The Washington herald., 1919-08-05

Ne~ fork. Aug. A.-Now and then
There ts q bloody nare up in the old
! haunts OF the sangsters in Manhat-
tain but the police believe that the
sangster is q highly despised thing
Of the past. The gangsters of the
type that ruled the old Bowery and
Chinatown and kept alive the dives
khere-. used every means of getting
p ivehhoed/ that could be conjured
up by a/perverted brain. The po-
licemans club and long prison SEN
tencesy ended gangdom
Big Jack Zelig, a devil with the
women, was pistoIed on a Four
tesnrh street street car one Satur-
DAY night Eat Em Up Jack Nc
ManuS Spanish Louis and Crazy
Butch went to their deaths, pri-
ma0ly through women. Owney Mad
zen. the most recent gang leader.
[1s doing a stretch for manslaughter.
! Monk Eastman, once a gang lead
er' is now a respectable citizen who
won his way back on account of his
war record. He works at night in
a garage. Paul Kelly is now Paul
Vacarain and is heading the Long
shoremen's Union. Harry the Yat
has dropped out Of sight There
seems to be no new leaders to take
| their places.
Now and, Then some bravsdo tries
to becomeS leader but a night stick
rst-a-tat-tat on his head ends his
drearpz1of leadership. The old gang
G AZ rrxyo ~ L
ii was from the shadow of a dark
doorway. He plundered those who
could not complain to the police on
account of criminal records. The
gan gster is almost invariably a drug
user. Only with cocaine, heroin or
soma other drug does his physical
fears leave him.
The old CANISTER would do any sort
of criminal job for hire. Murder
was cheap and manning was cheap
er. 1t used to be possible to get a
man killed for SO. The police once
had a price list, supposed to be in the
handwriting of "Piker' Ryan,
gang leader who fiourished in 1900.
This list had this schedule of prices
for killings and maimings:
Punching. 50; both eyes blacked,
S4; nose and jaw bust; $40; lacked
out (knocked out with a blackjack,
SIS; ear chswed of, SIS; leg or arm
broke, s1s; shot in leg, s25; eye
gouged out $40; stab wound. SIS;
doing the big job. 800 up.
Down on Park Row they tell a
story OF a reporter who returned to
his city editor from an assignment
the other day a little too jovial for
dry days. The city editor looked up
and inquired: ON the reservation
again. ehT'
'Noshire Chief. nothin' like that
only a few glasses OF 2.75 per cent
beer"
We'll you haven't got a 2.75 per
cent breath. How many glasses did
you have"
Just four Chief-honest, just four
liz glasses. I fixed my breath that
way"
1t was lunch time so the city edi-
tor called two copy readers and
asking the befuddled reporter along;
all repaired to a groggery nearby
All ordered beer and sat down. The
reporter fumbled in his pocket, pull
ed out a flask and filled the glass
half full of rye.
Gotta buck up that breath" he
said Here l am best reporter in
townsh and only a measly. teeny
weeny 2.75 per cent breath" And
! il so moved him that briny tears
rolled down his cheeks. Even the
C. E. smiled
In my opinion. The Better Ole"
is the most stupid play in town.
| Yet it has been running a year on
Broadway. The critics were far
from favora BILE when the play open
ed. 1t is impossible to gauge a play
/ in New York. Even the astute
Charles Frohman said he could do
it in London but not over here.
The latest thriller, which it is pre-
dicted will have a long run. is Al
Woods "A Voice in the Dark" The
play is acted partly in the dark and
partly in pantOmime. And there is
only an occasional glimpse of the
heroine.