The Washington herald., 1919-11-20
NEW YORK CITY
By o. o. McNTYRE

New York, Nov. 1s.-Those hardy.
cynical souls who sneered at the late
Bishop Potter's famous Subway Tav-
ern. opened In 1903 at the corner OF
Mulberry and Bleecker streets. now
realize that something must be done
along Bishop Potter's line to give the
working man a substitute fer the sa-
loon. Had the Subway Tavern been
encouraged. the saloon might have
survived.
The wall goes up among the New
York laboring classes that the rich
have their clubs and wells stocked
liquor cellars. They have no common
meeting places now In. the tenement
districts. The purpose OF the Potter
subway Tavern was to provide for
decent men and women a vseli-run.
legitimate place for liquid refresh
ments. where soft and other drinks
were sold In purest quality and at rea-
sonable prices.
No drunken men were served and
the meretricious custom of group
treating was forbidden. So many puri-
tans held up their hands in horror at
the idea that bishop should be 80
remotely connected with rum that the
ensuing malicious propaganda killed
the place
The tavern became as much of a
Stunning party" mecca as the joss
house in Chinatown 'Yap wagons"
as Boweryites called the sightseeing
busses, made nightly stops outside the
establishment and visitors from such
metropolitan strongholds as Greenup,
KY; Tuscaloosa, Ala. and Sauk Cen
ter. Wis. invaded the, CHURCH SALOON
to the embarrassment of the barten-
ders and the disgust of honest pat
rons.
The tavern breathed its last after a
year and a half. Social students-es-
sentially and anthitetically different
from that sweet duo-genderhood, the
''uplifters'-realize that the public
house is a neighborhood necessity.
The saloon was-whatever else ii
might have been-the clubhouse of the
working man. who scorns the dainty
Businesses Of the stereotype settlement
house.
He prefers the Police Gazette pic
lures of John l. Sullivan on the wall
and the fast-trotting Maud s. to por-
traits of bloodless looking New Eng
land poets, photographs of the ruins
OF the Coliseum and a superfluity Of
brass bowls and vases overflowing
with cut flowers and autumn leaves.
He liked the old days where the big
bowls held cheese, crackers, pickles.
and. on special nights, picked pigs
feet.
1t is interesting to watch certain
cafes in New York burst suddenly into
popularity. There is. for instance, not
cafe down town with any more life
than may be found away up at the
Arras Inn at 307th street and Broad
way. There are bright lights. bright
eyes, "shimmies" and bright gowns,
to say nothing of a double line of au-
tomobiles. It is the dovecote for the
uptown squads" Max Boehm. who
ran the inn up to two months ago and
has been succeeded by his son. was
the same Max who for many years ran
McGown's Pass Tavern in Central
Park and gave a magnum of wine to
the first sleigh of the year to reach
the tavern. But Max has passed on
and the magnum is a thing of the
past. One might as well offer the
Hope diamond.
Wilton Lackaye is wearing whiskers
In "Palmy Days" at a New York the
ater. Many Of US recall when Wilton
wore whiskers in less palmy days as
Uncle Tom in a play called Uncle
Toms Ca-been."
A new fad has hit New York. It
consists OF collecting islands in Maine
Nearly every newspaper man and car
toonist on Park Row has an island.
They cost complete-with a house and
everything-any place from SIS to 800.
and a lot of scribes and artists are
going to defeat the old H. c. L next
year with them.