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છે.. But why does the wife stop him, when the man can come here and get better wages?
A. Unless he is very economical he would spend all the money he earns in Hongkong.
Q. Amongst the coolies at the Peak under your control, are there any who have been private chair coolies? Do private chair coolies come to you?
A.-Very few come, about a dozen.
Q.-A dozen a year?
A.-Every season. My season is six months.
Q.--Why do they come to you? Why do they give up being private chair coolies?
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A. They come to me and say: "My legs are not strong enough to carry my master's chair."
Q.Have any of your coolies left you to become cargo or godown coolies?
A.-No.
Q--Have any of your chair coolies left you to become coal coolies?
A.-No.
Q.
Are meu who are coal and cargo coolies quite distinct from men who are chair coolies ?
A.-Quite distinct.
Q.-In what way do you mean? Do you mean to tell me that a cargo or coal coolie does not become a chair coolie or a chair coolie does not become a cargo coolie? Is it your general knowledge that the chair bearer when he is not fit to be a bearer longer, goes straight home?
A. They don't go into another business.
Mr. Wilcox. You say that in summer the coolies make seven or eight dollars.
Do they never make more than that?
A. Yes, they can make more than six or seven dollars sometimes.
Q. But you said seven or eight. In winter you say
?
A.-In winter, after deducting their expenses, they make four dollars nett profit.
Q. Do you know anything about coolie guilds?
A.-I don't know much about them.
The Chairman.-How much do you know?
A. The only men I know are my own bearers at the Peak.
Mr. Wilcox. What do you know about associations or guilds? are there any?
A.-My coolies at the Peak do not belong to any guild or association.
Q. What subscription do they pay to the lodging-house headman then?
A.-Seventy cents every man.
The Chairman. Supposing they lived with you the whole moon and didn't go to live in the down town coolie house?
A. Twenty cents then each man.
Mr. Wilcox. That then is their subscription? Now what does this money go for? When they are not living there what is the twenty cents used for?