A Page From L.A. History : NIGHT OF THE RED MOON, <i> By Angi Ma Wong (Pacific Heritage Books, Box 3967-11, Palos Verdes, Calif. 90274-9547; fax (310) 541-7178: $16; 96 pp., ages 12 and up)</i>

Los Angeles is in the grip of an economic slump. There is racial hostility directed especially against newcomers. There are too many firearms on the streets, the police force seems at times to be outgunned.

Sound like 1994?

This is a description of Los Angeles 123 years ago.

The population was about 6,000, half Anglo, another 40% Hispanic. Smaller numbers of blacks, mestizos and Native Americans lived in town. Chinese, the most recent immigrant group, numbered no more than 200.

During the fall of 1871 tensions ran high between two associations of Chinese workers who competed for scarce jobs mostly in the businesses or houses of the wealthier whites. Some members started carrying weapons. Then a white policeman was killed during a skirmish between the rival factions and the situation spun out of control.

On the moonlit night of Oct. 26 a mob of whites gathered in the streets and saloons--nearly 40% of the town’s businesses were bars--working themselves into a frenzy of hate. Numbering at least 500 they surged into the tiny Chinese neighborhood off the old Plaza near the Pico House hotel. A handful of police and a few others did what they could to protect the Chinese but they were vastly outnumbered. Some historical sources contend members of the police force were part of the mob. When morning came 19 Chinese were dead. Some had been bludgeoned, most were lynched.

Angi Ma Wong has based a short novel for young adults on this event--”Night of the Red Moon.”

To begin her story, Wong offers an epigraph that says, essentially: If we do not learn from history we are doomed to repeat it. This applies strongly to local history. Hate crimes are still with us, but each day the stage is set again for racial and ethnic relations to improve or stagnate or decline, depending on our actions.

The plot is simple and moves along briskly, all the action taking place in less than 24 hours. The story is crammed with details about life in 1871 Los Angeles. Wong conveys the horror of that night but keeps the age of her audience firmly in mind.

One weakness of “Night of the Red Moon” is an overarching concern with 1990s political correctness. Ming’s family and friends, including an “African” named Tobie are all saintly while the rioters seem to be personified by the town drunk, referred to only as “Crazy Joe,” ethnicity unspecified, who may just be a candidate for a 12-step plan. And the narrow, run-down street that English-speaking Angelenos of that time translated as “Nigger Alley” is here always called “Calle de los Negros.” Today’s 12- and 13-year-olds may find all this a bit quaint.

The story follows 12-year-old Ming who runs deliveries for his father, an herbalist, and baby-sits for his 3-year-old sister, Moy Moy. Ming is bright and mature for his age. He knows the plaza and its denizens well, “a fascinating and colorful assortment of people . . . they were the best of Los Angeles, and the worst, people of every age, skin color, and circumstance.”

Tension builds through a sizzling Indian summer afternoon, Santa Ana winds gust along the dusty streets between the old adobes. Ming knows a policeman has been shot and knows that many in town are resentful.

After dinner Ming is forced to go out looking for his little sister who has wandered away unnoticed into the dangerous streets. He finds Moy Moy just as the mob approaches and must seek a hiding place beneath a wooden porch. Keeping his sister quiet he watches, paralyzed with fright, as ropes are thrown over tree branches and lampposts nearby. The vigilantes drag “heathen Chinese” out of nearby homes and shops.

“Some of the victims were missing their trousers which had been ripped off their bodies for the contents of their pockets. One man’s finger had been sliced off and the boy knew it was for the diamond ring he always wore. . . .”

Wong’s first work of fiction, if discussed with parents or teachers, could help students better understand L.A.’s past and present. And the events described are not the television or motion-picture myth-making kids are so familiar with, they actually happened.