Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-09-21
Jack Pickering
Here
and
Now
TONG YEN Gal:

Gal, the street of the Chinese.
The heat descended in layers. A
few Chinese sat on chairs along
the curbstone. wiggling their
toes In cloth slippers and wait
ing patiently for a breeze that
never came.
II was Chinatown shorn of its
shadows and mystery. 1t was
Detroit's Chinatown at noon,
with the September sun bleach
Ing the sidewalks and destroy
ing the shapes of darkness upon
which Tong Yen Cal depends
for its inscrutability.
II was, an other words, hot,
plain street full of shops and
restaurants and brick buildings.
entirely devoid of the enigmatic
secrets that are supposed TO
dwell in anything Oriental.
An importers window was
full Of the things that IL has
I always Observation-Disclosures
glassware, porcelain hgurines,
paper and bamboo gimcracixs,
painted pottery dishes and the
packets Of tea that are more
than ever precious now, since
(. laden cargo ships no longer come
from China's closed back door
In Burma.
There was, also, something
} new. II looked like a stock
certificate. printed in orange
and blue. The printing said:
Z ZAP HUNTING LICENSE
Enjoy the privilege Il con-
. fers. Aim your quarters at
! stamps, your dollars ut bonds.
The lead they buy will find q
Jap target. This license Ii good
until victory ends the hunting
seasoA."
You can buy one of these, said
a sign, for 5 cents. I went in
and bought. and so met HUE
Young.
/ had met HUE Young before.
He came. many years ago, as a
child from Canton. and now sells
insurance under his American
lied name OF Clarence Y. HUE.
but In Tong Yen Cal he is, and
always will be, Huie Young.
We went next door TO Harry
Chung's. where a radio-phono-
graph In a walnut case played
a Chinese monograph record.
We had egg roll. tea and almond
cakes. and talked.
We talked about the Jap hunt
ing license--"Unclc Sam. presi-
dent" II said ut the bottom.
"yohn Bull. vice president. Rus
sian Rear. treasurer" And there
were some Chinese characters
which HUE translated: "Con-
fucius, secretary"
Huie chucIxled with his face.
A Chinese can laugh without
: uttering . sound.
We talked aboth the price Of
rice In china==S6O0 for hun
dred- pound bag now. and IL used
!. 70 be S. or IS. And about Huie's
mother, now past 80. who
escaped with Huie's brother
!. from Macao, ''by rowboat, by
!. walking. by rickshaw and by
: bribing some japanese" until
they reached the interior Of
!, China.
( We talked Of the impossibility
Of importing lichee nuts and
water chestnuts. mo more Cases
Of sailed duck eggs. no more
lung 500. or Dragons Whiskers.
. No more White Mountain Clud
Tea that Is plucked by trained
monkeys because no man scale
the top of the mountain where
1t grows.
We talked. even. about trail
tors and Wang Ching Wei, pup
pet ruler of Marking.
Three. maybe four years
ago," said HUE casually. "there
was q reward. of 100000, Chi
nese money, posted for the
assassination OF Wang Ching
Wei. We raised the money here
In Detroit's Chinatown"
'T never heard Of that" I said.
raising an eyebrow.
Naturally" said HUE Young,
without raising his.
"The United States was neu-
trail then. NoW IL II ut war.
There In no purpose I'm conceal
Ing IL any longer. The money II
In Chungbing, waiting for some
one to earn Il.
"You never knew Il, because
no American knew II. All Of us
the 1.100 In Chinatown knew, but
II WAS q secret"
The September sunshine TO
say:
"And do you still think that
there are no secrets left In Tong
Yen Cali"
Pin Up Favorite
JANET BLAIR, Columbi 9
beauty who gets her big break ir
fl1n fifln role of INV Sister E-ilaox,