One interesting part of Hastings history is the story of Chinese Laundries. Many people are surprised to find that they existed in Hastings during the early years, and also at the number of Chinese Laundry's that have been in operation here. In 1888 we had four Chinese Laundries in Hastings, all of them were evidently busy. Lou Ling had his laundry at 822 West Second Street. Another was in operation at 501 West Second Street, owned by a man named Sing Wing. At 619 West First Street, Wah Sam was operating a Chinese Laundry in 1888. Hong Wah, the opium smoking China man, hadhis laundry on Hastings Avenue, close to where the old Book Shop was located. More about Mr. later. Another Chinese Laundry was opened at 508 West Second Street, about where the Carter Hotel is located. The operator of this Laundry was Charlie Yong. In 1901 Hop Lee came to town, and opened his Chinese Laundry at 613 West First Street. A few years later, in 1903, Sing Lee opened his laundry at 505 West Second Street. Evidently Hop Lee and Sing Lee were brothers, for they combined their laundries and operated near the present day location of the Big G store. In 1908 Wing Lee opened a laundry on West Second Street near the present day location of the Uerling Furniture store. This Mr. Lee did not last long however, and soon dropped from sight.
Although we hear about the drug problems today, it seems that this problem existed in Hastings as long as 75 years ago. It was back in 1899 that Hastings Police discovered Hong Wah, the Chinese Laundry man, was running an opium joint on the side. Hong Wah came to Hastings some time during the 1880's. He opened his laundry at 215 North Hastings Avenue. The following details are taken from old newspaper accounts. "On Tuesday, July 19, 1899, Hastings Police raided the Hong Wah Chinese Laundry, and arrested the proprietor for smoking opium." According to these early day accounts, Hong Wah was taken to court and fined twenty?five dollars and costs. Since he did not have the money, the laundry man was taken to the jail to sit out his fine. It seems that the local police had been watching for some time for a chance to catch Mr. Hong Wah with his opium pipe in his hand. In fact, they made even more sensational discoveries when they made the raid. According to the newspaper accounts, the laundry man had organized a "club" for the young boys and girls of the town. The news story continued: "The various members of the club were known. Also a number of the young ladies who have been 'hitting the opium pipe' have been identified. A young man whose father stands among the largest businessmen of the city, whose mother and sisters are among the leading society belles of this metropolis, was found intoxicated from the drug when Hong Wah was arrested by Police."
The 1899 newspaper account continued: "This is not the only individual addicted to opium use who stands high in the ranks of society of this town." It seems that a $25.00 fine was not a very stiff penalty for such a major infraction of the law. However, Mr. Wah did sit out his fine, and went back to his laundry business. He was careful thereafter, not to get caught smoking his pipe again. We cannot conclude our story of Chinese Laundries in Hastings without telling one story that will be remembered by many people still around today. In fact, this story came to an end only about forty short years ago. I have done a considerable amount of searching into this case. There are certainly plenty of mysterious bits of evidence that were unanswered. I can agree with the many people who thought there was something fishy about the whole ordeal. Perhaps, as they said, this was a "Tong Murder" for revenge by a person or persons unknown. The details, it appears, will never be proven.
I call this weird case out of Hastings history: "THE STRANGE DEATH OF CHARLEY NING" Charles Ning opened up his first Chinese Laundry in 1915 at 409 West Second Street. He was at that location until 1924, when he moved to 313 North St. Joseph Avenue, which would have been just south of where the Telephone Company building is today. Charley Ning was to remain in Hastings for a number of years, up to the time of his tragic death. It was early in the 1930's that he built a building at 414 West Third Street, a building that still stands today, just east of the KansasmNebraska Gas Company. In latter years, this building served as the home of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. During the bad years of the 1930's, Charley Ning was unable to pay the mortgage on his building, and so lost it to creditors. Following this, he moved to 216 South Hastings Avenue, where the Lightener Auction House is today. On the morning of Wednesday, August 16,1939, Charles Ning was found dead at his laundry on South Hastings Avenue. The position of the body and its condition, led police officers to believe that Ning had become ill during the night, and had fallen to the floor after leaving his bed. Based on this, County Attorney Edmund Nuss ruled that no inquiry would be held.
A few days later, following the funeral of Charley Ning, residents who lived near the laundry on South Hastings presented a petition requesting a coronor's jury inquest into the death. It was asked that the circumstances surrounding the death be investigated. Some of the signers of the petition stated that there had been a light in Ning's room during the night he died, but that when the body was found, the light had been turned off. It was the belief of the petitioners that Charley Ning had met his death by foul play. However, the county officials denied the petition for an inquest, and the matter stopped there. Many people however, have claimed for years that the death of Charley Ning, Chinese Laundryman, was just another of the unsolved murders in the History of Adams County.
Source
Adams County Historical Society
Historical News Vol. 10, No 3, March 1977