The Washington herald., 1917-12-17
By DWIC

Special Correspondent Of The Washington Herald.
New York, Dec. 16.-As Samuel
Pepys might record in his diary: Up
be times and TO breakfast with Morgan
Kingston. the tenor. and his brother
in-law, Mr.. Hatteras. the actor, who
told a comick tale OF calling on a
play-actress and giving the name ''Mr.
Hatteras'' and the maid could not un-
derstand.
And finally after repeating il several
times he tried to impress it upon the
Jade by saying Mr.. Hatteras-Cape
Hatteras-do you understand" And
the maid said "Oh yes" and went 10
her mistress saying: Mr.. Cape Hat
teras to call"
Came a letter from E. A. Bushnell,
cartoonist. who tells me of his new
work. which he likes very much. For
a walk through the town and find the
touch of the blizzard everywhere and
much suffering among the poor and
much talk of putting out all the town
lights to conserve the coal.
To an inn to play pool with Gil
Patten who under the nom de plume
of Burt l. Standish used to amuse
me nightly with his tales OF Frank
Merriwell and Diamond Dick and
other of his heroes. And came also
Ray Rohn, the sketcher. and his
brother Glen. a fine lad from Lima,
Ohio.
In the afternoon 10 a luncheon and
met Mr.. John d. Rockefeller. jr., who
made A brave talk about religion
which the public journals displayed
quite prominently because Mr.. Rocke-
! feller is opposed to immersion. ii
seems.
In the evening with VIII Johnstone
| and Mistress Johnstone to New Ro-
chelle to call on Claire Briggs, the
comick artist. and saw his new home
made of ship timbers and his dog
Dandy which I would lie:er have than
my own.
Home late and fearful that the
| benzine buggy would slide into a ditch
on account Of the icy cart ruts along
! the heath. This day cast my accounts
for the Christmas season and find 1
| can do little giving, which / aver
! each year but do not stand by. Fell
to reading A. Conan Doyle's brochure
on the hereafter. very learned, and
so to bed.
The passing on of Nat Wills. the
tramp comedian of the Hippodrome.
| was n shock to the RialtU. Wills was
good natured vagabond> in real life.
| His earnings were more than 500 900
| and yet it was only a short time ago
| that he went into bankruptcy. Most
Of his funds went to help those less
| fortunate than himself. He had n
| fund OF originality rarely equaled.
| One of his best quips of the year
| was that Henry Ford had shaken
more hell out OF people than Billy
Sunday.
He was an actor-jobless and dir
couraged. Not long ago he went over
| to a pier on the North River to end
it all. lie pressed a pistol to his
forehead and looked up to the sky.
His eyes rested on the stars. Some
thing happened. he does not know
what, but he did not complete his act
of self-destruction. "The thought
came TO me-" he said afterward, that
the power that made those stars could
save me from my dilemma He is
back on the stage now and he is
making good.
IT is not unusual to see a bevy of
pretty young debutantes lunching at
the Fifth Avenue places of distinction
these days in their nurses uniforms.
These young girls have volunteered to
go to France at their own expense
and remain for two years and they
are now receiving special training in
New York hospitals When they leave
the hospitals liveried limousines await
them at the curb.
James X. Hackett tells about a
transforming theatrical manager who
changed the bill from "Romeo and
Juliet" to "Othello" SO tin leading
man would not need Is cents to get q
shave.