The Washington herald., 1920-01-29
New York City
By o. O. Mcintyre

New York, Jan. 2s.-Bronx and
Harlem fiat buildings are filled with
romantic wives of a serenely calm
Observation-Disclosures dealers, moor
walkers, clerks and all the others that
so to make up the timid and affec-
tionate so-called middle classes.
Most of these wives are full-blooded.
healthy young women whose minds
are stuffed with the romantic trash
OF the period. The yellow Journals.
the movie thriilers and the sex novels
lind ready patronage with them. They
are young women who calRt TO New
York teaming with rol Ice and
looked upon marriage wI a rose
cdlored vision leading tdGe Swiss
chalet. troubador in Ne+sAt cloak
and nightingales.
Instead they found that marriage
led to an imitation marble entrance
fat where the smell of cooking pene-
trated from next door and where
the most exciting emotion Is the COM
monpiace gossip of garrulous neigh
bors. For a long time they endure
the dull drab. maddening details OF
this narrow life. But the repression
seems to make them more romantic.
And so they go in for romance
passed out by the press, stage AMI
magazine. Now and then they seek
the garish lights of Broadway. a fiirta-
tion perhaps-and then repentance
The fact is that most of them are
splendid wives but when their hus-
, bands come home at night tired out
they resent this calm heaviness and
go trooping off to the movies to watch
Lionel Eyrlieshare hurl a couple Of
villains Off the cliff.
The circulation manager OF a rnaga-
zine which goes in heavily for sex
novels told me that in one apartment
building In Harlem every woman was
subscriber. For curiosity's sake he
Investigated and found that every sub
scriber was married-and happily SO.
There are no liaisons as a rule.
There are only starved souls seeking
romance in monotony and they
naturally respond to romantic trash
with the startling distinctness of
parched verdure responding to rain.
When they grow older and raise chill
dren they make the best of mothers
and wives-but they will cling TO
movies and sex novels. never firing
OF trying to find out what was meant
exactly by felicity, passion and rap
ture as they found them in books.
Manhattan druggists are being so
besieged by sufferers asking for hic-
cough remedies that a universal pam
acea is sought. The pitiful requests
are SO punctured with "hics' that
many cannot be understood. The drug
gists tell them to hold their breath
and bend over and IL that doesn't stop
them see a doctor. The hiccoughs
are the result of the peculiar iconcoc-
tions that are masquerading as boot
leg" liquor. Twenty-Five cases of hic-
coughs were received at one hospital
in "a hours.
Claiming Pollock at one time de-
cided to write musical comedies-but
after sitting up all night trying to
find for a lyric a rhyme for month"
he gave it up and went in for
straight drama. His play THE Sign
on the Door is one of the seasons
successes. Across the street Is Zies-
fields Roof where they burlesque hits.
Ziesfeld had several try to burlesque
Pollock's play but all failed. Then
he calledN on Pollock and the play
wright responded nobly. He will poke
fun nightly across the street at his
own serious work and also collect
royalties two ways.
Perhaps no popular song in years
has reached the sale that has BEEN
accorded 'The Vamp." Variety, the
theatrical magazine. tells of more
than 500 professional singers featur-
ing the song. Strangely enough II
had a popular run, died down and
fared up with a greater sale than
ever before. Tin Pan Alley experts
say II is a bigger hit and will remain
so longer than 'iHawatha"-anothe
song that was laid on the shelf for
five years as a failure.