Lone Star 02 Read Online Free PDF Page A

Arthur,” Jessie corrected herself. “But there has been all that correspondence between us since my father‘s—”
    â€œDeath,” Lewis quickly interrupted.
    â€œNo, Arthur. Let’s call it what it was,” Jessie firmly corrected him. “It was murder.”
    Lewis frowned, then sighed. “I see your mama’s spark more plainly now, Jessie. And I see in you your father’s iron will and intelligence.”
    â€œIn the telegram you sent last week, you spoke of an urgent situation that required my personal attention, but there were no details,” Jessie said. “Tell me what is going on.”
    Lewis nodded. “Let’s start from the beginning. The main-stay of the Starbuck business is still the Pacific trade. It’s from this end that we get the working capital necessary to fund the Starbuck ventures into other areas. Our lumber mills in Oregon, for example, the cattle ranch in Texas, where you and Ki reside—”
    â€œYes, Uncle,” Jessie patiently said. “And there’s the recent merger with that textile concern in New England. I negotiated that myself, you know.” She winked at him. “Really, Uncle. I’m no longer that little girl who sat on your lap.”
    â€œNo...” Lewis sounded rueful. “Well, I’m aware that you’re on top of things, Jessie, so I guess I’d better get to the point. We need—our clippers need—San Francisco’s port in order to continue to do business. The port is now regulated by a corrupt city official named Harris Smith. It’s up to this Smith fellow to say when we get to unload our cargo, and when our ships can sail again. Why, he even gets to decide how much duty we have to pay on our goods! This official, or his minions, tie our goods up for ninety days at a time, making us pay penalties to our customers for late deliveries. When he does lift his embargoes, he charges us three times the proper duty rates.”
    â€œCan you not complain to a higher authority?” Ki interrupted.
    Lewis smacked his desktop with the flat of his hand. “Sure, I can complain all I want, Ki. But it gets us nowhere. The city government looks the other way concerning things like this. Smith’s job as waterfront commissioner is a patronage position. He’s appointed by the mayor.”
    â€œAnd the mayor won’t fire him?” Jessie asked.
    â€œUnfortunately the mayor is under obligation to two powerful shady interests in this city,” Lewis explained. “These two interests wish things to stay exactly as they are on the waterfront. The first interest is one of the Tongs.”
    Ki frowned. “That is bad for us, Arthur.” In response to Jessie’s confused look, Ki said, “Tong means ‘association’ in Chinese. They were once family associations that looked after the interests of their family members when the American authorities would not. But the name has recently been taken by bands of ruthless criminals who now control all commercial activity in the Chinese community.”
    Lewis nodded and went on, “There are five of these associations—called ‘families’—in San Francisco. The one that controls the waterfront is called the Steel Claw Tong.”
    â€œWhy should they affect us?” Jessie asked. “I thought you said they only worked in the Chinese community.”
    â€œUnfortunately,” Arthur Lewis said, “the Steel Claw Tong has its steel claws in quite a few other places as well. Their main ‘businesses’ are the opium and slave traffic. The slaves—women, you can guess for what purpose—and the opium have to be brought into the country, and it isn’t the Chinese who run the ships. The Steel Claw Tong owns opium dens and brothels. This Smith fellow is paid off to look the other way as the Tong brings in its dope and female slaves, and meanwhile, he har asses us in our