The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1920-01-01
NEW YORK CITY
By o. o. McNTYRE

New York, Dec. sl-Hack writer's
OF Manhattan are not the DOWN
trodden, self-effacing folk so enter
tainingiy written about In magazines
and novels. True they are the lesser
literary lights who do the more OBJ
scure and arduous chores in the pro-
fession. but hack writing" like shoe
shining has Gomez up in the world
There are fifteen hack writers who
own their own homes and a hundred
or more who have nifty apartments
and automobiles and very few or
them make less than 5000 q year with
many hitting the $4,000 year mark.
II has been said that hack writ
ing is stepping stone to, the more
elegant fields of letters but very few
ever give 1t up. 1t Is too easy.
Hack writing has many avenues open
for the jolly free lance. There are
the Sunday feature sections, the trade
Journals = hundreds OF them the
poetry corners In newspapers and
magazines, the newspaper syndicates,
cheap fiction. editing dictionaries and
encyclopedias, popular songs, both
lyrics and music. for Tin Pan Aliey
and many. many more.
There are many hacks who edit
house organs for giant houses Of In
dustry. They do this work at home.
merely sending the copy and the
makeup plan to the printer. This
takes only few days a month and
the income is. considering the time,
higher than is paid the star fiction
writer's.
In fact down at Amityville, L. J..
fhara 5hn haa thrSR
successful novels, but q year ago he
returned to hack writing" because
he said writing novels was too un.
certain and that public taste was as
shifting as the trade winds. He likes
creature comforts and as he has .
big family he turned to the surest
and most prolific field, for his talents.
During the past few years a new
world was opened up to the hack
writer-the motion picture business.
Many of them are being employed to
write bright bits of chatter presum-
ably from the mouth Of stars for
the whole country. The work may
be done at home or in a mahogany
trimmed Office just of the Dazzling
Ditch known as Broadway. One
must learn the tongue Of the screen
and that Is about all. Now and then
the monotony is broken by trip to
California to get Closeup" Of the
star about whom one has written no
much.
A perfectly lovely gentleman from
dear old Madrid arrived on a Spanish
steamer the other day and with
beamlng countenance told reporters
at the pier to tell Broadway for him
a.. la
basco to pep up Broadway and chase
the gloom caused by prohibition.
Backed by bunch or flock OF Span
ish capital he is going to relieve suf-
ferers from metropolitan aridity. He
will quench all alcoholic desires with
tobasco, paprika, cayenne and other
fiery stun prepared in palatabie form.
He says that II IL no secret to chefs
and others who made a speciality of
Gastronomics that the longing for
alcohol is much modified by eating
highly seasoned food. Sc he's going
to open a regular hells-bells, hot-hre,
gosh cafe right on Broadway.
play called "Shavings" Is short
" to appear at a New York theater.
1t is denied that William Gillette will
have the title role. And speaking Of
plays it is said that next season will
be a season of melodrama somewhat
like the ones We used to shiver over
on the Bowery.
- \.
New York dealers say that the
sweetheart of the unskilled laborer no
longer is satisfied with an imitation
diamond set in a washed gold ring.
but must have a sure enough sparkler
set in n platinum band. The great
increase in the jewelry business comes
from men and women who never were
able to indulge before. Platinum
never has been so much in demand.