For A Passport He Offered A Label From

Radio Record, 12 June 1936, Page 18

For A Passport He Offered A Label From

A Chinese Tea Packet

And The Authorities Accepted It, Unsmilingly !

"VE often heard about the imperturbability of the _ Oriental; now I know it is no mere idle ‘phrase. Long Tack Sam, the famous Chinese showman whose company is now touring New Zealand. ‘told me the other morning that, between 1929 and 1935, he lost a cool hundred thousand pounds in bank crashes

in various parts of’ Europe and America. And he told it to me with’ a smile; no venom in his voice. but with something of infinite wonderment in his eyes-wonder-ment, I should imagine,

at ‘the strange ways of the Occidental and his institutions. But we didn’t talk much about spilt milk... . "Tt must tell you of an incident of 80 years ago," he said, "when I was travelling to play a season at St. Petersburg. In those days Russia was one of the few countries in the world where a passport was required-a fact that I had entirely overlooked. I was held up at the border and my passport was asked for. Here was a pretty pickle! I was due to open in St. Petersburg at a certain date, and it didn’t look as if I would-be there. ‘And then I had an inspiration. I went to my bags, tore the label from a pound of tea I was carrying with me, and presented it to the officials. They turned the bright scarlet. label over, looked at the Chinese writing «n it-wrong side up,: in-

cidentally !-and handed it back to me very serionsly. ‘You are free to enter Russia,’ they told me. ITH bet I’m one of the few men who has got past the authorities with a Chinese tea label!" Long Tack Sam ran away from his home in Shanghai when he was 12. It was all over a little matter of a broken window-boys will be boys,. whether it’s Shanghai or Auckland-and the child mind so magnified the crime that running away seemed the only solution. He, got on a boat, was cleared off at Hong Kong, found another bout to carry him to Annam, then Bombay, and so to Marseilles. He spoke no

French, no English-and was just a small Chinese boy with a pigtail and no money. He watched some men performing in the streets, lifting weights, wrestling with one another and so on. ". And ‘then they passed the hat round and collected a nice little sum of money.

"J thought I would do likewise," said Sam, "and so I began turning cartwheels and ‘generally entertaining the crowd that collected. I hadn’t a hat so I held out my hand-and was rewarded with a number of francs. This. was easy, I thought

but there was a catch. The police took an interest in me, and I found myself at the station charged with ‘performing on the streets without a license.

"T-told them in my very bad French ‘that I had no money; no friends, no home-and I was helped to get.a small engagement at the Palace Theatre, in Marseilles. So I had enough money to go on:to London, ‘where I lived in a tiny room in Waterloo Road-four ‘shillings a week, I remember it cost me. TI still had- my pigtail and was dressed in my Chinese clothes, which’ were getting rather ragged. "A Chinese contortionist was wanted for a little theatre near Victoria Station, and I got the job. Chinese performers were rare in the London theatre:of those.days, and my act was a big success. I’m. afraid, too, that; I didn’t know very much about’ money, + "(Continued -on page 66).

Long Tack Sam, Chinese Master Showman, Chats With "Radio Record"

China’s Master Showman, Long Tack Sam

(Continued from page 18.) amd when I got my pay envelope at the end of the week I was surprised. I knew I was getting 14 something-I thought it was pence, I had hoped in my Wilder moments that it might be shillings, but I hadn’t dreamed that it would be golden sovereigns! My salary went from £14 a week to £40, people began to talk about me-I was a success. I saved my money and put it all in a Chinese bank in Charing Cross. When I came back from a provincial tour some time later, the bank had closed and the officials and my money had disappeared! "However, a2 Continental tour was in view, and I went off to Holland and Belgium. Then came Russia-that was just before 1900. In St. Peters‘burg I got an offer from a big Paris theatre, and could I bring a troupe with me? I spoke to some Chinese friends of mine who were living in St. Petersburg. They were living a hand-to-mouth existence and they thought I was a big shot because I stayed at a decent hotel. The Paris offer was for 14,000 francs a month, with transporta- tion. So I offered my friends the equivalent of £5 a month each, with board and lodgings. They jumped at it. : . "And that was the start of Long Tack Sam’s troupe that has since played in every country in the world. No, not quite. I’ve not been to Africa, but I hope to before I’ve finished." | Long Tack Sam is-a wealthy m} He has a beautiful home in Shanghai, a2 mansion in the West End of London, estates in Hurope. His wife is a. Viennese and his son is now at school in Vienna. But, with it all, he has not forgotten the struggle of the early days-and his generosity is renowned. It’s 12 years since he was in New Zealand. "Last time I was in Wellington I used to go fishing at Oriental Bay," he said. "But I don’t suppose there are many fish to be caught there now." Sam is particularly keen on fishing-just mention Lake Taupo to him and he’s almost willing to give the troupe a week’s holiday and jump aboard a Taupo-bound train!