The Washington herald., 1919-04-17

New York. April 1s.-The new
l-.ny cops" have been sworn in and
are on the job in Manhattan. The
term fly cop" used to mean the
derby Matted gent with the black
mustache. Square toed shoes and
bulging neck who wore plain
clothes and was supposed to be
masquerading as q man about
town. Why he masqueraded is a
mystery. A crook with only feeble
intellect can spot them six blocks
away.
| But the new ''hy cops" are patrol
men of, the air and are members
"a of them-of the new police re-
serve flying corps and are part
of the preparations for the day
soon to arrive when the skies Will
be speckled with planes and dirig-
iibles bearing passengers and
I freight.
! At first the new ''f'y cops" will
have little to do. Traffic of the sky
Is not a fact as yet. But shortly 1t
will come and they will be ready.
There will be no family entrance in
which to stop for a friendly mug nor
will it be possible to step into the back
room and see what the boys are
having there.
Ordinary street fights, neighbor-
hood chickering's and push cart
thefts will be entirely beneath
their notice-as It were. And as for
taking forty winks on post-well
the man who does II will be auto
matically dropped from the force.
Just like that.
1t is the belief of the police de-
partment that two years will see
traffic cops lowering over the
Woolworth Building. the Metropoli-
tan tower. the Singer Building and
other high spots. For traffic rules
must be formulated and air lanes
mapped out shortly
The giant hotels that have re-
Gently reared their peaks to the
clouds are all prepared for aero
plane landings on their roofs.
While they are not in operation
yet. the space is ready and only a
few days time will put the air
landings in perfect condition.
The Slit Eared Kid" famed
gangster who in the pre-war days
roamed the wide highway of the
Bowery and the narrow alleys of
Chinatown, is back from the Euro
pean battleflelds. He was known
by another name and the crowds
cheered him as he carried gun
down Fifth Avenue. Even the cop
pers. always laying for him. smiled
their approval. The Kid came
! through. In the vernacular of his
world. he never showed the yellow,
He is going TO stick to the army.
He is off sticking up stuss games.
shooting up all night lunch rooms
and picking pockets on the sub
way. His commanding officer was
talking to him the other day. deIy-
ing for few bits of information
about his past life. He finally ask
ed him il he came from a tough
neighborhood
"Tough!" said the Kid. WHY,
1t is SO tough down there that the
canary birds sing bass"
the general manager of the Uni
versal Film Company is Tarking-
ton Baker, former critic of the
drama in Indianapolis. His iunfp
from the wilds of Indianapolis to
the heart of the big city was ac-
complished in a rather unique way
While writing pieces about the
drama for Indianapolis consump-
tion. it was almost among his
duties to act as buffer for the
big pile of theatrical press agent
matter that had long since left the
district mail carrier hopeful but
fat-footed. There was some ma
terial from the company that Baker
now general manages. Some of il
was good-but some of II rubbed
MI. Baker the wrong way. FINALLY
II got on his nerves and in a heat
ed moment he rewrote one batch ana
sent 1t back with a little note stat-
ing that in his opinion the re-writ-
ten material was the way the stuff
should be handled. Then he promnt-
y forgot all about the incident
But the long arm of New York is
always reaching out and picking
out the isolated genius. His note
and corrections fell into the HANDS
or the president of the company
He sent for Baker by wire and he
reported for work-and there Won