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in the best streets of the Aly. They have a very respectable appearance and apparently do a flourishing business. A Chinese friend informed me the other day that this class of gambling homes is licensed by the Governor of Canton.
The second class is the thai fan. They are generally found in back streets. I have counted as many as four in one street; the sign is a piece of dirty pack sheet hung before the door.
Any household (Kaifong) has a right to interfere with these places. The very head of the Kai fong rarely does so, knowing that the Police have already been bribed to wink at the matter. Sometimes, however, one of the Kai fong is courageous enough to threaten to petition the Magistrate if the gambling homes are not closed.
If the said "Kai fong" is poor, he is sure to suffer for his audacity; if rich and influential, his threat produces a temporary effect. The gambling houses are shut whenever the said "Kai fong" is likely to be abroad. In some cases, I have observed scouts stationed at the corner of the street to give warning of his approach.
Sometimes the old place is shut up and a new place opened in an adjacent street, where the said Kai fong has no jurisdiction.