Gee Bank

Through the heart of downtown San Francisco runs Grant Avenue. In a block or two it suddenly changes from the most exclusive shopping district to the main street on Chinatown. Along it rickety wagons brush against automobiles, the clang of cable cars seems especially noisy, jaunty Chinamen in grey suits mingle with gliding Chinamen in oriental costumes. Between the doors of tourist-catering novelty shops are dark passageways. Colorful posters in two languages are smacked on the walls. Telephone operators who speak both Chinese and English handle calls from the "China exchange."

Along Grant Avenue last fortnight there was a Chinese festival. Dragons floated in the air, their great red cardboard eyes rolling. Firecrackers popped and streamers shot over the crowd. One reason was the commemoration of the founding of the Chinese Republic. The other was the opening of a new bank,* to be occupied by the oriental branch of the Bank of America of California. In charge of the new bank was Miss Dorothy C. Gee, believed to be the only woman bank manager in the world. Her staff of eight is entirely female--"more dependable" said Miss Gee. While firecrackers denoted wishes of success, Miss Gee received visitors, gave keys to "lucky number" safe deposit boxes, reserved long in advance. Among problems of banking for orientals is the difficulty of convincing them that it is impossible to make a loan on character alone, traditional Chinese method.

A Chinatown bank that failed a few years ago was the Canton Savings Bank. Unlike the clamoring, fist-shaking crowds that gather around closed U. S. banks, San Francisco Chinamen were silent on reading the notice that the bank had failed. No police action was needed during the first few days after the failure when hushed Chinamen stood waiting to see if the doors might not open, then quietly went away.