Q What are your father's names?
A Ong To Ming and Ong Ging Lung
Q How old is he?
A 36
Q What village is your mother from?
A San Gok village, about two pos from my village
Q What kind of feet does your paternal grandmother have, and what is her age?
A Bound feet, 59 years old.
Q How large is your home village?
A 18 houses
Q How many rows of houses?
A Six rows
Q Where is the schoolhouse?
A First building east side
Q Is there an ancestral hall in the village?
A No
Q Where do you get water for your house?
A There is a pool of water in front of the village outside of the gate
Q How many gates to the village?
A Two
Question after question, I was able to answer
For two solid hours
These were the questions of the white Inmigration Inspector Ghosts
Of The Island
August 30, 1912, The Island
I am free- Mei Gwok! Gum Saan! Gold Mountain! America!
A white Immigrant Inspector Ghost has made a decision
There are no material contradictions in the testimony
The father made a trip to China in 1887
Which would make his parentage to applicant possible
There is no adverse testimony
I recommend favorable action
Maybe now I will find that Gold Mountain
Maybe now, since I'm off The Island
January 6, 1921, Arizona Mountains
Nothing is simple
Even wanting to travel to China to find a bride
I must seek the white Immigrant Inspector Ghost's permission
I must seek a "Return Certificate " if I want to return
Return to the mountains of Arizona, where I have actually found a community
A small community of descent folks who seem to respect me
I appreciate their White Ghost friendship,
My countrymen in other parts of Mei Gwok have not found such friendship
But of course
I still have to answer the white Immigrant Inspector Ghost's questions:
Q Are you married?
A No
Q Have you ever been married?
A No
Q Where were you born?
A I was born in the Gow May Village, Hoi Ping District, China
Q How old is your father?
A I don't know exactly, but he is about 45 or 46 years old
Q Where is he now?
A Running the American Restaurant
Q What village is your mother from?
A San Gok village
Q Where were your brothers born?
A One was born in the Gow May Village, and my other brother was born in the Ng Ong village
Q Where is your brother Choon Wing?
A He is working in a grocery store in Gilbert, Arizona
Q Did your mother have any brothers or sisters?
A She has one or two brothers, but no sisters
Q In your home village, where is your house located?
A Second row, second house, counting from the West
Q How many houses in your row?
A Three houses
Q Who lives in the third house?
A OngYuenThim
Q Did you register for the Selective Draft?
A Yes, here is my card issued by the Local Board, Pinal County, Florence, Arizona
Q What is the object of your present visit to China?
A I intend to visit my mother and relatives
Q Do you expect to get married on this trip to China?
A Yes
Q Do you expect to bring a wife back to the United States with you?
A I don't know
An hour of questioning
But I was prepared
For the questions of the white Immigrant inspector Ghosts
January 24, 1921. Arizona Mountains
I am told I am lucky
In less than three weeks my Return Certificate has arrived
The white Immigration Inspector Ghost informs me
Favorable recommendation made by the Inspector in Charge in Tucson
Sufficient evidence in corroboration of claimed American citizenship
I can now travel to China to find a bride
I MUST travel to China to find a bride
Other white policymaker ghosts have imposed anti-miscegenation laws
China is where I must find a bride
June 18, 1924. Arizona Mountains
My bride Choon-fung has arrived!
When we met on my trip to China three years ago
She was the most beautiful, but not interested in marriage
Yet I convinced her She tells me the elders of her village wept upon her departure
Of course, for they have lost their most beautiful daughter
Now I must travel from Arizona to Dai Fow-San Francisco-to
assist her
For she is detained, where I was once detained
At The Island
I carry with me the affidavit
From my white ghosts friends of my mountain town in Arizona
They implore the white Immigrant Inspector Ghosts:
Facilitate the debarkation.of this man's wife, Choon-fung
He has been a part of OUT community for the past nine years
His grocery business is prosperous and requires his attention
He is our friend
They sign with their white ghost titles
G.L. King, Cashier Bank of Superior
J.M. MacPherson, Owner & Manager Magma Hotel
R.J. Jesse, Owner & Manager Superior Drug Co.
F.W. Voal, Mgr. Kelvin Lumber & Supply Co.
J.N. Small, Vice Pres. Bank of Superior C.
Edgar Botkin, Part owner Botkin & Sanders store
Dolores A Benson, Owner Benson's Art Store
M.A. Moody, Mgr. Superior Light &. Power Co.
N.A. Brown, Depty United States Marshall District of Arizona
June 30, 1924, The Island
The interrogation by the white Immigrant Inspector Ghosts was familiar
Their questions did not shake us
We are in love
To me they asked:
Q When and where were you married?
A April 21, 1921 in the Ung On Village
Q Are your parents both living?
A Yes
Q What is your occupation?
A The Spring Garden Grocery
Q Who arranged your marriage?
A My mother
Q At what time did your wife arrive at your house on the wedding day?
A At four o'clock in the afternoon in a sedan chair
Q Who came with her?
A Eight persons accompanied her, including two chair bearers and some of her people carried trunks and some furniture belonging to her.
Q Describe the ceremony.
A Fire crackers were exploded on her arrival; there was no ancestral worship. There were two feasts held; one on the 14th and one on the 15th day of the month. There were seven or eight tables set at each feast
Q Did the bride serve the guests with anything?
A She poured tea for the guests and also beetle nuts
The white Immigration Inspector Ghosts asked my bride Choon-fung:
Q Describe your husband's mother?
A Mar Shee, natural feet, living in the Ung On Village
Q What is your husband's occupation?
A He is in the grocery business
Q How many rows of dwellings in your husband's village?
A Seven rows
Q By what ceremony were you married?
A New Chinese custom
Q At what time did you arrive at your husband's house on the day of the wedding?
A About four o'clock in the afternoon on a sedan chair
Q How many persons came with you?
A Eight persons, including go-between, the men who carried the sedan chair and some who carried the household goods and my baggage
Q What did you bring in the way of household goods and baggage?
A I had a wardrobe, two trunks, table, basins and wearing apparel
Q How many feasts were held?
A Two feasts, on the 14th and 15th.
The questioning ended in an hour and a half
At the end of the questioning they asked:
Do you have anything further to state?
I answered "no, " but I wanted to shout:
RELEASE MY BRIDE
I'M TIRED OR YOUR WHITE GHOST POWER AND CONTROL!
The white Immigrant Inspector Ghosts continue to hold the key to Gold Mountain
July 1, 1924, San Francisco Waterfront
We have been blessed; Choon-fung has been released!
The decision of the white Immigrant Inspector Ghosts reads:
The applicant has the appearance of a respectable Chinese country woman.
The case bears all indications of being genuine
Certificate of Identity approved
We are free to move forward
Mei Gwok, Gum Soon
The Gold Mountain of which I have dreamed may exist after all
Perhaps we can find Gold Mountain
In the mountains of Arizona
Among friendlier white ghosts
Away from the white Immigrant Inspector Ghosts
Of the Island
