The Washington herald., 1922-07-13
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A IMPRESSIONS BY
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Kitchen has said farewell to Duck
Kee. The willy little Chinese has
closed his chop suey place and
sailed for home. His two daugh-
ters. prize pupils in public schools,
married Americans and settled
down to life OF farming in Jersey.
Duck Kee d-iftcd to Chinatown
twenty-seyen years ago. He was
an active leader in couple of tong
wars and wore knife strapped to
his arm. Chinese fashion. One
night he dr.fted into Bowery mis-
sion and was converted.
Several days later he disposed OF
his worldly goods for cash. turned
1t over to the mission and said he
was leaving Chinatown for good.
He wandered into the Hell's Kitchen
section uptown and began life
anew.
Long before prohibition he re-
fused to sell Intoxicating drinks in
his little cafe. Even women were
asked politely not to smoke
cigarettes. He served the best
Chinese food in town and a path
was beaten to his door by people
from all stations OF life.
Richard Croker used to go there
and so did great statesmen and So
ciety folk as we'll as the submerged
tenth of the famous district. Five
years ago Duck Kee quit going to
church. The call of ancestry was
earlier form of worship.
He wrote a brochure on "'Cour-
age" which he privately circulated.
And he proved his courage time
after time. Once a drink crazed
longshoreman. angered at KEGS re-
fusal to serve drinks, started after
him with a gun.
Duck Kee. weighing only ninety
six pounds. fastened his teeth into
the hand that held the gun and
when the police came he was sit
ting on the longshoreman's ches,
tanning him. "He velly warm" he
explained.
Rivington streets summer even
ing push-cart army offers odd
menus. priced in pennies. For five
cents one may get a plate of bean
soup. hot dog sandwich, a chunk
of green picked watermelon, an
ear of roasted corn or a glass of
lemonade. The piece de resistance,
however. is a two-cent loaf sf Odes-
sa kvass, popular bread in the
section. At 10 o'clock the push
cart army moves on and the barrel
organs arrive to grind out the
tunes for dances in the middle of
the street. The dancing is not con-
fined to the children. Mothers and
fathers join the n.erry-making and
sometimes the old patriarchs lay
down their pipes and shuttle rheu-
matte limbs.
The type of young sprig who
calls his father Governor in New
York cuts the family ties as soon
as he is graduated from college
He establishes himself in an apart
ment and the parental connections
consists of a Scotch and soda once
a week with father at the club and
calling Mater" on the phone every
day He goes to his home for a
family dinner on holidays AMI that
is about all. 1t Is detachei sort
of life and the idea. of course. is
to place :he youngster on his own
responsibility. One father dropped
In on his son the other day un-
eNpectedly. He found merry
group of ladies of the ensemble
gathered around the frosted cocktail
shaker. The son was duly en-
barrassed. but he soon regained his
poise when the young ladies called
the father by his first name.
An ambulance backed up to the
stage entrance of Forty-second
street theater the other afternoon.
stage director had been suddenly
stricken but strong restoratives re-
vived him. It appears that a mem
| Der of the chorus asked to be ex-
cused from rehearsal to go to Red
Bank to help her mother can black
berries.