The Washington herald., 1918-07-18
BY o. o. MCINTYRE.
sy DMc

New York, July 1.-THE knights
of the Roaring Forties are almost
daily reminded-or rather nightly
of their idol. the late Diamond
Jim" Brady. At the opera, in the
theater and in the lobster pergolas
there flashes a sparkle" of the
famed Broadwayite. Sparkle" 10
indeed the word.
The famous sets Of jewelry that
cost Diamond Jim" q fortune and
were his show window are now
scattered all over town They were
sold to dealers in old jewelry who
were willing TO break up the sets
and sell them piecemeaL
Diamond Jim" had his iewelry
plentifully bespattered with dia-
monds, but the diamonds have been
removed and they now appear in
new settings on strange fingers and
scarves. One of the largest dia-
monds hangs pendant like from the
throat of an actress noted for her
beauty. Still another large one
graces the soft manicured finger az
tenderloin gambler.
Brady was . large man and his
jewelry was built on corpulent
lines smacking of the roundhouse
style OF jeweled architecture. Few
people would care to wear the gems
as a matter of personal display. but
as relics they are interesting.
In fact, q jewel merchant predict
ed the other day that in nifty years
men would not wear iewelry cuy
more than a fashion plate would
wear hob nailed boots in this day.
Some enterprising soul overlook
ed a bet in not buying up or leas-
ing the Brady sets and replacing
the diamonds with rhinestones and
exhibiting them around the country.
The jewels Of Diamond Jim" had
enough advertising to make them
pretty well known wherever news
papers are persued.
He had sets of costly pearls and
emeralds, and catseyes. and other
precious stones, in addition to se,s
of opals. and amethysts, and Jade
and the like.
The passing on OF John Ames Mitch
ell. editor of life, leaves a void in the
artistic and literary life of Manhat-
tan. Although - years of age. nc
was a fine old American who k=pt
Stcp WIN dItisuG piOkiSsS "iSANNN
surrender OF the ideals of youth. Lie
was intended to be a humorous publi-
cation and II did have much of the
humorous, but il also had a note OF
seriousness and a doggedly tena
for ideals. Mr.. Mitchell began life as
an artist but he was just as well
known as an author. There are manT
artists who have strived life time
to have their drawings appear in
Life but failed. But they never
blamed Mr.. Mitchell. He had certain
standards and they had to be reached
The old-fashioned panhandler who
accosted pedestrians on New York
streets for just enough for "a cuppa
coffey' is with us no more. The waT
has banished him, at least for It's
duration. In fact, begging has be-
come a hopeless pursuit. People viii.
not give to beggars. unless they are
physically disabled. The man who
begs is liable to receive a stiff punch
in the jaw instead Of aims. There
were. police estimate, before the war
about 700 professional beggars vita
worked in districts around Broadway.
Now there is not one left so far as
the police can learn. Most Of the pro-
scssional beggars lived on the Bowery.
They had a well-organized organiza-
ton with leaders who mapped out dis
tricts for them and furnished bail
WREN they fell in the clutches of the
law. It was the most shameless sort
OF graft, but it was of the kind that
could not be stamped out. 1t took a
world war to end 1t. Crying Mary,
professional who could cry all day
long owing to an ailment Of the tear
ducts, was picked UP the other day
and sent to Blackwelrs Island. THE
sraft Is no good any more" she
aighed.