The Washington herald., 1920-10-16
BROWN STONE
HOUSES PASSE
Former Badge Of Distinction
Now Making Way for
Apartments.
BY o. o. MCINTYRE,
Special Correspondent of The
Washington Herald.

years ago to live In brown stone
front was badge of distinction
in Manhattan. Noyelists always had
their rich housed in brown stone
fronts. There was magic in the
name quarter of q century ago.
The brown stone front was the
home of the merchant prince. The
material had to be mined on the
Western plains of New Jersey and
teamed and lightered to New York
| at great cost in those days.
There are blocks and blocks OF
| them above Forty-second street, but
| of late they have fallen into de-
cay. The advent of the luxurious
apartment house put them in the
shade. Now they are being torn
down with ruthless abandon and the
last shred of dignity has vanished.
The evolution of the brown stone
front has been an interesting phe-
nomenon of changing New York.
The owner would perhaps move to
the country and rent the house to
a widow. She in turn would rent
the second floor to a refined busi-
ness man willing to make his own
beds and not cook on the premises.
a hall bedroom would be let to
a young man from the Middle West
| here in quest of a fortune. A tailor
would open a Pants-Pressing Club
in the basement and then the front
| parlor became dentists office.
| Shocked neighbors would move, and
the new occupant would resort to
the same process.
Not a yestige of the sacred fam
tlxF hnA ~ ms ts % N tnt nd
| that in five years not a brown stone
| front will remain.
Billie Burke's Position Unique.
1t is a unique position that Billie
Burke holds in the theatrical, NOV
ing picture and social life of the
metropolis. The actress has just
been selected as one of the five
most beautiful New York society
women by a famous connoisseur
| of beauty.
Ethel Barrymore, in private life
Mrs. Russell Colt and Billie Burke,
in private life Mrs. f. Ziegfeld, jr..
| are perhaps the only two stage
people who may be said to be of the
| most aristocratic social circle in
New York. Neither. imagine,
has social ambitions, but are
\ rather more interested in their
careers and their families but their
names are always mentioned at the
! most exclusive functions.
Miss Burke has an enviable le-
gitimate stage career, which she
has not abandoned for the films as
she is to be starred later in the
season. This week she is appearing
at a Broadway screen theater and
the line for the first performance
ran two blocks down Broadway and
three blocks up a side street.
Mop Army Fights II. c. l..
1t has developed that many thrifty
New York wives have Joined the
Skyscraper Mop Army in the fight
on the high cost Of living. Nightly
they invade the big buildings and
WELD mops in the financial section.
| They work seven or eight inky
hours and then ride home on a sun
rise car in time to get someone an
early morning breakfast. Their sal
aries range from SIS to s25 a week
| and that is quite a sum toward
| fighting the high cost of living
when there are other wage earners
in the family. Before the war the
scrub women were mostly very old
women but now young and husky
wives form the majority of the mop
army. They can do the work and
have some time left for their house
hold work and also a little money
for the extra little fineries so dear
to womankind.
After Theater Crowd Fascinates.
The downtown section of New
been a sort of Arabian Nights to
me. The City's pulse beats its
fastest There is a regal splendOr
to the crowds basking in the yellow
glare of 100000 lights.
The finest limousines, with per-
fectly groomed chauffeurs. creep
along only a few inches apart like
ants. People seem to be living only
for the hour. Faces are flushed, eyes
have a new sparkle-it is indeed
the bead on the wine of life. / sat
in an office in the Times Building
the other night and watched the
churning populace. There were
faces from every highwalk of life
peeping from closed cars. i saw
Rex Beach, Ben Ali Haggin. August
Belmont, John NJ. Gregory, Delaney
Nicoll, Otto II. Kahn, Clarence
Mackey-nameS that loom large in
the city. Then there were beautiful
stars, in great fur coats, going to
their country places. Very few
stars live in the city any more.
They have estates on Long Island
or up in WestChester and motor to
and from the theater. Then on the
paves were the plaiper folk
Bronx clerks. taking their wives to
the subway from the movies. The
army of night workers seeking the
lunchrooms for the midnight repast.
BY midnight the newsboys have
their first editions and their cries
add to the delightful din.
Accidents Keep Filling Up.
Every day in New York City A.
100000 local telephone calls are
made, in addition to a large num-
Der of incoming and outgoing long
distance calls. The bulk OF the calls
is in the borough of Manhattan.
How to handle the increasing num-
Der of calls has become a grea,
problem. Another great problem is
how to handle the increasing traf
fic on the streets. During the first
nine months of the past year 517
persons have been killed by auto
mobiles on the streets. Those killed
include 262 children under the age
of 13. s--