The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-03-21
THEY CAN'T FIND KAVANAUGH
POLICE THINk TONG kTLLED
CHINESE THEATRE MANAGER.

Nut lsls VIE Doubts H-Feur RrOthers
Had q se~re 60 " 70 ny One Line er
ReasSning kaVauaugh Was MARRIED
One white Wan the Quarter TCustcd.
Billy Kav anauGh. Who for fifteen wears
has been one OF the best known chArac-
ters in Chinatown. has been missing for
four DAYS. Last night a general police
alarm was s-nt out at the suggestion Of
Capt. Mike Calvin OF the Elizabeth street
station
. kavanaUgh. Who was the manager
Of the chinese Theatre. was last seen
az : O'clock ON Thursday morning. The
police believe that he has been done away
with by enemies he had made among
the Chinese.
street with his wife. two children by
This marriage and three by former
one Mrs. Kayanaugh slid last night
that her husband left home "Wednesday
afternoon saying tina, he Was going to
SEE some vaudeville people. 4 frieni
said he saw him late "Wednesday night
in Chinatown starting for the elevated
road. Kavansugh told the friend hs was
going home.
Mrs Kavanaush says her husband
u8n apDuN EkUp W GiNAtles N0NAl Wv
/ left the house and she fears he may have
been Knocked on the head for the money.
! she said that she had just % cents to
take care Of the family with when kava-
naugh left the house.
/ Billy kavanaugh u in soms r-spe cts
the most important man in Chinatown.
lie speaks Chinese and English with a col
I lOauial fuency which came in handy
wa...A
To solve the puzzle OF the tong war in
Chinatown several Years ago. He was
considered the Official interpreter OG The
real Chinatown. the Chinatown ct the
Chinese.
bait he once aaid that he was born and
raised in Chinatown and had served a.
lobbygow or errand runner IN his youth.
/ He had been With the Chinese Theatre
ever since he Nas q boy.
I At the theatre Billy was charge DAT
faires He engaged the Chinese actors.
announced the new plays on the village
billboard. handled the money in the
box Office and paid the actors, acted as
stage manager and lounged IN front
OF the theatre while the show was on
welcoming with dignifisd AIootness the
sightseeVs who entered that dark and
dinky showhouse. He did a great work
popularizing the Chinese shows. Had
IL not been for Billy KAvanaugh the
sightseers and others would never have
known that the Chinese dramas were
classics and that the Chinese actors
devoted themselves from infancy to
their artistic task
Tbs strong point about the missing
man was his neutrality n the AFFAIRS OF
the tongs. Billy was an honorary mem
Der Of both the On lDsonR Tong and the
Hip Sing Tong and a man apart from the
perpetual snmities between them. The
Chinese. who trusted him AZ they trusted
no other white man. esteemed his once
as the manager Of the theatre to be
sacred and Billy was 60 them a priest Of
art. OF this rank Billy was justly proud.
hut he admitted that IL sometimes caused
I him trouble For the very reason that
his theatre was neutral ground the tongs
were inclined TO do hattie In a. long
wars have started in the Chinese Theatre
| II was a tribute TO Billy KAvanaugh. but
dana giRg 90 business.
/ The latest tong scrap fought between
the -Four Brotherhood society and the
On Ls,ongs last Decsmher was too much
! for Billy's artistic entsrprise and the
Chinese Theatre closed down until peace
should come. In a gloomy frame Of
mind. foresseinR other wars. Billy sold
the theatre Ia Raymond Hitchcock. the
! actor Hitchcock redecorats.d and dts
! infected IL and IL was reopen~d at the
/ beginning Of this month with Billy as
manager and Joe Humphreys Aa as
sistAnt. Billy had guaranteed salary
and what with shocking the respon-
sibility and possible financial loss and
being back in his old hAunts he has since
been a happy man
Happy bat for one thing The direct
cause 81 the closing Of the theatre in
December was the killing Of All Hoon.
the comedian. An Hoon was an On LeonR
and Vas killed partly because his death
would even up the casualties on both
sides. Billy kavanAngh was not only
fond % All Hoon. he resented the killing
, OF one 81 his actors. II seemed To him
an encroachment on the neutrality that
had always hedg~d in his theatre and his
artists
he made no bones about telling the
On LeoaEs and ths -Four Brothers what
he thought Of the death OF An Hoon.
He spoke severely and the -Four Brotherg.
the third tong and tho only one with which
Billy was In no way connected. grew
resentful Moreover they feared that
Billy would ask the On Lsongs TO punish
the death % their brother All Hoon aud
avenRe the profaning OF the theatre
Add 10 this the fact that the tong war
in December left the I'm lyeongr with
tao deaths tn their credit and the -Four
Brothers with only one. and possibly
you have the left hand member OF your
noIbafion