The Washington herald., 1918-08-15
By DMc

new nork. Aus. lo.-Tnat 'one Is
born every minute" is a conservative
estimate and It might be added that
two are waiting to trim each one.
Postoffice inspectors swooped down on
a Get-rich-Quick Goliath the other day
and found that he had q sure-fire
sucker list" Of 5000 Despite the
fact that the broker had . prison
record as long as the late Bob Fit
zimmons' reach he was able to amass
a fortune OF 100000 lovely dollars in
about six years.
When unfeeling minions Of q pitt
less law swooped down on the WALL
ingford In real life. he was occupying
two floors Of an ornate ONCE building
in the stately shadows of the Stock
Exchange.
The White Way is speckled with
these bejeweled, silk-shirted spenders
who live because Of a gullible puglic
They can be pointed out. as they are,
like celebrities in any of the insomnia
igloes devoted to braying trombones.
screeching Africans and undiluted
jazz.
They occupy the best tables with
their Lucille-clad Circean companions.
Come easy. go easy is their only
commandment and they receive all
the bowling and scraping that follow
the trail of the White Way waster.
Most OF them have expensive Offices
and are known as good fellows"
They breakfast at ( o'clock in the
afternoon on effervescent sedatives
and then are ready to mingle among
the electric lighted daffodils and
syncopated harmonies of the nocturnal
life.
Around the Forty Second Street
Country Club these gay haneurs may
be seen any late sunny afternoon out
Brummeling Brummel himself-feast-
ing on the fat OF the land because
Of their nimble witted crookery.
The Forty Second Street Country
Club is only a water hydrant near the
Times Building but for some reason
It has become famous because men
who live handsomely by dexterous
and devious sagacity are wont to
gather there in the afternoon and
Taught over their latest exploits at
the expense of the sucker"
II is told that a rubber-neck wagon.
filled with bucolic visitors, passed the
hydrant loungers one day and one
passenger raised his Adams apple
above the herd and pointing at rhe
group shouted: There Is that city
slicker who sold me the fake mining
stock" In a twinkling twenty-eight
men, by actual count. were running
for cover.
The old Metropole. in front OF which
the Gambler Rosenthal was pistoled.
was at one time the scene Of many
plottings by the get-rich-quick brood.
But the walls have ears and so they
moved to the water hydrant rendez-
vous.
And speaking of charlatans. there
haitian a horde OF circular-letter
takers who try to steal the virtues of
a respected religious organization. On
my desk is one that reads: you can
have Mind Aname. Heart Agiow,
Body Adngie" All I have to do Is to
send cents to the author and he will
send me the first pamphlet. 1t sounds
good except that Body Atingiei"
had prickly heat once. and to put II
briefly I don't care for Il. Others Of
the takers tell how to get diamond
rings, tufted limousines and anything
else the heart desires by going into
the silences and getting receptive
whatever that is. One man specializes
In How to Enter the Silence" He
lives in Harlem. where It is noisy and
has probably been practicing a lot
The stock In trade OF the chsrlatans
is some printed cheer-up gush which
they sell to those who are lonely ana
heart sick No great harm is done.
but thrift stamps would make a much
better investment.
The managing editor of New York
Newspaper was telling at the Press
Club the other day the best story he
ever read. It was the story Of an
East Side tenement eviction by a re-
porter who had Just been fired.