Evening star., 1950-07-09
By Nike Anderson
Washington by Imagery

( . . - 4
Washington. by one who has
never been there. must seem like
la city of cloak and dagger boys,
|of people with endless petitions.
|of cocktail parties. big brass and
|fiery Senators. Therefore. to the
brides, the tourists from Crumbly
cliff and Painted Post, the new
citizens from across the sea. and
even to those who would like to
|rediscover their own enchanted
city, we would like to present the
other side Of one Of the most fas-
lcinating places in the world. Never
mind the monuments, the spirit
has blown away from the marble
and bronze. Go out in the street
and meet the people, follow the
veins Of the streets to the heart
of the city. i
Stroll down Ninth street from
the Library toward the Chinese
settlement: 1t has all the flavor
| Of an Oriental bazaar. A Greek
grocer displays Biblical sesame
bars. strings of st. Johns bread.
hard, golden Provolone cheese. A
shiny glass case is filled with waxen
orange blossoms for a bridal head
dress, and Greek music pours from
within. A few doors away there
lis the smell Of roasting Arabian
coffee. display Of Smokey Soo-I
chong tea. A toy shop is filled
with marvellous lead soldiers, from
every country, Black Watch, Sene-
galese, Hungarian lancers, minia-I
ture beplumed knights on armored
horses. Then Chinatown.
Like the Chinatowns Of every
city. it has been described, to the
delicious shivers Of tourists, as q
den Of iniquity, but the tong wars
and opium raids are long since
ended. The tales Of the fabulous
affairs are true. however. the rich
ness Of their ornaments Is not
exaggerated. A florist who took
fresh flowers. twice q week. to
decorate the altars remembers
them-and the white faced celes-
tials who guarded each landing
Of the molding stairway Of the
Pennsylvania avenue building. be-
fore their removal to H street.
Now the shops are dark and cool
and calm. displaying coats stiff
with embroidery. dolls with long
fingers, handbags with silver flli-
gree frames set with turquoise
| and exotic groceries such as dried
deer tongue, octupus. lichee nuts
and water chestnuts. And de-
lightful teas, fragrant. with jas
| mine and lichee flowers. or dis
tinguished by such names as "Old
Eyebrows" or Dragons Beard" !"
We could just see the old boy
sleeping his beard in the brew.
Go to the Pan American Build
ing. where a magnificent macaw
greets you in something less than
pure Castilian. where there is a
long pool, presided over by a
brooding Mayan god and huge
blue water lilies from African
jungles stand above the more
familiar lilies, spread like con-
fetti on the cool green water.
Stroll through the sleepy little
Southern town that is Georgetown.
where figs are ripening behind
brick walls and crepe myrtle lifts
its rosy flowers and there are
white suede blossoms on the can
delabrum of magnolias.- There
houses in which Washington and
Lafayette and Francis Scott Key
l.. and the song worked
and lived, are still standing.
Lunch on Arabian rice. wrapped
in grape leaves. or snow beans
eaten with chop sticks, or regard
the future in the jade green grapes
overhead, while sampling the pres
ent in a glass of Chianti. Or &c
down through the park to the Zoo
one of the worlds finest and eat
under the colorful umbrellas OF
Duck Pond Inn. while watching