Discussions

Today January 16 at the Tommy McLeod Curve Gallery Dr.'s May Yoh and Alison Marshall are opening an exhibition of Photographs and Archival material documenting the Chinese presence in Brandon and area collected in research projects spanning the last 20 years.  
 
In recognition of this event I offer this story from the Archives of Daly House Museum:  
The Police of Brandon were well known for their periodic Raids at Celestial nighttime meeting places. Often they were two story structures with a Restaurant or Laundry shingle hanging above the door.  
 
Above the ground floor area containing tables and chairs was located the living accommodation. After the regular cuisine serving hours of operation many visitors pushed by the piles of dirty dishes and swiftly ascended the staircase to the upper rooms and into the blue haze of Opium fumes.  
 
This particular midnight raid was executed in 1915, after a complaint was received by the local constabulary from a heavy Gaming looser. The raid was at the premises of a Greasy Spoon operation at 1028 Pacific Avenue. The Authorities interrupted twenty-eight monosyllabic Gamblers in the upper rooms, and the Oriental cousins scattered like rice chaff while trying to escape the arms of the law.  
 
One alleged gambler leaped from an open second floor window to only land at the feet of a waiting Constable. At the trial the Courtroom was filled with tables, cards, cash, and Opium Paraphernalia, Police exhibits used as evidence against the many Defendants. Mr. Mak Foi was fined an additional one hundred dollars to the common assessment levied on his companions because he was the proved owner of the “Dream Dust.”  
 
The case of Mr. George Lee occurred during the hours of daylight, when it was determined that he was not a Sunday Church goer. He used his time during the hours of Church Services to enter private homes in search of a friend, laundry, or just plain error. When he entered one Eleventh Street residence he mounted the stairs to reconnoitre the upper rooms, and was met by a startled housewife who had not attended Church that Sunday. She reported to police that the intruder was an Oriental man, who when discovered soon vacated the premises.  
Mr. Lee was soon apprehended, but because nothing was missing he was released from custody. Two hours later, a Resident living on Twelfth Street arrived home from Church to find their house had been burgled during their absence. Soon after, a formal complaint was received from an irate Thirteenth Street Matron who upon returning home from Church discovered her home strewn with burned matches, and a sum of money was missing. In the stolen money was a Banknote of unusual colour, and so the Police authorities quickly took Mr. Lee to City Hall for questioning. The special Banknote was in his possession, and became all the evidence needed to incarcerate the Sunday Rover.