Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-09-18

oAAA AAACAAaAys AAC Has UCCh vi
the force s years and is mar
ried. The big boss OF this team
is Capt. Harold Rhodes. The
newspapers call Rhodes a hard
man. but the cops call him q
good one and q fair one.
The car creeps down the
Bowery. There aren't 10 per
cent Of the DRINKS there used To
be-" said Schultz. They looked
in the doorways and, in one,
three men slept on their sides.
The car didn't stop. The police
learned long ago not to pick
them up and send them to
hospitals. 1t is like trying to
bail out the ocean.
The Bowery is no longer q
narrow cobbled street under
the elevated tracks. It Is broad
and macadamized and is lighted
with big fiuorescents. The
chronic DRINKS cannot stand
light. Some 1lophouses-like the
600-room Hotel Robert-have
closed for lack Of customers.
The Holy Name Shelter and the
Volunteers Of America have
cleaned UP much Of what was
left.
Chinatown and Moons
The squad car threads its
way through Mott street. Chi
natown is bright with red and
blue and green Moons. Chinese
men old and fat stand smoking
in doorways. Chinese women
with lacquered hair and split
skirts walk the sidewalks with
children. Tourists come through
on buses with bankers.
Chinatown is now as safe as
Sunday school. The tongs are
all friendly. Crime is almost
non-existent. The best that a
policeman can expect is to raid
q fan-tan game. The children
are the cleanest and the most
mannerly. They 60 to American
schools from Q am. until 3
pm. Then they hurry home for
bread and jelly and glass OF
milk. At 4, they must study in
a Chinese school until Z pm.
Then home for dinner and two
kinds Of homework.
The Jewish district Is quiet
These are poor Jews. The old
ones are pious. The young ones
are students and workers in
factories. Inch by inch, they
are being overlapped by the
Negroes and the Puerto Ricans
The colored people here are not
as well OF as those upon Sugar
Hill. The Puerto Ricans. eco
nomically. are the poorest Of
all.
Most Sensitive
They are the poorest. the
proudest, the most sensitive.
Even among themselves. a
sighting word can lead to a
knife wound. The Italians are
the Oldest in the district. They
are quiet and confident. Once,
In the long ago. they lived in
silent terrorsof the Malta. No
more.
The district is almost tame.
Not quite. Almost. It seems.
at most, like the day before
yesterday when Walter Schultz
held his finger on a mans belly.
The man loaned money to the
poor and squeezed them broke.
One afternoon he stood on the
sidewalk. A car went by. The
gunfire broke three store win
dows and drilled a round hole
In the loan sharks stomach.
Patrolman Schultz came by.
He ripped the shirt and trous-
ers open and found a fountain
OF blood. He stuck his finger in
1t and hooked it over a broken
artery. The usurer lived. He
tried to thank the policeman.
Schultz looked at him and spit.
At 1902 am, the squad car
pulled to the curb in front Of
the precinct. A sergeant and a
patrolman waited to get in.
Schultz pulled the emergency
UP. TITS a quiet night" he said
to the sergeant. Bill Polokow
grinhed. Il hope it stays that
way for you guys"
1897, KinE Features Syndicate, Inc.
Tomorrow: A coost Guord cutter
rsseues passengers from o domossd
boot.