The Washington herald., 1919-07-18

New York. July 17.-Thoughts on q
New York roof garden: That white
light in the distance Is Madison Square
Tower White clouds like a pun OF
beaten-egg white. Roar of tranic
sounds like an electric fan. Auto
mobiles like gigantic bugs. Girl In q
red dress smoking cigarettes In in
the movies. Amber lights are q great
aid to beauty.
There's Frank Harris. radical edi-
tor. Great friend Of Oscar Wilde.
Wilde said all beautiful things were
useless. Should see the great canvas
Of sky and the sprinkling OF stars
from here. This place has a milk bar.
Does a good business. too.
Romany Marie of the Village. Made
money with queer cafes. Nobody in
town I know any more- This girl
selling cigarettes goes to art school
in the day time. New stunt! Ath-
detic illustrating three minute setting
up exercises in middle OF dance floor
for tired business men. Wish I had
enough energy to exercise. Makes
you hungry.
South Americans at big table. Al
ways good dancers. Don't see so
many idlers since the war. Another
AS" ANCo- ANChhiAe iAobaEhANS W po-
irons who are alone on tho roof.
Strange looking fellow teaches In
dian PHILOSOPHERS to society people.
Wears queer robes and turbans. You
can sell anything in Manhattan.
Fellow with brown derby and the
closely cropped mustache Is the house
detective. More of the mystery about
the Indian philosopher. Boyish per-
son Is George Anderson-Fritzi
Scheff's husband. Got to pay a dol
lar here just for sitting down. Think
I've got my dollars worth. Now to
escape the hat check boy.
There seems to be more Grass stu
pidity among policemen in New York
than one will find among any other
class in the world. Down at Coney
Island a beetle-browed cop offered an
abominable insult to a young woman.
by lifting up a motor coat to see II
she wore a bathing suit. Bathing
suits are barred on Coney Island
streets. He arrested her upon a ri
diculous as well as outrageous mis-
conception of a city ordinance. Two
young girls are preparing to sue the
city for being arrested for soliciting.
They were held in Jail but dismissed
with an apology by a city magistrate.
Now a policeman is accused of ar
resting a taxicab driver because the
latter refused to buy tickets for a
police entertainment-the police are
always holding some sort of a bene-
fit in this town. The pity OF It is
that the sufferers have no redress
and the culpable officers receive no
penalty.
It Is a strange thing about prohi-
bition. l cannot fnd any newspaper
readers who favor II. Every New
York newspaper-save one-has a de-
partment devoted to the views OF
readers. For four days as an ex-
pertinent I kept track OF the letters
on prohibition-the chief topic in New
York. Not one favored absolute pro-
hibition. Most OF them agreed that
whiskey and hard liquor must go
eventually and some were against
light wines-but every letter was
strong in its Endorsement of beer.
Nobody seemed to appreciate beer un-
til il was about to be taken away.
New York has always considered
Jay walking ordinances as some
thing belonging to the small towns
west OF the Hudson. But just now
New York is putting through one or
the hardest and fastest of jay ordi-
nances that ever punished man. wo-
man or child for crossing the street
in the middle OF the blocks. 1t pro-
vides a fine of so and ten days in
Jail, or both. for any pedestrian fall
ing to obey the policeman's command.
There might be some excuse for the
law IL the city would try to put a
curb to the wild-eyed mail-wagon
drivers. They are the daredevils OF
the Gasoline Age. Little children at
play are their favorite targets and
not a day passes without a victim.