Big Trouble in Little I.D.
Seattle is a great many things, and for many years our city allowed the denizens of Chinese descent to secretly trade money in the wonderful ancient tradition of gambling. On February 18, 1983 this underground institution's trust was broken and massacred in Maynard Alley (between 7th Avenue S and Maynard Avenue S) and we are left with the boarded-up entry of the Wah Mee Club and what Seattle history has come to know as the Wah Mee Massacre. Still, the highest body count of dark violence we have experienced in the city.The surviving family members yesterday testified against parole for one of the criminals, Tony Ng. Luckily, his accomplices Willie Mak and Benjamin Ng are subject to life in prison. More can be known about this Courthouse drama through the somewhat readable Seattle Times article. In the following summary and history links, step into early and mid century Chinatown, learn about the street culture, jazz culture, restaurant wars, and The TONG.
The following as taken from Wah Mee and HistoryLink 
They walked away with tens of thousands of dollars in cash, leaving 14 people for dead. One of the victims survives and testifies during what were arguably the three highest-profile trials Seattle has ever seen.
The Wah Mee was a historic speakeasy and gambling club that dated back to the early 1920s. The club, a romantic, classy enclave patronized mainly by semi-affluent restaurant owners and business people in the Chinese community, hosted some of the highest-stakes gambling that could be found in Seattle and, for that matter, in the entire Pacific Northwest. 
(Yes, thats dried blood on the floor.)
Winners went home with tens of thousands of dollars after a single night of gambling. Beat cops supplemented their income by tolerating (for a price) illegal gambling in Chinatown. Police allowed the exclusive, Chinese-only members of the Wah Mee Club to preserve an integral part of their history -- gambling -- while also profiting police officers.
(Dude reincarnated or quantum leaped?)
Tomorrow: Dukes Best of Chinese Triad Films
posted by theDUKE at 6:22 AM
10 Comments:
you sparked my interest in depression era ID. That was a nice morning read. I will definetly look into this subject.
I have to admit....I didn't know anything about this until recently. Nice post. I'm going to look into it a bit more myself.
TheDuke continuing his legacy of gritty guerrila bloggin'...this time he hits close to home...and the history of the ID..IS the history of this town...
"We Built this City.......
on ROCK AND ROLL
Yea, its very intriguing. Whenever I've gotten tripped out over something on the news, my older cousins have always told me, "You don't know about Wah Mee tho!" The sociocultural information outside of the crime itself is interesting as well. CHOW!!!
Nice work, Devo. I read about the Tong Ng story last year when the trial got press in the local papers... been following it since. Good recap.
Can't wait for the Best of Triad Films tomorrow. It reminds me that whoever hasn't seen Infernal Affairs yet, you need to put it in your Netflix queue immediately before Scorsese's "The Departed" is released. You have 4 weeks. Trust me, the acting is impeccable, the plot and story wonderfully written and it's an amazing film.
TONG! There was another one made in 2003. Albeit a prequel it was successful in asia again as Infernal Affairs 2.
Also, do not misconstrue Tong with Tony. "Tongs" are family associations that function much like Trade Unions. Their credibility and brutality, although nepotistic, is comparable to Longshoremen.
I'll third the magnificence of Internal Affairs...however, I will give The Departed a look see, if only for the Jack playing a part...
Yes, I'm seeing The Departed also. Very excited to see Jack in the bad guy role. But it would be a shame for a Lodge member to see it without seeing the original first.
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