Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-14
DUMMY BACK NUMBER
Pretty Girls Now Pose in
Show Windows.
JUST DEMONSTRATORS
NEW WORKERS DON'T CARE FOB
WOODEN MODELS.
Hardly an American City-1nterest in
Coming Benning
Meet.
JUST DEMONSTRATORS
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
| NEW YORK, November Q, 1903.
| Charles Reade. the novelist, used to write
| mirthfully, if somewhat disgustedly or
what he called the ''prurient prudery" Of
the English. But at it's smuggiest, pruri-
ent prudery is better than popular pruri-
ency. That sort Of thing, as has often been
set forth in this correspondence, is steadily
growing in New York.
| A shop window show must be exceedingly
risque these days to enlist the attention of
New Workers.. They don't call them win
| dow dressers'' over here any more, by the
| way-they are window undresSers." In
| several New York shop windows young wo-
| men of a plump and even podgy pulchritude
| are demonstrating" union underwear. The
fesh-tinted tights that they wear do no;
| serve, to any appreciable extent, to take
| the sin off, their somewhat startling eXnl-
! billions.
I In a second-story room Of Broadway
| store and framed in a large window that
| reaches to the floor handsome woman, OF
| the sumptuous Sabine pattern demon
| strates' a patent exerciser. She is almost
| as frank in her undress as the pictured
| huntreSS Diana.
| The New York show window exhibitions
I of wooden hosiery models no longer matt at
| the safe juncture adopted in other Clues
| Besides the stockings. other needfui acces-
| series of the feminine appareling makeup
are shown. A noted F'renchman, iec'ullns
| here, says that Paris has much to learn
| from New York as to these extraordinary
| pinny-poppy shows. He claims, too, that
| New York women are far more candid IN
| their street-crossing exposures than the
| women of Paris Perhaps the universally
| of the wolfe skirt has something TO 90 Win
| this. If it be true. 80
| New Iorkers will tolerate-will, indeed
| applaud-stage utterances and degree or
| and SnRReStiVeneSS InaI
| the theater-goers of no other American city
| would endure Most of the so-called musi-
| cal comedies that leave New YORK, AFTER
| runs" for road tours, have to be cnpped
of their verbal nastiness, and the draping
| of the women considerably ampl!fed, to
| suit the decent censorship OF what New
| York theatrical folk call the provincial
| audiences.
Many of the plays, too. that "go out
| from New York have to be subjected to THIS
| sort Of pruning. A noted romantic actor,
once stickler for dramatic propriety. us Is
now presenting a play here some OF the
| scenes of which are SO close to the line OF
utter indecency that they would almost in
! evitably be Missed anywhere else than in
| New York Here, however these scenes
make the chit of the piece. One of these
| scenes Is not unlike that frankly sensual
Temptation scene in "Parsifai. but iacs-
| iEg the glamor of music to gloss over It's
| brazen significance, the scene in the drama
| Is sufficiently startling In its unprecedented
| effrontary.
| And 1t would seem, too, as If the time
| were at hand when no new play may nope
| for success in New York unless 1t embraces
at least one dSrobing scene. Some actresses
are now lending themselves to this sort of
| thing who, a very few years ago. would not
| have even considered such a prostitution
of their art and talents.
| One recalls how, not so long ago. these
| "orange blossoms" vulgarities were rigfdly
confined to the variety shows given In
| "stag'' theaters. But they're on Broadway
| now 1t is we'll to leave t.to the social or
| the psychological student to discover the
reason why the theater-going women OF
New York are even fonder OF these Wholly
| unnecessary atrocities of pruriency-for
| many of such scenes are introduced with
| scarcely any bearing upon the progress of
| the stage story-than are the men. That
such is the plain fact, however, is not to
be doubted by anybody who notes the
great preponderance of women in attend
| ance at theaters where these exhibitions
| are given.
Hardly an American City.
| Perhaps the underlying reason for the
| immunity, not to say the popularity,
| with which public nastiness is greeted
| in New York. is that New York is hardly
| an American city at ALL westerner,
| a man with a well-developed sense of
humor. too. sat through a New York mu-
| steal comedy the other evening without
being able to muster up solitary laugh
from careful and willing attention to the
| hopeless drivel Of which the piece was
| made up.
All around him the New Workers. were
rocking in their seats with noisy. almost
| historical. mirth. Every cheap sally of the
| ''Why does acknowledgements the road va
riety wrought them to ecstasies Of laughter
and applause Jokes that were care-worn
when Texas Siftings was a new and novel
| publication drove them to veritable dis
| traction of hlarity. The westerner felt like
| a deaths head at feaSt-a Barmec1de
feast, say.
| "Why is this thus?" he inquired, anxious
| for enlightenment. of his New York enter
| to laugh so? / am not destitute of humor.
| If see or hear anything worth laughing at
| you can hear me two blocks. But there
wasn't a spark of fun in that show. The
| upon words were older than Noah's first
| disastrous vintage. The dialogue was ut
| terly witless Mellowed by a good dinner.
| with a receptive soul, 1 went into that
| theater. eager to be amused. / am not
blase. But 1 didn't get laugh. Is there
anything the matter with me? And, if not.
what allied all of those peoDle-what made
| them laugh so hard?'
Yorker. with sardonc candor. about
| three-f ourths of the people in that theater
speak and think in language that is not
English. 1t wasn't an American audience
at ALL Very many of those people had
merely an elemental knowledge of the Eng
fish language Therefore any sort of a silly
Joke any kind of a foolish play upon words,
being entirely new to them, amused them,
made them laugh. Nothing could be easier
to explain.
Now. suppose you were living in Ger
many. and just picking up the language.
You would, of course be wholly unfamiliar
with the stock of German jokes and puns.
Consequently, the most idiotic sort of a
German funny show would unquestionably
cause you to shrek with laughter, as those
people did tonight. The twist upon words,
the new point of humorous view, would be
screamingly funny to you.
You would make such an exhibition of
yourself with your frenzied laughter that
the ushers of the German theater would be
tapping you upon the shoulder, and the
bored young bloods of German army officers
would be contemplating you savagely and
meditating pretext upon which to chal-
lenge you to a duel with broadswords. To-
night, not only were these people amused
to the point of hysteria, but they wanted to