The chronicle=news., 1913-07-31
NEW y0Rk'S FAMOUS
CHINATOWN PASSING

New York. Aug. 3.-The early dis
appearance Of New Works famous
Chinatown. for years the objective
point OF New York's sIshtsssrs sad
the hotbed Of ceassl~ss troubles for
the police. 10 now confidently pre-
dictsd. TONG wars. opium smoking
and gambling. with fitting measure
|of local color. have eonstitutsd the
popular essentials OF chinatown -
commonly understood for years past.
and about these things. bad enough
In themselves. was woven web Of
sinister deeds and eyii ways. New
Works Chinatown is really but imper-
f~ctiy understood. Within Its mar
row limits Il has numbered in Its
heydsy . maximum Of certainly o.
900 Oriental residents. and perhaps
~ many a. 5000 or 5000. Some
years ago II was said that IL ono dou-
BILE house on Pell street there lived
500 Cinnamon. and while that meant
unheaithnA crowdinx. siili that
tenement was looked upon ~ the
most respectable within the district.
Property owners found II to their ad-
vantage to let Chinese tenants do
pretty much a. they pleased aud the
senements they occupied became but
little more than human waSrens. The
Chinamen were really duplicating
eondItions COMMON II the crowded
cities Of China. aud. thanks 10 dis
ease resisting constitution acquired
at home. they survived here In spite
OF their disregard Of hysienc. Again.
local necessity may have heen re-
sponxible for the crowdinx. and II ~
= fact that the rents charged were
substantially on . Fifth Avenue
scale. Efforts have been mad. many
times In tho past to clean up China
town. but there hss been consist
~nt resistance to sueA = process on
the part OF property owners and dis
trict politicians. Though chinamen
do not vote. the neiGhborhood sends
TO the polls A. many votsrs "a tiny
other territory Of like are within the
city's limits. This explains why the
politicians Joined with the property
owners against any corrective meas
ures. Today change has come over
the population Of the district. and IL
si doubtful n the houses on the three
streets. once crowded. now hold more
than eight hundred or = thousand
Chinese. The whole atDosphsrs of
the place has been radically affected
and Its elimination from the life OF
the city Is now regarded ~ only \
question Of time.
While women here are wearing al
most anythinG-or nothing. as the
case may oe. q dress reform move
ment 10 now under way which may
revoiuttionizc summer eoatumes. The
movement. however. has to do with
tho clothing Of men. not Of women.
and contemplates nothing iess than n
white-clad male population during
the summer months. II Ia said by
those who are interested in making
things easier for perspiring human
ity that the proposed dress reform
will benefit not only men individn-
ally In helping them forget to remem-
ber the temperature. but 1t will es
tabiish the claim that has been ad
vanced for New York many times in
the past. that II is the best summer
resort in the country. The grea.
difficulty In getting such safe and
sane male costume movement start
ed seems TO lie In the timitdity OF
the would-be pioneers. The promo,-
ors Of the Idea, however. are san
guine OF success and advance good
reasons for their stand. As pointed
out by one OF them the new plan
would actually work for coolness.
Nowadays, says he, our streets are
filled with men wearing black and
blue clothes. and certainly you could
not get anything much hotter thar
black. As for the matter Of laundry
work. ] believe 1t would cost more
than many men pay for keeping their
suits pressed. In the summer time
there is n tremendous lot of pressin z
done. For the cost OF one cloth sum-
mer suit a man might have half =
dozen duck suits at least. II would
certainly be more agreeable sight
upon the street than the dark clothes
we wear. Why. the very sight Of a
white suit on a man makes n behold
er feel perceptibly cooler. Should the
men undertake such a radical DIRE IS
reform, however. there is consider