The Washington herald., 1918-06-01

| Special correspondent Of The Washington Herald.
New York, June 1.-The richest block
| in the world is not one of those
squares in the Wall street district in
which the temples OF the Rockefellers,
| the Morgans, the Dohertys, the Ba-
kers and the other monarchs Of mon
ey are situated. The richest block in
| the world is bounded by Nassau and
John streets. Maiden lane and Broad
| way.
1t is a rather shabby block as
blocks go downtown. There are So
looms and small shops. decrepit old
structures check by jowl with COM
paratively new buildings, and there
are very ordinary persons there along
side extraordinary persons.
Maiden Lane used to he the most
romantic, picturesque thoroughfare
downtown. In the early days the lads
and lassies of old New Amsterdam
wandered along the brooksides there
or crossed the rickety bridge where
Nassau now marks the way, and be-
meath the trees they spooned and said
silly things and sweet things in Dutch
If 1t is within human possibility to
say anything really saccharine in
Dutch.
In later years MAIDEN Lane became
the Lane of Diamonds. High up in
one of the skyscrapers perched the
Sapphire Lady OF Maiden Lane" the
clever woman who was the world S
greatest sapphire expert. To mention
Maiden Lane used to mean gems.
jewels and joys.
Now there is none of that. Maiden
Lane has changed. Where one of the
most sacred of the shrines used 10 be,
where bushels of diamonds would be
on display. there is now a lingerie
shop. A shop that used to specialize
in rubies is now a GAIick lunch place.
These We're bad enough. but the ruin
of Maiden Lane was completed when
a and 10 cent store swooped in. It
will never be the same again.
The jewel merchants moved into a
nearby block. Despite the war. dia-
monds, ruhies and pearls have gone
up amazingly. The production of dia-
monds has declined. of pearls practi
cally ended and of rubies fallen off
decidedly. In some instances pearls
have advanced 800 to 1000 per cent in
the last generauon.
The barber shop is on Broadway. A
dour looking man came in and. after
gIancing pessimistically about the
room, selected a certain chair.
Good morning. SIR" said the bar
ber. brightly. "WhatIl it be-"
The dour looking man gazed at the
barber and said grimly: Assault and
battery, as usual, suppose" And
then there was a Deep Silence.
Down in Madison Square Garden the
past week they have had a congress
of the Worlds Greatest Daredevils."
And incidentally an indignant citizen
wrote to the manager to learn why
Nat Goodwin's name was left of. The
show was put on by a group of men
and women who delight in daily f1irt-
ing with death. One woman hung by
one toe on thin wire and permitted
herself to be hoisted to the roof of
the Garden, while the audience sat
trying to control heart palpitation. A
bicycle rider plunged Off a high plat
form into a narrow tank-a few inches
swaying of his body in any direction
would have meant instant death. The
daredevils. however. did not make
much of an impression on New York
There were many seats for sale each
evening.
Well. it has finally come. The pub
lie worms have turned A group OF
writers and artists made solemn VOW
at a dinner at Moquin's the other
night to stop using the word cam
outage" for the duration of the war.
They admitted that they had used it
too much themselves and that others
were using 1t even more. Every curb
stone Joker has a new joke pinned on
the word. Songs have been written
about IT, and 1t has been dragged
through all the barrooms and cafes
nightly. 1t looked like a perfectly
good word that would fit in every
where, but II was worked to de1th
before it had any chance to burgeon
and bloom.