The Washington herald., 1919-10-09
NEW YORK CITY
By o. o. McINTYRE


New York. Oct a-t;hatham Sanare
Is where the Bowery begins and or
Chatham Square is Chinatown. The
elevated rumbIcs around the curve
overhead-smudgy faced children Of all
breeds play on the car tracks under
neath And providentIzIly no child
has ever been ground under car wheels
in the square. Beefsteak Johns is
In Chatham Square. u used to he
you could get steak with all the
trimmings. including pie and coffee.
there for 10 cents. but now he charges
20 cents.
Round about Chatham Square and
other points inst on the outskirts of
Chinatown there filter into chinks and
queer crevasseS elements from all
over the world. Elements that nil
levcis of Society have iettisunrd--the
misunderstood and the misundcr r,-tand +.
ing-and for whom there seems no
other haven than the gray saiaior
OF this neighboring sink OF wretched-
ness.
These lees Of the cup OF life may
not be piquant colorfuI or interest =
ing to many. but to me the tortuous
little streets Of the sIiInIs have more
heart interest than Firth avenue or
broadway. New York. without its
| slunis. is no different from any other
city and perhaps not quite so inter-
esting
Writers OF topical songs. OF scenarios
and of short stories somehow draw
| out OF the sordid shabbiness OF thA
Chatham Square section inspira ion
for lurid tales OF ways unrightcous.
vain and terrorizing and without any
| swce tness Of character. Whereas, In
| sober truth, there In no spot In all
New York where the gossaner man.
, tie OF romance ftis with more apti-
| tude.
There are more real love affairs
| down on the Bowery than on Park
avenue and there are fewer dope
nends. street walkers. thieves And
| plc<poCkets In Chatham than Time.
Square Life Is quite earnest there
PeOple are more Sympathetic A
wounded dog bowling In a gutter
would have more chances for h~Iu
Ia Chatham Square than among tie
limousine filled Park and Madison
avenues.
TIL. slumS OF the movies aud " the
fiction factory and the real life SluIns
are distinct and strongly coutrasting
New York entities. 1t Is the same
with Chinatown. One emer1<cS from
the fantastic hIllows of opium smoke
3 place of strange passions. Of exotic
luxury of peculiarly strong Oriental
favor and weird rnisdeeds. to learn
that the real Chinatown is "A hard
working. progressive and law abiding
community.
There Is an editor down on Park
Row who is n professional anti
"A part of the eternal No among his
| friends. In any gathering he always
takes the Wow that others oppose
As a result he is not extremely popu-
lar. Somebody asked him the other
day what was the reason for his OBJ
stinance. Well" he said. anybody
can be popular just by being agree
able I like being unpopular aud be-
sides I've got dyspepsia
The New Capitol Theater. opposite
the Winter Garden on Broadway, Ia
oFened as the largest theater in the
world and il is devoted to moving
pictures with hiEh-brow dash of
classic dancing and minute dramas
FryoTs band is TO furnish the music
F. J. Bowes. husband OF Margaret
Ellington. the money and Old Ben At
we'll. Chicago's ravorite city editor.
the publicity.
City hospitals are sending out warn
ings to watch nut for wood alcohol
In whiskey around New York Que
teaspoonfnl. they point out. Is enough
to blind and paralyze. Some atten-
ton should he paid the table d'hote
red wine.