Tong Sing Wo

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Tong Sing Wo

Tong Sing Wo had the largest of the Chinese Merchant shops in Bodie; the Tong Sing Wo General Merchandise Establishment - Domestic and imported. It was three stories high. It was on the main street of Chinatown. It was one of the few substantial buildings in Chinatown. The first floor was filled with Chinese merchandise that both Chinese and whites would purchase. It was about as far as most people ever got. It was as far as most people ever expected to get! Dark tales were circulated about the upper floors!

But it was the second and third floors that showed the darker side of a Tong and the Chinese culture. On the second floor was the gaming hall. Many of today's most popular gambling games were brought by the Chinese to this country. Games like Keno, Mahjong, the West's ever popular faro, and the very difficult Pai Gow Poker. When one entered the second floor it was crowded with Chinese men and a few whites.

It was the opium that pervaded the gaming room that would have been most noticeable. On the sides of the walls were opium bunks. No one paid much attention to them, except the addicts. The addiction to opium showed different stages from those who were twirling the little round ball in the flame of the lamp to those to those were done smoking and having their dreams. The opium bunks were never empty!

The third floor was very private. Only a special invitation could get one up there. The third floor was just an opium den - but on a grand scale. It was filled with teakwood bunks all enclosed by silk curtains. Not only was it private and expensive, it was said to contain better opium.

The Legend of Tong Sing Wo and Pretty Maggie

Tong Sing Wo was involved in one of Bodie's more infamous stories. There was a young Indian girl named Pretty Maggie. Her mother died when she was a baby and she was being raised by very poor grandparents. Old Jim and Annie would often go without food when there was just enough to feed their granddaughter. They would look for gold to eke out a living. One day she found a small nugget and got $25 for it. Old Annie and Jim in their hovel on right.

She always wanted a pretty scarf so she went to Tong Sing Yu's store. Imagine what those beautiful, silk, colorful Chinese scarves looked like to her. Tong Sing Wo seemed to really like her and took a special interest. He let Pretty Maggie have the silk scarf for free. He just asked her to come back tomorrow and let him know if she really liked it. She came back the next day. And the next day. and the next. Each time staying a little longer.

Soon she was staying overnight. Old Jim and Annie did not know what was going on with the granddaughter they raised.

Finally she came back one last time to say good-bye. She was wearing a peculiar looking blue dress with fancy embroidery, a necklace of gold with green jade and a jade ring on her finger. Her hair was cut straight across her forehead. Old Annie and Jim could hardly recognize her.

Maggie was at first frightened of the second and third floor. But Tong Sing Wo gave Maggie her own opium den. She began to use the drug and soon was using it regularly. Years went by and people in the gambling hall got used to seeing Pretty Maggie wandering around in her Chinese finery.

This went on for a long, long time until the mines in Bodie were played out. As the miners and white merchants moved out, the Chinese also began to talk. One morning she woke up from her den and the building was completely dark. The windows were boarded shut and no one was there. It took a while for it to sink in that the Chinese had all left with Tong Sing Wo, but they left food and opium. For months Pretty Maggie stayed inside always using opium. But that opium finally ran out.

Ragged, wailing and demented Pretty Maggie found her grandparents. They tried to take care of her, but she never spoke a word. She just wandered the hills with her head ever down. One day when she was walking she saw what she had been looking for. A plant was just sprouting out of the earth. She ate the roots - whole handfuls of them. The deadly parsnip did its job. Pretty Maggie was once again free!