Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-18
GOTHAM|TES SWAYED
Potential Power Of Suggestion
Now Rampant.
ANEW MENTAL ALADY
AGED WEALTHY MEN SUFFER-
ERS OF LATEST CRAZE.
Hazardous Trips in Hanson Cabs
Kidnaper Suspicions-Roof Gar
dens Now-Lobster Palaces.

NEW 1ofth, June IL, lgof
Now are we having manifold manifesto
| items Of how whole populace may be
swayed by the potential power of sugges-
| toni
| Aged men of wealth are the keenest suf-
| ferers. 1t has been brought upon them nv
the revelations of the Elias case, wherein
| the octogenarian plundered himself of
| three-quarterS of a million to make a car
| pet for the feet of the coffee-hued odalisque
| New York being the fountain source and
breeding-ground of that mental malady of
| inquisitiveness known as rubberomana the
| plight of the antique Mr.. Plat, and the
vastness of his unique unwisdom, took
! strong clutch upon the ordinarily volatile
| mind of New York
| So that it has come to pass that nice
| clean old men of wealth must if they would
| escape ridicule, deny themselves the pleas
ure of walking or riding in the open air.
| New York never did have any acuteness
| of Observation-Disclosures of the popula ton
en- masse, We mean. The New York man on
| the street understands not the dainty art
| or differentiating the goats from the sheep
| Thus all prosperous seeming aged men
| now publicly appearing in New York, afoot
| or hauled by horses, are anathema in the
| hilarious sense for hoarsey irreverent
| mobs.
| For example, A very Incorporating old
man. veritable picture of proprety and
| silhouette of sedateness had the coachman
| of his open carriage draw up in front of a
| Broadway headgear emporium the other
| afternoon. The immaculate old gentleman
| was bent upon buying a hat.
Scarce had he executed the initial moves
| toward stepping from his carriage to the
pave before his richly-appointed vehicle
| was surrounded by husky Gordon of hood
| lums.
''Oh, naughty. naughty" they shouted
| joyously at the dignified but dumfounded
old gentleman pDiDtinP accusing fingers at
| him. ''Why, shucks, fe upon you, you old
| naughty, Well, well, well.'
| From amazement the nice, clean old
mans face took on an expression of alarm.
He stepped back into the carriage and
resumed his seat.
Jacob he addressed his pompous but
shocked-looking coachman, you may drive
me home"
Things have come to an outrageous pass
in New York when aged man is debarred
the privilege of purchasing new hat for
himself unless he is willing to stand for the
accusation of naughtiness on the part OF
persons who wholly unknown to him.
Populace Jeer the Wealthy.
Thus 1t is all over New York The aged
men with visible signs of wealth and sta
ton upon thcm are everywhere being jibed
and jeered by a populace that yields so
readily not 20 say eagerly to the puissant
power of suggestion.
Many helpful suggestions are being made
for the benefit of the truly good old gen
tlemen who find it irksome to keep entirely
under cover to avoid the mob's ribaldry.
They are advised, for instance, to carry
humping lacks with them wherever they APP
pear on the New York streets. The infer
ence would be so plain that 1t might give
them immunity from the "stringing of the
disrespectful hoi polloi. The old gentlemen
would appear to be taking the jumping
lacks to their grandchildren or their great
grandchildren; and, perceiVlng them pouhu
a
the street crowds would-maybe-let them
alone Noahs arks or monkeys-on-a-stlck
or doll houses-not dolls-might serve
equally well for the purpose of shamlns
the populace into proper decorum.
The aged men are advised. too, that II
they carried the family knitting with them
on their walks drives they might thus
gain immunity from the hoydenish and
bumi,itating humor of the ola podrida of
the payes No nice clean old gentleman,
thus publicly employed in the manufacture
of stockings or mittens or such blJoulerie'
could reasonably be suspected even by the
cynical street mobs of New York of having
any deep and dank and dark-partlcuiaFIE
dark-s4crets in his life
Hazardous Cab Situations.
This incubation of intimation, as the
mower of suggestion might also be termed
has seized upon the shallow but quickly
apprehending New Workers as a connota-
ton of other occurrences that have lately
bema zed the popular mind over here
Since the bullet punctured bookmaker was
found weltering In the cab, with the not
greatly discomposed chorus woman at MS
aide New Workers pretend to discern
certain haZardousness in the situation When
they espy young man and woman seated
together in an open-face hansom. rms
view of theirs has injured the hanson cab
industry sadly The New Yorker who loves
to guy likes not to be guyed himself. Meth
err does his wife or his sweetheart
The hanson cab containing the young
man and woman draws up to the curb-in
front of a restaurant, let us say. An amaz-
ing number of cabs containing young men
and women draw up In front or restaurants
in New York, anyhow.
Well it has now come to pass that such
a cab is Immediately surrounded by
crowd 1t is crowd filled with professed
speculation as to what Is liable TO happen
to the man in the cab.
'Hully gee, but that feller's takin' a
chanst" is the essence of the crowds loud
ly announced opinion. Wonder where she
carries her gun? Maybe the Wilies got
the gumption to carry a pop himself. so
that if she tries any gun gag on him, he
can beat her to it! Look kind O sore on
each other at that, hey?"
The flushed and shamefaced young
man in the cab makes move with her
hands toward opening the Peggy-from- Paris
bag in her lap.
Look out!' yell the up-front members of
the mob breaking and falling back. pre-
tending to believe that the young woman
is going for a gun
This explains why the open-faced hanson
cab industry has sagged in so far as the
hauling of couples is concerned. They're all
riding in the screened vehicles now.
Mistaken for Kidnapers.
And, then, the New York public mind is
obsessed by the notion that every we'll
dressed man seen carrying a struggling
child in his arms is a kidnaper. num-
Der of recent kidnapping instances-one of
them of a lot of social magnitude-have
served to kindle this queer belief in the
minds of peripatetic New Workers. who
haven't much else to do except to see what
they can see.
huge, swagger, road-touring automobile
buzZed up at the curb in front of an aus
terely splendid residence Riverside drive
the other afternoon. A well-groomed man
sat in the seat back of the chauffeur. He
stepped out. There was a fairy of a child
five six years old, on the lawn in front
of ba had har han 10 ba