Chinese Prostitutes In 1900S Essays - Sex Industry, Prostitution

Chinese Prostitutes In 1900'S In California, between 1850s to the Chinese Exclusion Act, most of the Chinese women who came to San Francisco were either slaves or indentured. They were often lured, kidnapped or purchased and forced to work as prostitutes at the brothels which is run by secret society of the Tongs of San Francisco. Chinese prostitutes also were smuggled and had worked at the Chinatown brothels in the Comstock Mines in Nevada. Chinese prostitutes were commonly known as prostitutes of the lowest order. Both outcast slatterns and Asian slaves stood at the edge of the irregular marketplace, far more socially stigmatized than ordinary prostitutes. The demand for Chinese prostitutes in California was primarily due to the shortage of Chinese women and the prohibitions and taboo against sexual relations between Chinese men and White women. During the period of unrestricted Asian immigration from 1850 to 1882, more than 100,000 Chinese men but only 8,848 Chinese women entered the United States. The incredible sex ratio and the isolation of Chinese men from white communities generated nearly ideal demand conditions for prostitution, but white prostitutes rarely accepted Chinese customers. The same merchants and members of protective associations who had arranged passages and jobs for male sojourners leaped into the breath, supplying Chinese prostitutes to their own immense profit. These secret Chinese Tongs based in San Francisco controlled Asian prostitution in San Francisco and in the mining towns such as Comstock, Nevada. The Hip Yee Tong, the secret society that reportedly started the prostitution trafficking in 1852. These org anizations, the tongs, soon monopolized the control of viceprostitution, gambling and opium. The Hip Yee Tong in 1852 was founded for the sole purpose of importing sing-song girls (prostitutes). The members enriched themselves at the expense of the girls and their customers. Chinese prostitutes were almost always imported as indentured servants or mui jai. The women were usually between the ages of 16 to 25. Mui jai were girls who had been sold into domestic service or labor by their poor parents. Their owners were expected to provide them with food and housing and to match them with husband when they become of age. But some were sold by their masters in China for $70 to $150 and then resold in America for $350 to $1,000 or more. It was a wholesale and retail operation. Like the price of merchandise, the price of prostitutes fluctuated depending upon supply and demand. During the times of war and famine in Chines, when there was an increase in the sale of daughters, prices dropped. Prices rose in the United States whenever stringent laws were passed to suppress Chinese prostitution. An estimated 85 percent of the Chinese women in San Francisco were prostitutes in 1860, 71 percent in 1870, and 21 percent in 1880. At the time of the Spanish-American war there were over 400 singsong girls in the Chinese Quarter. Yet they could not keep up with the city-wide demand for their services, much less fill the requirements of the State at large. The disreputable houses, together with gambling dens, constituted a firm economic base for the fighting tongs. Upon their arrival in San Francisco, these young Chinese women were taken to the barracoon, which were also known as the auction block or Queens Room, the barracoon was closed guarded room large enough to house fifty to one hundred women. In the barracoon women, like livestock, were put on display for sale. They were stripped for inspection and sold to the highest bidder. They were forced to sign service contract, which only a few of them could read the terms, and thumbprinted. The contracts usually states that for the girl was indebted to her new master for passage from China, which cost about $500 to 700 in 1860-70s, she will serve as a prostitute for four to five years without wages. The luckier girls were sold to well-to-do Chinese as concubines or mistresses or to the parlor houses to serve upper-class gentlemen. The lowest less-fortunate women were confined in cribs, rooms no larger than four-by-six feet, where they were forced to hawk their trade to poor laborers, teenage boys, sailors, and drunkards for as little as twenty-five to fifty

Tricing Pendants and Lifeboat Rigging

Tricing Pendants and Lifeboat Rigging A tricing pendant is part of the rigging that allows lifeboats to be launched. The system to launch a lifeboat is complex and the tricing pendants play an essential role if the ship is heeling or laid over because of damage. The Mechanics of Launching a Lifeboat To launch a lifeboat the boats must first be freed from the cradle straps called Gripes. (Insert nautical gripe joke here.) Next small twin cranes called Davits are brought into the launch/recovery position. Each Davit is equipped with a powerful winch and emergency manual brake. These Davits are fitted with hoisting lines called Falls which attach to the lifeboat harness which is in turn fastened to the gunwales on opposite sides at the fore and aft of the boat. Lines attached to the bow and stern of the lifeboat are called Frapping Lines and are used to control the movement of the boat as it is lowered or raised. An additional line is attached to the bow of the lifeboat to keep it near the ship after all other rigging has been released. This line is called a Sea Painter. Under the boat, usually attached to the keel, is a device called a McCluny Hook which allows lines attached under the boat to be released remotely. The lines attached to the McCluny Hook are routed to the Tricing Pendants which are an apparatus used to pull the lifeboat to the embarkation station when the ship is at an abnormal angle. If lifeboats were lowered while the vessel is heeling over from the damage they will either slide down the side if they are on the high side or enter the water far away from the embarkation station if they are on the low side. Its very easy to be injured in a lifeboat. The Costa Concordia wreck off the coast of Italy is a prime example of the dangers of evacuating by lifeboat. At least two people died on the wreck because they attempted to swim to the rocky shore rather than risk the poorly deployed lifeboats. A tricing pendant is a device that is made up of three main components. The length of line or chain that is attached to the keel of the lifeboat via a McCluny Hook, a block and tackle system that increases mechanical force, and the lines and often winches that draw the lifeboat close enough for passengers to get aboard. Lifeboat Drills Under SOLAS There is an ongoing controversy surrounding SOLAS Conventions as they pertain to lifeboat training and drills. For safety reasons, SOLAS compliant vessels cannot have occupied lifeboats during launch or recovery. Lowering manned lifeboats is very hazardous to everyone involved and there are many deaths and injuries from lifeboat drills. Its a very different experience to lower a lifeboat with operators than it is to lower an empty lifeboat. This is true for the crew who will ride down in an emergency situation and for the crew running the Davit winches above and tricing pendant gear at the embarkation station. SOLAS is probably right to try and limit training injuries, but without realistic training that is used for emergency evacuation of the vessel, there is little hope for competent launch and recovery of lifeboats in a bad situation. Some ships continue to carry out lifeboat drills with a mix of skirting the rules and using allowed activities to replace prohibited training. This will result in some skills but not the best skills. To have the best training for your crew they must be exposed to the most realistic training available and that means manned lifeboat drills. If SOLAS is to be amended it will take many voices to overcome what is generally seen as a hindrance to safety training. Speak up directly to the IMO or email here and we will pass the comments along.