Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-30
STRANGE SIGHTS ARE FOUND
TN SLEEPY OLD CHINATOWN

gether to be companionable in their
misery.
on Apablasa street, just where you
turn out of the narrow alley from Ala
media, there is a low building and the
doors are heavily barred and a knock
on one Of the heavy panels is the
signal for high squeaky voice.
"Hoolama," calls the celestial and then
slams the door when he sees you are
a foreigner"
Wholesome Fear Of STROBE
There is a story about that building
and the Chinese never tire of telling
of that fearful night when, "Stlode,
him alice samee devil" suddenly
dropped from the skies and landed in
the center of a gambling table. They
take off their hats to officer Strode
for he is not Of their understanding.
In the main room of the resort where
thousands of dollars we're nightly won
and lost, celestial kept close watch
on a stairway going to one of the
upper floors Of the building. There
was curtain over this doorway sus-
pended from a heavy bar.
Strobe made schemes to get inside
the building until his head ached and
then he got in Climbing over roofs
from the far side of the Chinese dis
top of the gambling resort. The exer-
else was terrible and he was nearly
fainting when he finally climbed
through the upper floor of the den.
Makes Fearless Dash
For ten minutes he stood at the top
of the stairs listening to the fan tan
buttons and then he started to descend
toward that curtain at the bottom.
u, tI,a n
the figure of the lookout and then
he feared that he was about to lose,
for he could not have gone step
farther without betraying his pres
ence.
with a last gasp for breath, he
leaned forward and dived at the curtain
pole. His hands grasped it tightly and
he swung all his might and let go.
Like a demon of vengeance, wrapped
in the remnants of the curtains, he
flew through the air and landed in a
sitting posture right in the center of
the table.
The celestials shrieked their terror,
too frightened to fight, and finally out
of the dust and cloth the face of Strobe
appeared and the gamblers surren-
dered.
In Niger alley, just a block away,
officer Willet created a sensation some
time ago by climbing a standplpe up
through three stories and then diving
through a window and surprising
lottery outfit
Tongs Still Powerful
Three full opium dens flourish in the
Chinatown district and all do land
office business. The tourists are never
permitted in these places, simply be-
cause the Chinese want privacy.
In a dozen places, hidden well away
from public gaze, the tongs still reign
supreme These societies still have
their highbinders for members and al
though many of them have not been
out of the buildings for years they
still scheme and plot and are dreaded
like snakes.
Half the town is composed of re-
formists who are working for civil
lied conditions, both for Chinese in
China and in this country. but the
other half fight back and hold on like
grim death to the customs of the old
days when the joss was all powerful
and the highbinder played havoc with
his hatchet.
Only through the assistance of those
who know, can the real places of
interest be seen and the people of Los
Angeles pay little or no attention to
the doings of the strangest attraction
within their gates.