The Washington herald., 1919-11-29
NEW YORK CITY
By o. o. MCINTYRE

New. York, Nov. 2s.-Old Maids Al
ley-s region of hurrying feminine
figures-is In Morningside Heights. a
strange No Mans Land that sprang
up for no apparent reason whatever.
II Is 1fSth street that has won this
nomenclature. 1t Is a street where
Ph.D.'s flourish &C reckfessly as
kitchenettes and horn trimmed glasses.
In the shadows of Columbus 1t Is a
neighborhood Of women. school teach
ers. college professors. widows who
rent rooms to students and a little
group Of writer's. actresses. doctors
and social workers who could give
Greenwich Village, quite a run for It's
notoriety were II not for the fate
full name of ''Oid Maids Alley
That name trailed it's glory in the
dust Of derision before 1t was fairly
unfurled. A letter was received at
the postoffice bearing the jocose in
scription: Miss Mary -, Old
Maids Row. New York" And the
clerk, without hesitating. picked up
pencil and wrote, TRY l1Sth street.
At first II was a joke but now the
residents are sensitive about 1t.
1t is thickly populated section
IL you count women as population.
Every ballroom has its tenant and
even the kitchens have the gas range
and set tubs taken out and the scars
covered with cretonne to make a
habitation for one more impecunious
candidate for a masters degree. and
for one more voter.
A barber shop started up in the
community and died in 10 days with
out gurgle. The proprietor went
down and had himself examined to
see IL he was functioning properly
mentally. There Is not bootblack
in the neighborhood either. The
women who live there are thinkers
you can tell that by their serious
expression and the mannish clothes
they wear.
And they always have dictionaries
and other ponderous tones under their
arms. And o yes, not to be catty-my
dears-but the tobacco merchant in
the neighborhood told me he did a
fiourishing business in cigarettes.
There is a blind man who loves
the squirting white lights of Broaf-
way. He sells papers in the heart OF
them. on Times Square. He takes his
place. in the vestibule of large
building. when the theaters are Civ
ing up their thousands.
He sells the early editions of the
morning papers. and remains there
while the crowd thins out and until
only a few people are in the streets.
lie says that he knows when the
lights are dimmed, not by the cool
ness of the morning air. but by the
by the-he couldn't just say. He
knows Broadway with feeling eyes.
He says he couldn't live elsewhere.
that the lights lure him. He was
blind before he came to Broadway,
he. said. but had seen considera Bile
since. He has seen. he cited, girls
whom he knows have dyed faces give
. cents for paper. Young men in
trick collars and shirts and beIted
suits read him the news. YOUNG
women out of engagement bring him
boxes of candy. Some sing him the
latest songs. He said there was only
one thing he couldn't see. And that
was the hackneyed phrase that Broad
way was wicked highway.
On the menus of such hotels as the
ST. Regis. Ritz. and half dozen
others of the same ilk is the line
'Corkage 81" 1t had to be, the hotel
men say. People were fiocking in
with silver TASKS and even
small grips with cocktail ingredients,
making their drinks. and merely tip
ping the waiter while the hotel paid
for ice. glasses. service. music, etc,
and got nothing. All sorts of men and
women are to be seen with their
TASKS on the table during the dinner
hour in the large hotels. People do
not pay any attention to it any more.