The Washington herald., 1917-04-20
New York, Day by Day
By o. o. MCINTYRE.

SPECIAL Correspondent Of Ihe washington Herald
\ New York, April 1s-Melville Ellis has
passed on, leaving an artistic void in
broadway that may never be filed. /
saw him at the Palace just six days be-
fore the end came He was then weak
ana struggling valiantly to throw off the
ravages Of disease.
His highly artistic and original work
MADE him one Of the foremost figures in
me neid OF the stage. He had genius
lot color and he was an adept in every
thing connected with costumMg Ellis
was born In Arizona. but came to New
New York from San Francisco, where he
played piano In a music store.
Big and strapping in stature. he was a
stalwart figure on the stage. and as a
pianist he had few equals. He was the
nrst to introduce new styles on Broad
way. Tailors. II is said. were Sad to fur
nisn ms clothes free, and haberdashers
heaped their new foibles upon him. for
he instantly made them popular.
Ellis was 40 years old. When he was
% he tried TO BECOME a reporter on a San
Francisco paper. s,He told the story OF
his FIRST assignment. The managing edi-
tor sent him to another city for an In
terview. Shortly after he arrived he sent
the managing editor the following tele-
gram; Have forgotten the mans name"
AhS hdhd6iuB eollOr Wlre0 DdCk. Ine
mans name is June, Your name Is Ellis .
Such brutality was too much for him,
and rather than 60 back for the canning
process" he took another Job.
A 1.-THE young lady, clad in grasses and
a boa who claims TO come from the
slopes Of Mauna Loa, but in reality is
from Muncle, >Ind.. was dancing at one
Of the 'high-class cabarets the other even
ing while the dusky MoIokai boys were
twansing Hawaiian Butterfly" on their
ukuleles
The tune kept everybody's feet patting
and the lady herself seemed to be dane
Ing as II inspired. Suddenly she looked
at one of the tables near the dancing
floor. She faltered a bit, but kept on
until she neared the exit and then made
a hurried departure.
One Of the gentlemen at the table
smiled BIT cynically. The dancing lady
was his wife. He had married her when
she clerked In a ten-cent store in the
Middle West. All ove~SNew York she Is
the rage as the original Hawaiian hula
hula girl. Even her accent smacks Of
Waikiki beach. The husband was in
New York on business and Just happened
to drop in at the cabaret.
Seen around town: subway blast
guard with red nag in one hand and
an American nag in the other. A movie
theater advertising admission for one
onion on the East Side. A peddler with
a German accent and Teutonic features
selling American buttons on Broadway.
A White Way happer rouging her lips
before entering cafe
Gather round the psrlor lamp. folks.
Here's a scandal One Of those crawling
worms has turned The maitre de no
tel-or head waiter as we say in GaIlipo-
lis-has sued a patron because the patron
accused him Of taking tips.
According to the suit filed the patron
declared that It was impossible to get a
table upstairs or down unless the itching
palm of the suave cuss who stood at the
silk-roped entrance was creased with a
five-spot.
The offended maitre de hotel says his
reputation has been spotted. His neigh
bors do not speak to him and the dogs
bark as he passes. All of which he says
is worth $4,000. You who have visited
New York, ask you: Can you beat It?