The Washington herald., 1919-10-04
NEW YORK CITY
By o. o. McNTYRE

NewIoYyk. Oct s.-Cahnce plays an
In every other calling. Pershing
parsed himself into the United States
army and OF course Ben Franklin 8
kite made history. HAD 1t not been
FOR q series Of crazy. letters that
passed between Wallace Irwin and
Gordon Ross. an artist on the New
York World. the Hashimuri Togo let
tiers would never have graced contem-
porary fiction.
Every man who has japanese ser
want Is quite certain that he has the
original Hashimuri Togo. In fact
shrewd proprietors of employment
agencies whisper in the ears OF pros
pective employers that they are get
ting the real only and original Togo
the lad whose fervent and twisted
English convulsed a world.
In my rambles around New York
have, by actual count, had twelve
original Togos pointed out to me by
proud hosts The truth is that there
never was an original Hashimuri Togo
except as a fgment Of Mr.. Irwin's
brilliant imagination.
He and Mr.. Ross were great friends
In the old San Francisco days-and
when they separated they wrote let
tiers Just as they do today without any
sense whatsoever. Mr.. Ross in New
York is liable to get q letter fran
some point in Maine asking him for
the best retail price Of tripe and =
current quotation on Wallpaper
stretchers and the letter win be signed
by Herman Finkelstein or Joseph J.
Norton.
He knows It is Irwin. And Irwin Is
not surprised II he gets a perfumed
letter in a feminine hand telling him
the rent Is overdue and to hurry up
I, with the check and to wear his heavy
socks SO he will not catch cold. Out
side the envelope the return address
will be Elaine We're de We're, the
Buxom Blonde Burlesquers, On Tour "
He usually gets these when he Is at
some fashionable hotel. He knows they
come from Ross.
Hashimuri Togo was DEVELOPED in
this way. Ross used to get letters
from the Japanese school-boy. Irwin
warmed to the character and soon he
saw the selling possibilities and be-
gan selling the letters to magazines
and newspapers all over the country.
There is a dark little restaurant
NN"h "HtIc yOu
have to talk above the roar of the
cobblestones to make yourself heard
and it is frequented mostly by proof
readers on New York morning news
papers. Sometimes I drop down there
around 2 o'clock in the mornIng-for
a smell of the good old printers ink
and the gossip of Newspaper Row.
There are very few snappy dressers
among the proof readers. They are
retiring. and dress neatly but with no
display. l never saw a proof reader
wearing a silk shirt or a three tone
tie. They are usually philosophers
and super cynics but mighty good
friends and some of the brightest men
1 know read proofs on New York
newspapers. Most OF them own
homes on Staten Island and have
families and are mighty good citizens
But they do not mingle with the
crowds
1t takes a man with the information
and memory OF a Macaulay to become
good proof reader. He must know
everything. He must know how many
inches Of rain fell in the Lake Tchad
region the year the Germans an
nexed the Kameroons; who repre-
sented Oshkosh the year of the first
gold rush: where is the sultanate or
Hedjaz and what is the family name
of the royal house Of Great Britain,
etc. etc
New York newspapers have had
much to say OF a chess match that
has been held in the foyer OF a New
York hotel. I do not believe that 1
could ever cheer over a move in
chess I'm just not constituted that
way. But according to reports some
spectators did cheer. Many OF the
games were played many miles apart
and some Of the contestants were
playing as many as fifteen games at
once.