The sun., 1919-05-18

in the thick stream OF humanity hur-
ring through Grand street toward
the millinery district stretching with
O few interruptions Of pant" stores
(these announced in bold letters: I'VE
have pants always on hando, furriers
establishments, shirtwa!st "empo-
riums' and few department stores,
from Second avenue to Gouverneur
street Push carts in charge or de-
pressed looking old men offered their
strange assortment OF underwear
prassieres. corsets, hosiery (male ana
female), neckties and sordid collars
furs of every imitation and hundred
and one things that are unmention-
able because they are indescribaole.
On the Hunt for New Hat.
But these interminable push carts,
some Of which offered slices of water
melon, 3 cents; pineapple. cents;
cocoanut, l cent. stopped few OF the
hurrying throng. 1t was Sunday
in spring and the crowd was on the
hum for a new hat. Smiling. highly
blooming ladies' dressed in the very
latest mode-the sinuous silhouette
stood at the entrance OF the millinery
shops and waved a welcome. These
were the salesladies. augmented for
the Sunday trade by ''preparers' and
"finishers," and they contented them
selves with dumb show. Nobody eX-
erted physical force toward possible
customers, for that is obsolete. dim
feature belonging to the palmy days
OF Division street in the middle eigh-
ties. Nowadays most of the milliners
OF Grand street belong to the Milliners
Association, which was established to
protect the public from too eager sales
ladies'.
When a young artist confided that
she was weary OF the conventional HUI
man being as seen on Fifth avenue
and Riverside Drive. and would take
her on a scout for types on the lower
East Side. it was natural to respond
that these types since the war no
longer existed; in the great struggle
where entire regiments had been made
up of East Side boys had been found
a skilful spoon to stir the great melt
ing pot until there were no longer ex-
terror evidences, such as dress or de-
meanor, to indicate the mixture OF
Jew, Armenian Italian Russian
Greek, Swede, Slovak, Hungarian ct al
in the population, but all. owing to the
war and the block parties, were ordi'
nary Americans.
She didn't believe me and a Sunday
excursion demonstrated that with the
service flags still showing their stars
in Grand, Hester, Norfolk, Pike anc
Catharine streets the district had MOI
changed a rag. 1t was still the lower
East Side. dirty and picturesque, the
elder generation doubling everything
including the coming of summer Cfol
it hangs on as long as possible tC
overcoat, sweater and shawl, COINS
intrepidly without head covering ex
cept what nature or the wig maker
provides, and the younger generation
decked out with shoddy limitations o.
up town styles and crazy about it:
new straw hat. Especially in the way
OF doing it's shopping mainly on {
Sunday is the district unaltered. Tha
Is the only day OF the week when the
busy female East Slider has enough
leisure to shop.
Yes, the great heart of the East Sid,
still beats to the homely old music anC
Il Is hard 10 find trace OF modcrnit,
in the spectacles afforded by thes'
crowded streets of a Sunday. The ia
sd women whom you see in wig ant
hhawl have lived forty years in Amer
IA; they were eveh young here an,
once as mad about "A new hat as thei
daughters arc to-day Now their in
terest Is purely maternal: they TAX
pride i'll the up- to- he-miu,Ito nnnear
hnce OF Hctta, Paulina. Regina, Bertha
Lucia, but as for themselves the,
have gone back With :. sigh of conten
10 the rugged ease Of their mother