Evening star., 1951-05-21
By George Kennedy

:
It was a press conference. i
waS held upstairs in the Cathas
Restaurant at 624 H street NV
Leaders Of the Chinese communi.
4y. among them George Moy
known as the mayor Of China.
town. Kenneth Lee, an H street
merchant, and H. H. Kung. pas.
tor of the Chinese Christian
Church, were present to give re.
porters a statement they hac
drawn up declaring their loyalty
to the United States.
They were understandably con-
cerned about the effect Of the
war Of the Chinese Peoples Re.
public on the United Nations and
the United States. The state.
ment did not get much play ir
the press-there was no need te
play it. No one associated the
Chinese In Washington with Mao's
troops. There was no boycott
Business in Chinatown went or
as usual.
Not Involved in Revolution.
The public was right. While
the Chinese in America financed
the revolution in the first decade
OF the century-as other immi-
grants furnished the money 70,
SO many nationalist movements
in Europe-the recent revolution
in China was not of their MAX
ing. Their criticism of General
issimo Chang Kai-shek-private-
ly expressed-is based on his
failure to stop it.
Business went on as usual but
the mercantile establishments In
Chinatown have seen their best
days. The restaurant business is
booming. Where else can you get
a four-course dinner for $l.40?
And if it's night life you want,
the Chinese pleasure palaces on
Fourteenth street, the Lotus and
the Casino Royal. are still offering
dinner at $1.50 with dancing and
a floor show-no cover charge.
When Chinatown was on the
south side Of Pennsylvania avenue
NV. in the 800 block, an area row
part Of the park approaches to the
Capitol. the merchants used to
prosper selling curios to the sight
seers. Now most of the visitors
get in and out of Washington
without realizing that there is a
Chinatown mere. AS one merchant
put it. they can't even sell leechee
nuts now and few people seem in
terested in the marvellous artistry
Of Chinese pottery.
Comprises Two H Street Blocks.
Chinatown is two blocks in H
street. the 600 block which was
almost entirely taken over by
members of the On Leong Mer-
chants Association when they had
to move away from the Avenue
in 1882. and the 500 block which
has the headquarters of the Hip
Sing Association and a few family
clubs.
There are six restaurants in the
600 block, some of them with
shiny fronts of modern glazed
panels-all of them with air con-
ditioning. There are 10 mercan-
tile establishments, all importers
OF Chinese goods. but several of
them are out of business. How
they continue to remain there
with locked doors and a few ar
ticles in the windows is a mystery
that is easily answered. Family
associations pay the rent and use
the store space for a meeting place
on Sunday nights.
There are fewer than 1000 Chi
nese in the Washington area but
these representatives of the oldest
culture in our midst have more
clubs and associations than a
much larger population of Amer
leans of European origin would
First there is the Chinese Con-
solidated Benevolent Association
to which every Chinese belongs.
It's most important function is in
death benefits. No Chinese goes to
the potter's field.
Two Great Tongs Represented.
There are the two great tongs
or clubs which used to rule the
lives of the Chinese in America,
the On Leong and the Hip Sing.
There is the Chez Kong Tang,
which is the organization of Chi
nese Free Masons. There is the
Nationalist Party, the Kuomin-
tang. Then there are the family
associations, the Lee Association,
the Moy Association, the Chin
Association, which are the largest,
and others which combine fam
lilies such as the Chew Lun Lin
Yee Association. the Lung Kong
Tin Yee Association, the Lee Gan
Shiu Association and the Yee
Moy Kai Association.
The warm spring air of last
night brought many Chinese men
out-of-doors in Chinatown. They
sat on the sidewalk benches nro-
vided by the merchants and talked
in their sing-song Cantonese, or
strolled up and down.
The street was filled with the
strange sound of Chinese music.
for the windows were open in the
club at 603. When this re-
porter walked up a fight of stairs
and stopped in. he found that 1t
was coming from tape record
ing being replayed through an
ampll1er The men in the room
were listening to a song sung re-
Gently at spring festival at the
On Leong headquarters across the
street.
Chinese Catholic Priest.
The Rev. Victor A. Wong, a
Roman Catholic priest who has
recently become an assistant at
st. Mary's on Fifth street, came
in and asked the men to play for