The Washington herald., 1914-02-15
GAY SET MERRY
ALONG BROADWAY
Cafe Life Whirls at a Rate
that Makes the Lightest
Head Swim.
KISSING GAMES POPULAR
Knickerbocker Takes a Peep at Nerves,
Fads and Has to Shut His
Eyes Quick.
By GOTHAM KNIcKERBoCkER.

BY 6OTHAM NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
New York, Feb A-Ldfe whirls just a
little bit faster than ever in Broadway
nowadays.
Leaving the theater at II p. m. with a
party of friends we plunged into a
boneracking taxicab. snorted our way up
the Only Street a bit and halted before
the Rialto's newest and speediest post
show feature.
Elevator. check girls. headwaiter. table.
swhew!
We didn't come any faster than things
are going on here.
The floor is a swaying, flushing sea of
dancers-the tango fights gamely with
the maxixe, the furlana and several other
upstarts-the spangled minarets and the
white shirt bosoms merge, swirl, separate
and merge again. On the stage three
cabaret shouters are working like mad,
while just below, the orchestra Ii tearing
itself TO pieces The walters literally run
The brain reels and the head swims
At least mine did the first time here
It's seven courses served at once. You
know the little boy at the circus trying
TO watch three rings, sevenbaclowns and
two trapeze performers? That's what
it's like.
There's no time to eat, drink, dance,
listen. or see- You must do all FIVE at
once. Yet it's a fine, new brand Of
hash-with all its indigestibility.
Games with kiss Penalties.
Childhood games for grown folks
are the ''dernier cri'' French for
--latest yelpD- That doesn't SOUND
very exciting, does it?
But waiti Remember that old ex-
cpse for wholesale OSCILLATION called
"Postofice?" That's IT. And several
others with strict kiss penalties?
You remember the shy way the
children played 1.-THE bushes and
the embarrassed laughter. These fea-
lures are eliminated in the renais-
sance.
I attended an affair given by some
friends Of mine the other night, know
ing they were fond of advanced" en-
tertainment. but little prepared for
what was coming.
Their guests Except me. pleased
were also advanced" in their ideas, It
seems.
When they proposed 'postoffice"
didn't realize my predicament, even then,
but some guardian angel prompted me
to retire to a corner after pleading
lassitude.
The old-fashioned rules were disregard
ed in this respect. that the postoffice was
i'm full view of all the players. That post
mistress did a mail order popularity con-
test business, too She and I were the
only ones who didn't play. The smacks
came SO fast / couldn't find time to
moralize. 1 escaped at last and revived
a bit after a walk in the cold air.
/ understand this game has been pop
THAR at army posts for many years, but
has only just invaded New York draw
ing rooms.
for us?'' remember was one remark.
The Short Hair Club.
The oldest society in New York is the
Short Hair Club 1t was started by an
actress who certainly does look be-
witching in the short hair wig she wears
for a recent role. Numbering sufficient
friends to CLEAN those who could stand
the pace. she organized the new club and
it is a great success. But il is exclusive,
terribly exclusive. Listen. You must be
beautiful in short hair,
Can you? Would you IL YOU could?
. Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish entertained fully
500 guests at a dance in her home on
East Seventy-eighth street recently. The
list of guests in itself was a triumph for
the skillful matron, containing hundreds
of names of those who really lead the
metropolis. 1t gave the final quietus to
the old idea of a -four hundred
The words of greeting from the hostess,
as the guests arrived, formed the solo
q
banding threats of canary birds. More
than a score of the little yellow songsters
sang their welcome from wooden cages
hidden amid yellow groves Of forsythia
and jonquils in the ballroom and foyer
hall. The novelty had such an effect
upon some Of the guests that they re-
leased several members of the bird chorus
Rejoicing in their liberty, the birds few
about the house chattering from every
vantage point that Offered a perch.
The guests hardly had become accus-
toned to the bird chorus when two
masked and gayly attired figures danced
y into the center Of the ballroom, the
guests falling back, forming large semi
circle. One was a harlequin and the
other a columbine, both professional en-
tertainers. They typified a carnival spir-
it in their dances, throwing confetti over
themselves and the spectators. They
called ii Jack in the Box dance and
mandolin and guitar players furnished
the music.