The Washington herald., 1912-09-15

which always charactertzes respectable
poverty and which always designates the
poor but honest working girl that Theo-
dore Kremer used TO jam into his
Bertha. the Beautiful Sewing Machine
Girl" or why Girls Leave Home" and
who used to leave behind them a trail Of
virtue that looked like the Road to
Mandalay."
"Ghost" Has Walked.
II It Is near the first of the month. and
the ghost has walked in his somber
whiteness' in the government offices. there
is place. and many OF them on r
Street, where the money can be poured.
There Is one resort where the music
starts about dusk and on the crest Of
the first strain the crowd is swept from
the street. While the violin shrieks out
such classics as The Philadelphia Rag %
played very slowly. and Schuman's i'm
mortal 'Traumerei." one can hear con-
versation like this:
why. used to be with the 'Follies,
but Flo Ziegfeld says l have a figure a
little too much on the Gothic lines, and
am back at the Gayety"
That IL nothing. Look at me, Myrtle
When I was playing with Frohman.
would not eat In place like this. But
them was the halcyon days"
And then the two chorus girls stroll
out into tie night and to the first drug
store.
Give me box Of Reddys Rouge"
she says.
We haven't got IT," said the clerk.
Il can get 1t at Evans In Philadel-
phia," replied the girl. ...-.
Go TO Philadelphia and get It." replied
the man behind the counter.
The two girls go out into the night. and
this is just little touch of the comedy
of the street
Returning to Town.
II is at this particular time of the
year that the crowds which frequent F
Street return to town. They bring back
with them sunburn that costs anywhere
from the price of trip to Europe to two
days on a tennis court at Bluemont Va.
or an afternoon in a canoe in the shadow
Of the college buildings at Georgetown.
Piccadilly styles set the pace for Eng
land. while modish clothes seen In +
Street are the pace makers for the fash
ionable ones of another Nations Capital.
So on any afternoon one can walk up and
down the street and see what is to be the
latest in cravats: whether trousers are
to be worn half way below the knee;
the length Of a coat; whether skirts are
to be ruffied or unruffled: the proper
way to sit in an automobile without
breaking back. and how to lean over
the wheel Of another. leaving the i'm
preston to the passing throng that the
idler owns the car. when. in fact. he
would have to dilute the gasoline IL he
did. -.....
All these little tricks are part OF the
game OF bluff which everyone Is play
Ing whether in F Street or Picadiily. or
at Ostend. or at Nice Because every
one is human, after ali.
1t will be only A few weeks more until
F Street will sound with the war cries
of the rah. rah boys.
Then on the lapel OF topcoats will be
streamers, while slim young things will
wear vIolets in their corsages, which
mean fnancia! embarrassment to a clerk
On a 1000 year salary. who prefers that
his sweetheart shall be decorated like a
Polish bride even II IT means self sacri-
Ace. And everyone passing every one
would say:
What's the score"
Shadows Get Longer.
The shadows soon get longer. The
streets soon will be deserted. The rest
aurants and cafes are partially filed.
,ut few of the Street crowd are there
Those who made up the pageant of
,olor and mirth have crept silently home.
They are not of the dining kind. Wash
ngton is not dining city. The price
" a meal. a tip, and a cab fare will
,uy a silk corset cover. a pair Of IS
hoes or even pay a gas bill. But $50
he cab fare only. will buy a meal for
family.
Then the night gets little older and
he electric signs blaZon out the fact
hat the Melody Makers" are at the
Columbia or that the box Office man at
,hase's is waiting The great F Street
rowd focks to the congested part of
he city, where, under the bright lights, |
he girls lips are redder. their eyes
rishter, their ears whittier. and they look
cry much unlike the privates who FORM |
d the great army that the average |
refers TO as the ''F Street |
ang." |
Between 1880 o'clock and the ''witching |
our the Street crowd goes home |
gain. tired. worn. and day older.
The whole procession. urging to and fro |
n idleness. reminds one of a question |
sked a United States Senator by an un- |
ophisticated constituent.
DO you ever see so and so' on F |
treet?"
And the Senator replied:
People who are really doing things |
, Washington don't have time to loaf
n F Street"