The Washington herald., 1919-08-21
NEW YORK CITY
Day-By-Day
By o. O. MCINTYRE

New York, Aug. 2o.-Bryant Park.
in the rear of the majestic public
library on Fifth avenue at Forty
second street, is the dividing line
between great wealth and great
poverty. This little patch of green
in the city's heart separates the
shiny serge OF Sixth avenue from
the shiny silk of Fifth avenue.
The little public square is . mecca
for the derelicts and just now It is
crowded because hundreds have been
driven out OF their rendezvous In the
gin mills OF the vicinity. Loose
Tipped, furtive-eyed men whose
hands tremble occupy the benches
Now and then there is a hollow
cough and a stained handkerchief
is ffecked with red.
There is an abject helplessness that
is depressing. Sections of newspapers
containing the Help Wanted" adver-
tisements clutter up the lawn and
gumrny asphalt. I sat on one Of the
benches for an hour the other aft
sing-song cadence. If one shut
ones eyes one could imagine
mosques and priests, chanting
prayers In the distance.
After awhile the noise grew louder
as a group of thin-looking children
rushed out of an areaway into the
noisy street They were playing
Round the mulberry bush" in a
little breathing spot encompassed
by the sun-baked walls of Sixth
avenues blistered red brick build
ings.
They came out into the torrid bill
lows of heat in the street as a relief
from the hot hollow of the hem
med-in playground. Shortly they
rushed back again. singing exuber-
antly. Never was I so impressed
by the buoyant spirit of youth.
On one bench sat an expansive,
bovine woman, Undated and un-
kempt, who held a frayed box of
crackers in a soiled hand. A little
girl. too hot to play. and also dirty
and ill-clad, stood by the woman
holding a tattered rag doll. Per-
spiration streamed from their faces.
A dozen or so, their mouths agape,
were sleeping. One youth looked
about nervously. reached down in a
vest pocket for a pinch of some
thing which he inhaled. He bright
ened up and sauntered away. "A
snow bird" ventured my companion
on the bench-a laoorer type in
shirt sleeves. "A lotta them around
here" He meant the young man
was a coke fend.
Two minutes carried me over to
Fifth avenue, where I saw gorgeous
lImousines filled with bored-lookinG
people OF wealth. high-stepping
horses caparisoned with shining
leather and gold and silver trim
mings. gold-headed canes propelled
by frock-coated young men-on
their way to tea!
My friend Wendell Phillips Dodge
has resigned as press agent for
David BeIasco. He has Joined forces
with Willy PoEany. the artist, and
will produce plays. The first offer
ing is an ambitious one, being a
drama in nine scenes, entitled,
Esther" by Baroness Leone de
Souiny. Dodge, before his entry
into press agency. was editor of The
American Strand Magazine. and be-
fore that a civil engineer, and, de-
spite the handicap of his whiskers,
journeyed into the widest parts Of
Asia and Africa. 1t was Dodge who
first broke away from the mimeo-
graph. Every story he sent out
for Mr.. Belasco was written espe-
cially for the publication to which
it was sent. That is why Mr.. Be-
lasco got such dignified publicity
The Broadway fishermen have
steadily grown in numbers. You
see them sprawled fiat over the
subway gratings with wires. hooks
and magnets. Many a thin dime
and hard dollar have slipped down
the subway ventilators along
Broadway. Youngsters started re-
covering the lost treasures but it
became so profitable that now there
are jobless men who do nothing
else. A cord, a magnet, a long
pole, and chewing gum supplant
the rod and reel with the treasure
seekers.
The Cumulative in Arkansas.