Imperial Valley press., 1913-12-22
Christmas Tree
In Madison Square
BY Carlton Ten Eyck

New York, Dec. pa small army
of workmen today were busy in Madi-
son square, that haven of the home
less and helpless, setting up the big
gest Christmas tree that could be
found in the Maine woods. The tree
is the gift of the Idealists and band
of charitable people of wealth who
choose to hide their Identities, if not
their light, under a bushel. 1t is
tree for all the people and when it's
myriad and multicolored electric
lights are turned on Wednesday at
nightfall it will become the beacon
of "peace on earth and good will to
men" for those derelicts of the square
and the districts below it, the east
no other Christmas emblem.
ents. The Idealists are Spugs. 1t
will shed merely lights and color, but
that is novel enough for the sad ones
who come from all the out of the
way corners of the city to look at it.
Their lives are colorless and know
little light. The tree will be lighted
from sunset to midnight every night
during Christmas week.
The Idealists inaugurated the Madi-
son square Christmas tree last year
and it proved such success that they
decided to make it an annual feature.
Men, women and children came night
lv by thousands to look at the bril-
liantly Illuminated sign of Christmas,
and some sat for hours on the park
benches, gazing at the lights. The
tree seemed to have fascination for
some. Many of the same people came
every night. Observant watchers no.
ticed that some looked wistfully and
appreciatively, while others looked
bit scornful when they first came, but
all went away looking more hopeful
than when they came. That was what
made the unknown charitable ones
determine on the tree as a yearly
thing. the hopefulness that it seemed
to bring
Broadway farers are on the anxious
seat again. Police Inspector Dwyer
is back on the job and enforcing the
a. m. closing law to the letter and
to the minute. The late Mayor Gay
nor was firm believer in early clos
ing of cafes and restaurants and was
supposed to be the father of it. When
he died it was whispered about
groundlessly, that Mayor Kline would
ease up bit and allow the lid to tilt.
About that time Inspector Dwyer, the
nemesis of late-or early, it depend
ing on ones point of view-hours
on the Great White Way went on
vacation.
1t was just coincidence, of course,
for Dwyer's vacation to come at the
time of the change of mayors, and nc
official order ever was given to loosen
up on Longacre square and contigu
Gus territory. But when the police
cat is away tendefloin mice will play,
and the word went around that it was
safe to keep the merry-merry going
little after the legal closing hour,
lengthening the trespass gradually sc
as not to attract any hue and cry
Soon the much abused lid looked like
Swiss cheese. Then Dwyer came
back. His coming was not announced
in the police bulletin or the newspa-
pers, but everybody knew it an hour
after he struck the white light dis
trict. At 1 a. m. he marched his men
into five resorts whose managers and
patrons supposed that everything was
lovely again, and ordered them to
close. He enforced his order by show
ing the men and women out of the
places. That was the beginning, and
now Broadway is dark an hour after
midnight.
The stiffness, thick enough to cut
with knife, is as much in evidence
as in the late lamented Mayor Gay
nor's time. During the lull several
of the places in the forties that went
out of business were open again. The
Toxic put in tango floor and threw
it's doors wide open. The closed Green
Turtle put in a cabaret and blosSomed
out as the Latin Quarter. Such places
are the hardest hit by the early clos |
ing, because they cannot exist on the |
patronage they receive during the |
scant hour and a half between the
close of the theaters and the curfew. |
Many good Democrats of New York |
are uneasy these days. Mayor John |
Purroy Mitchell will take office week |
from next Thursday and he has not |
announced a single appointment. He |
has said that he will make known |
none of the men who will get offices |
under him until December 81.
At the same time he has said some
significant things about considering |
no slate put up to him by any politi- |
cal leader and about appointing men
on merit only and paying no atten-
ton to party service.
The Christmas dinner Of many a |
politician will be eaten without zest |
because he does not know whether or
not he will get the slice of pie he |