "WhenI was your age I had little idea I should ever be teaching cookingto a China man in California."(Hubback, Catherine. Letter,Oakland, CA, February 9, 1873. Bodleian Library, Oxford. Ms.Eng.lett.e.150.fols42-43.) Later, she added, "And I would much rather teacha China boy than an English girl even or Irish girl certainly.One never gets impertinence in words, & even if they are angrythey only slam the door. They cannot speak well enough to be saucy."(Hubback,Catherine. Letter, Oakland, CA, April 27, 1873. Bodleian Library,Oxford. Ms.Eng.lett.e.150.fols 44-45.) Florence Grohman was forcedto hire the cheapest of Chinese servants once, cheap by reasonof inexperience. One winter when I was in Victoria there was an unusual scarcityof Chinese servants, and I tried in vain to procure a suitablewhite girl. I at last engaged a small six-dollar boy. He couldsay "Yes," and "Boot," and "Knife."He knew absolutely nothing. When one has to train a boy like this,one recognises what it is not to have an European groundwork tobegin on. The most elementary things must be taught from the beginning.He could not light a fire, he had never used a scrubbing brush,and he had not yet realised that empty saucepans left on a red-hotstove will burn, and that tin ones invariably melt. But once shownhow to do anything, the boy, whom we called Charlie, not havingbeen able to understand his real name, never forgot how to doit.(Grohman, Florence. "The Yellow and White Agony: a c