The Washington herald., 1919-01-18

New York. Jan. 17.-Pomaded
young men in Tin Pan alley have
rolled UP their silk shirt sleeves, light
ed fresh cigarettes and begun their
quest for the new type of popular
song. All of the war babies" of Tin
Pan alley have gone by the board.
Three weeks after the coming OF
peace, and it was noticed that there
was not a single hand-clap for the
| sentimental war ditties So 1t is up
to the geniuses of Tin Pan alley.
Tin Pan alley is not a thoroughfare.
1t cannot be found on sign posts. 1t
Is district in the Forties off Broad
way-taking IN several side streets.
All of the musical houses are there
the Houses of Hits, New York, Lon
don, Paris and Chicago; you've read
about them all in the magazine ads.
Only a few like Leo Feist. dean OF
the publishers, have their own build
| ings. The rest of the publishers oc-
cupy old-time, high-stooped, brown
| stone residences. You can hear the
| jangling of the pianos a block away.
1
where musicians or composers may go
to try out their new ideas and attempt
to tease a contract out of the coy and
reluctant publisher.
| However, it requires a clever musi-
\ cal stroke to do this. Most of the
hits are written by men regularly en-
ployed by the music houses. They
| practice all day long They know the
| publics musical pulse. 1t is~true that
an interloper sometimes runs away
with a hit. but it is very seldom.
| One of the interesting types of Tin
Pan alley is the song booster. He is
a professional enthusiast. Give him
instructions to go out and boost
song and the song is going to receive
attention. He may sing 1t himself In
| a cabaret, or he may secure the help
! of a fellow singer in vaudeville.
| He has his gang of hand-clappers-
the Tin Pan alley claque-and by the
time the song is sung five or six times
in crowded places there are demands
| in the music shops. and soon a big
sale is being recorded.
| 4 tall crook and a short one held
up a Brooklyn bank, killed two, and
galloped away in a taxi with slS,oo-
| Since that New York has been ter
rorized by a series OF what Broadway
calls "stick-ups" Each hold-up rob-
| berry becomes moro daring. The police
| with easy and learned nonchalance
account for the reign of footpads. 1t
| is the power of suggestion. Tho
Brooklyn robbery was a success and
so amateurs have renewed faith. BY
! the same psychology Chicago had to
board up it's stairway in the Ma
sonic tower. One man hurtled him
self to death over the stairway and
! a succession Of suicides followed. No
robbery in New York is complete
without an escape in a taxicab. The
numbers are censored and a white
automobile, conspicuous for its white
ness. may be half hour later
bright red. The taxi robber gangs
work fast They can paint an auto
mobile as fast as Henry Ford.
| Simon Steingut. mayor of Second
avenue. has been i'll. To the world
at large this will cause only n faint
| ripple of excitement but TO the resi-
| dents of Second avenue and the Bow
cry II means a lot. Mayor Steingut,
! of Second avenue, is a personality.
| philanthropist, near lawyer and gen.
eral benefactor of his people. Only
once has he aspired to public office.
He was figuring on a place in the
| tenement house department. But he
went to examine a gas leak in the
home Of the late Sheriff Julius Har-
| burger and during his inspection Of
| the leak cracked open an automatic
| cigar lighter. What happened blew
all the tenement house department
aspirations out of the mayor He is.
of course, never elected as mayor OF
I l. =.
| ed by his people as their leader. He
listens to their tales of woe. gets
some out of jail, secures jobs for
others and in return he wields
power in the political life of the city.