The Washington herald., 1919-06-14

| New York. June IS.-If prohibition
viii end the cabaret nuisance on
Broadway the average diner-out will
welcome the day. The cafe managers
have not awakened to the fact that
the people are tired Of noisy cabarets.
The whole length Of Broadway there
Is not a cabaret performance pre-
senting an idea that u new. All
cabarets are alike. The same ingre-
dents go for all
| visited five the other night for
experimental purposes. Each had at
the stroke Of midnight an Oriental
dancer. The costumes were nearly
alike-being fragments Of mothers
bead portiere.- All came from the
Far East-Far East Houston street
Then. o JOY. the military number.
Darkened stage. A bugie call. The
roll of drums. Out of the distance
the boom of cannon. Close UP of
spotlight on a flag. And then the
] girl In the finale. Do not forget her.
All come out waving fags and she
comes down the center. She wears
star spangled jacket, white tights.
a big fur drum majors cap. She
doesn't know what she represents and
neither does the audience But II
1
| Then about tine time the representa-
tive of the leading suspender house
in Indianapolis has had his third
highball there comes the old-fashion-
ed girl. The back drop Is a colonial
house with a porch and everything.
In the distance flows the Potomac.
She tells how different things were
when grandmana was girl They
didn't have platinum-lined limousines,
duplex apartments. jazz anklet
watches and v-shaped gowns then.
oh no. o. no-and now for the last
1.-The Of the chorus. All together:
Things were so very different when
grandma was a girl!'
Isn't that original? Musical com
edies and burlesque shows quit that
stun ten years ago. And so did
vaudeville. But they thrive in the
cabarets. The rough-stufr dancers
still occupy a conspicuous place on
each cabaret bill. The guests up at
the ringside seats never know what
moment the male dancer is going
to throw his dainty partner into a
dish of chicken a Ia king.
In the smarter cafes like the Ritz
Waldorf. McAlpin. Pennsylvania and
others the cabaret is a thing of the
do a stunt any more. Now and then
there is a singer But the average
smart place has only good jazztess
music and dancing.
Speaking of prohibition, the mind
naturally leaps to the prohibitionist
Nearly every New York newspaper
has a standard cartoon type for the
prohibitionist. He is pictured as a
tall, plug hated. bespectacled frock-
coated hypocrite. All of which is
quite unfair. The prohibitionist is
Just as sincere in his desire to dc
good as any other high-minded citi-
zen. 1 once met the head Of the
New York State Anti-Saloon League
He was one of the brightest men
ever met. And he told some of the
best stories. And he did not have a
long holier-than-t thou face. In the
same manner the brewer is pictured
as square-headed. swag-bellied
Teuton. 1 have met quite a num-
ber of brewers. Not one filled the
picture. Most Of them are intellect
ual men who average pretty high
| in their honesty in business, their
charity and their civic pride. The
idea that the brewery interest in
| America is controlled by Germans is
an amusing fallacy. Nearly all OF
the stock of Americap breweries Is
owned by the English.
Word comes to Broadway that
little Frances White is captivating
the crowds at the London Hippo
drome with her songs and dances,
Miss White was playiSg in a sum-
mer resort out West for SIS a week
five years ago.