John Chinaman no
make laws for me
Ning Chang
I.
John Chinaman make no laws for me
I do not know what the public sentiment is
For any man to ride through California
Slide swiftly and smoothly
Gliding over the level plain
And see
Miles upon miles of
Bone-labor
Sacramento-Truckee-Colfax-Reno
The great basin
Partake ofa capital cup of coffee and
spring chicken on toast
We do not see the peaks
their—
Destroying
Cost
The trouble of quarrying
II.
An army of workmen
Throwing down across track
It is
Expensive transportation
It was hard work
Ever climbing steadily upwards
Undulating and rugged
With all the hues of the Opal
The glory!
III.
Steady
Steady
Pounding on the rock
Said the workman:
Howe truss
Howe truss
These damned
Americans
Sell for 35 a month, me
Make no laws
Me no buy
IV.
Lying
Open and treeless
A glimpse of the future
Soft and unfrozen
When they desire
Unclouded
a saffron-colored thread
V.
We commence.
We cling to the side of the mountain as a swallow clings to a cliff.
Now
Thrown over the tracks
Bodily
Blasted through the solid Granite Spurs
Dash in foamy torrents down every canyon
Down the sides of every precipice
Still falling
Now
Blue-cold
Feel the weight of
Snow
Enveloped
Nothing but
Pure brilliant white.
We commence.
Picks and shovels
Flashing against the blue sky
The work advanced with accelerated speed so much for nitroglycerine
VI.
Hewers of wood
Drawers of water
Nothing but
This terrible explosive compound
Swarming
Vast hordes
Of nitroglycerine
Chinamen
Running
Through this close-grained Stone
The immense machine
We are
An army of
smashed-up
workmen we
will
Lift Mount Tamalpais bodily from its base and place it on the summit of Mount Diablo And we could still look down double-mountain-high
VII.
bridging
and
Obstacles to overcome
With
Skill and caution
Minor affairs—minor only, comparatively speaking
of
Circumventing impossible barriers
Along the line
Everything around speaks of
Preparations for
Stop orders
Printed in the Chinese language
Impede the work
Say goodbye to our
Efforts
And our
Broken-into
wretched condition
deny the right of the overseers
restrain them
VIII.
The heat is such we
Breathe with short, sharp aspirations
We have ascended
Arms crossed
Burying pickaxes in the sand
Non plus ultra might be written on the granite walls.
Work was entirely suspended.
We
Chinamen
the key to
The Triumph of Labour in our state
Are fortunate enough,
Never anything else but what they are
Unlimited
We
The shadow of a tempest
We experience knowing
California
By
our
hands
Cutting both ways
To the heart of
delicate pink like the inner surface of a seashell
we wait with what patience we make
We lean back
Among the flowers
IX.
The gentleman remarked
The purpose
Well
We have gotten well weary of our ride
We are
Beyond praise
Made the trip in excellent time
Without fail always out measured
Would cut more rock in a week
Sure, and we may be proud of
Our maximum strength
But
Emissaries
Designing persons
Deny the right—
They could comprehend but
Could not see
that no one made the laws
Not a word was said, nothing was done
There is labor for all
When you
Keep the horses at work
But
The Chinamen are here
They will spend their time
Instead
Ruffled by a breath of breeze
X.
This condition of Affairs lasted
Among intelligent people
and on Monday morning at six o'clock
The eagle sets his wings and floats noiselessly down, down through the realms of air, towards the Earth, from his aviary among the clouds.
Men
Returned peaceably to work
XI.
Daylight was let through, August 3rd 1867
It could be done
Nothing is impossible
XII.
Rushing and roaring out of the cold eastward
We have traveled miles
We have traveled miles
We shall be able to whirl across the continent
We are above the sea
Across the valley, the train moves out of town at Sacramento.
May I be there to ride.
the mighty task is accomplished, after years of toil and expenditure
of millions words fail us to describe our sensations, we will not attempt it.