The Washington herald., 1918-06-15

New York. June 1L-It was q bit
OF drama without a plot. They en-
tered the car on Broadway-the we'll
known actor and the smiling lady.
He wore that sort OF conscious un-
consciousness that the best actors
wear in private life. His suit was
excellently tailored. his hat at the
proper angle and his spats and gloves
spic and span
His name hangs IN electric lights
from a Rialto playhouse Matinee
girls stun themselves with candy
and gurgle each time he steps be-
fore the footlights. Little IL known
about his home life. 1t is said he
married a woman mot in the pro-
fession."
His glance about the car seemed
to say, You may look II you like.
you know. but people usually pay"
They sat on the little raised dais
at the front end of the car. and the
place became a stage.
The smiling lady was not young nor
slim nor pretty; she was, however,
adorable. A sort Of inner happiness
shone from her eyes and the
corners OF her mouth turned up.
She didn't say anything. nor did he.
He Just looked at her with some
thing hard to label-perhaps adora-
tion, perhaps a little pity of re-
morse. 1t is hard to read the actory
face.
Suddenly, as though giving IL all
up, he took her arm and pressed 1t
ever SO gently Then she turned
away and the smiling lips quivered. the
happy eyes swan suddenly with tears.
A drama in real life-a problem
play-was being enacted; but no one
could guess the meaning. Had she
been watching him. perhaps from in
front OF the house playing opposite
his leading lady. who was young and
slim and pretty? Did she sense that
he was tired OF her and was his
gentle touch a reinsurance that all
was we'll?
Finally he got OF the car near
Times Square to leave her. He petted
her hand before he left and then
stepped out She rode on with her
eyes closed and her lips moving as
if in prayer. He was going to his
Misunderstanding the real for the un-
real.
have opened for the season. The
convert charge-paying for sitting
down-has been torpedoed this sea-
son. Last year it ranged from so
cents to 81. But the war will not
permit of the convert charge. Peo-
pie would rather give the money
to the Red Cross and the hotel men
realize it. Roof gardens in New
York are the show places for the
real New Yorkers-from social stars
all down the line to the rogueishly
rouged. There is life, color and
plenty of jazz at the roofs. The
problem of supplying walters on
account of the draft. and the new
work or fight" order has been
serious one. Some have japanese
and Chinese walters. and a sprinkl-
ing of the Palm Beach negro wait
ers, which add a new cosmopolitan
touch to the roofs. Walters are al
most impossible to secure, and bus
boys are impossible. The bus boy
used to make S25 a month. but now
he spurns SIS a month. and gratui-
ties. Peculiarly, however. the war
has not caused any noticeable de-
felt in hat pirates. And" says
Wilson Mizner. those are the birds
they need in the front line trenches.
They get away with anything"
have a card from Raymond
Hitchcock who is leading a pitt
able life on the beaches at At
lantic City. During the day there
is nothing for him to do, but loll
about in the sand in his trick cerise
bathing suit, and in the evening he
allows himself to be pushed up and
down the boardwalk in a roller
chair. And in the same mail comes
a letter from Al Woods who is with
great fortitude suffering a stay at
Cape May. 1t is remindful of Bide
Dudley's days on the stage. His
room mate was in pawn at a the
atrical boarding house. Bfde got a
group Of friends together and said:
Come with me and I'll show you
how an actor can suffer"