Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-10-13
GUESSING WRONG ON HERM-By sewell Ford

AMT maxim any excuses for
Known Herm Pickett, nor
ain't boastin' about It, Some
would think they had to do one.
while lone couldn't resist doin' the
Other. A. for me. I've always classed
HeFm Pickett ~ sort Of . human
curio: nothing you'd want to have
around constant, or put In a parlor
collection. but . specimen that was
worth iuspectin' now and then when
there was nothiag better to do.
That's how happened to be ranged
up alongside Of him In the lobby Of
the Oui5a Gardens that evenin' when
this delegate from the clam chowder
6ector drifts In ana proceeds to turn
the spotlight on Herm's shadowy past.
Not thst I'm any surprised to learn
be has such 4 thing. Any one would
know he had Just to look at him. Yet
Ehi1o I've been more or less we'll &C.
6uainted with Herm Pickett for, say,
I aossn PEARS. didn't know much
more about his past than did his
future.
Let's see; II must have been durin'
that last exhibition tour Of mine that
~ manager picked him up; either In
ss ss Gts s. % a nD tns kate
receipts for our side. Seems to me
he'd been treasurer, 30 called. Of one
bk them punk hurlesque shows that
bad gone on the rocks. ANYWAY. ne
Insisted on him havin' enough 30 he
Sould spruce up little. And what
does he blow q two weeks stage
against but . second-hand soup-and:
fsh outfit, inciHdin' foldin' opera hat
Maybe he wasn't grateful, though;
For It turns out that Horns abidin'
Weakness IL for open-face clothes. He
vas always perfectly willing to rgssie
20 without smokes or drinks. or bunk
&t any third class Joint. without ever
putin up holler. And by day he'd
Slouch around in some old plaid suit
S1ots. Come iightin'-up time, though.
and Mr.. Herman Pickett was bound to
Appear in all the glory Of pearl studs
and braid-bound dinner coat, no mat.
ter whether he was behind the s,' tickes
Squeezed into the dough coop Of the
kkating rink at Red Wing.
You'd think 1t was what he lived
for. this even costume act OF his.
drifts into New York some six or
eight years back, 70 near broke that g
ke-cent room at q Mills Hotel was all
10 could afford. he continues to bloom
Maybe that was why took chance
on backin' him in this pooiroom and
bowling alley enterprise he'd found 80
far uptown ON the West Side. I must
that end Of Broadway was mostly new
apartment buildinge then. with the
tenants only beginning to trickle in.
But Herm was dead sure II he couid
put up enough TO take over 2 hye-year
flled up he'd develop something big.
well. he aid. inside Of six months
he'd changed the bowlin' alley into .
J movie house and fitted up tho pool
parior as Eriilrocm. Within q year
the vacant lot in the rear for beer
And that was the start Of the ouija
Gardens. Maybe you know the place
four floors and it, thirty-piece orches-
ira. I expect you can get just as poor
Q dinner there for $1.25 as at any joint
In town. And afterwards you can
climb up to the Cherry Blossom roof
vaudeville and pictures as you can
stand. II you amt satisfied then you
can join the mob out in the white lat
tfced back yard and tackle leathery
Welsh rabbit or defy ptofmaines by
consumin' a chicken lobster that's
been away from salt water for
month or more.
should worry, though. The few
hundred kissed goodbye when
handed 'em over to Herm Pickett SO
long ago have come back to me
good many times since. and although
I've tried to tell him he could buy in
my hfth interest any time he wanted,
Herm will never listen.
"Ah, let 1t ride. Shorty" Is all ever
get out of him.
90 every now and then, when I'm
ependin' lonesome evenin' in town, I
hop on the subway and slip up to
Join Herm for an hour or SO while he
stands there watchin' the crowds pour
in. His favorite spot seems to be just
in the lee of Charlie Chaplin display
board. If you ever saw him once
That's him-the squatty party with
the short neck. the long arms, the
puffy little eyes and the round smooth
face with q complexion like a Cam
membert cheese or q rubber collar.
So it can't be personal vanity that
leads Herm out there night after
night. hardly! I expect he don't know
how much like q dressed up toad he
looks; or II he does he don't care But
there you'll ind him, planted solid on
his short legs. with them little eyes
Mxed steady on the crowd. He don't
BEEN to be watchin' for anybody spe-
bf 'em, but I'll bet there's mono no
misses.
You'd never guess either. that he
was boss of the whole outfit unless