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fare.
Q. Do they bargain with you beforehand ?
A. Yes, they bargain with me beforehand, but I always keep myself to the proper
Q-Suppose you pulled a Chinese from the Fire Brigade Station as far as Arsenal Street, how much would he pay you for that?
A. Well, say sixty cash, but I generally demand seventy. Of course, I must have a little margin, and if they offer me sixty cash I take it.
Q-But that is more than the legal fare?
A.Sometimes I accept fifty cash.
Q.-That is five cents. That is the legal fare, isn't it?
A. I can't force a man to pay. I say I want so much, he offers so much, and I accept it.
Q.-But the question is, don't you get Chinese who offer you less than fifty cash for the journey and you take it ?
A. Yes, I sometimes accept less than five cents.
Q. Don't non-Chinese very often pay you more than the legal fare?
A. Sometimes they pay more than the proper fare.
Q. Can you tell us which class of non-Chinese pay you more than the proper fare? Is it soldiers, sailors and visitors?
A.—Well, sometimes. On one occasion, I happened to take a sailor down to Arsenal Street to what is called "Blue Buildings." I thought he was to give me a good fare, but it turned out that he had not a cent in his pockets and I had to let him go for nothing. Sometimes soldiers pay me more and sometimes less, but I accept it.
Q.-You mean to say that you accept less than the legal fare?
A. Yes.
Mr. Badeley. Do you know whether there are many coolies plying unlicensed rickshas for public hire?
A. I don't know.
Q.-You have never seen such rickshas ?
A. I have never seen any.
LAU TSIN declared:-
The Chairman.--What are you ?
A. I am a newcomer and a chair coolie.
Q. When did you arrive?
A.-I have only been here about a month.
Q. Had you been here before?
A.I had not been here before.
Q.-During the month you have been here, how much money have you made?
A.-I have only made about three or four dollars nett.
[The examination of this witness was not proceeded with as he had not been long enough in the Colony.]