It will take about three hours to explore the town thoroughly and
study the life. The writer went through Chinatown on two evenings
at an interval of a few days, and saw this Asiatic Quarter of San
Francisco to great advantage. The first time was with a licensed guide
of long experience, and the second time it was under the direction
of a police-detective. Some five friends were in the party; and we
started on our tour of exploration about half past nine o'clock at
night. The night is the best time in which to study the life, for then
you can see the Chinese in their houses and at their amusements, as
well as many others who still are at work; for some of the Chinese
artisans toil for sixteen hours a day, and long into the hours of the
night. Here among them are no strikes for fewer hours, but patient
toil, as it were in a treadmill, without a murmur. My licensed
guide was Henry Gehrt, a man about fifty-five years old, of German
parentage. He had been in the business for twenty-seven years, and he
maintained an office on Sacramento Street. His badge was No. 60.
All guides must wear badges according to law.
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