The Washington herald., 1918-04-02

Especial Correspondent OF The Wash
ington Herald)
New York, April 1.-The Metropol-
tan, sacred temple OF operate music,
will become the home Of the trick
Custard pie for the summer season.
Where the golden notes OF Caruso and
Farrar thrilled the blaze and bejewel-
ed occupants OF the Diamond Horse
shoe circle. Charlie Chaplin propelled
by his ridiculous feet will slap the
innocent banker in his serene face
with a loose cUstard pie
Sam L. Rothapfel. who in the cinema
world is the Shakespeare. Beethoven
and George NJ. Cohan all rolled up
into one, has leased the Metropolitan
Opera House for the summer and will
make a movie palace out of il. Lena
and Jake from the Bronx will knock
their shins against the rare furniture
in the boxes and in the foyer, the show
ground and promenade of society, a
| blonde young ticket seller will sell
tickets by the yard to all Comers.
Billy Guard, the publicity impreSario
Of the METROPOLITAN, squeezed out sew
eral large tears when he heard the
news. Billy is temperamentaI and he
considers the movies worse than moth
ing at all He has hurled away his
Socialist cravat and Beethoven cape
and soft hat and bought himself a
flock of fried egg derbies of pearl
Gray. black and white checked suit,
black shoes with white uppers ana a
waistCoat showing a birdseye view of
Longacre square lit up. He is ready
for the worst
O.
by the news that the movie had in
vaded the Metropolitan. They would
get over it. however. If they dropped
into the Rialto or RivoIi any night.
These are the movie palaces that
Rothapfel controls and in front Of
them nightly are lonS lines OF mauve
and tufted limousines, waiting for the
choice names of the blue book lolling
about inside in the perfumed interior
| OF the theaters.
Instead of the neatly printed notices
on the bill boards outside of the opera
house, there will soon he seen the
! hamboyant three sheet OF Theda BaIa
as vampire tempting Nat Goodwin
to sin.
The possibilities Of the art will be
unlimited in the vast interior OF the
Metropolitan. A screen can be erected
nigh enough to show Doug Fairbanks
climbing all the way to the top of the
Woolworth Building and jumping off.
| A custard pie battle the width of a
| whole city block can be shown. For
| once the movie actor playing oppo-
site Fatty Arbuckle will be able to get
into the picture. Hurrah for Rothap-
fel and hurrah for Hamish McLaurin.
who believed so much in Rothapfel
| that he quit a highbrow newspaper
job to sing his praises in the press.
One OF the women arrested as a
spy in New York recently lived In one
! Of the more sedate hotels on Fifth
| Avenue. Her wardrobe revealed 100
gowns, 80 hats, 40 pairs of shoes and
hose, equally elegant and various
The secret service men also learned
that the spy drank pint of cham
| payne with her breakfast. ate terra
pin for lunch and kept a valet for
her shaggy little Pomeranian. Her
| bill for bonbons at one store was $50
week.
Emerson advised self examination.
A wild young man rushed breathless-
| ly into the Jefferson Market court and
demanded the arrest of his two COM
| panions lie was searched and the
$29 he accused them of stealing was
found on his person and in addition
big revolver was found for which
the young man must go to prison.
In a restaurant on lower Broadway
known the pre-war days by a German
name, but now called the United
/ States, a group of soldier boys on
leave entered. Business has been dull
at the place. They inquired OF the
waiter the reason for the lack of trade.
| He told them of the pre-war name
and also said that the owner had
four sons at the front. Put up a
service flag in front" said one. They
did the next day. Business IL picking
up.