The Washington herald., 1920-11-14
STREET WAKES
AT MIDNIGHT
Faces Change Yearly, Says
Policeman Of Place Of
Broadway.
ny O. O. MCINTYRE.


row thoroughfare-this street rum
ming on Broadway eastward in the
Forties--and almost entirely given
over to second rate hotels. The left
over space is occupied by brilliantly
lighted. white-tiled eating places.
for most hotel guests do not eat
where they lodge.
1t Is the soul OF the Tenderloin
and those who enter are rarely
questioned. At three o'clock in the
afternoon the entrances are filled
with freshly shaven men. They are
just up for the day and are enjoying
the tang of the before breakfast
cigarette.
The girls-they are mostly young
In this street in the Forties-have
an impudent upfiung gesture of de-
fianee.' They are over-powdered and
over-rouged and the scent of per-
fume is pungent.
There is hard. cynical and
worldly look about the men, despite
their youth. Their clothes are
Broadwayesque. There is always an
argument going on among the lit
tie groups at the 0nrb, n lava-like
eruption of nerves-over nothing.
The language of the, street Is foul.
Out of one hotel / saw a woman
come hurrying. She stopped at the
entrance. looked up, and down. and
then walked briskly toward Broad
way. Only year ago sho was mar
ried and the papers had much to
say about the match. There was a
trip abroad-then a separation. "She
drank herself out of his life." Broad
way said. And her dissolute look
did not belle the charge.
Pallid men, young in years but old
in knowledge OF SIM seem 10 have
nothing to do but air those white
fuzzy little dogs up and down the
street. How do they live? That is
the question the stranger wants TO
ask-but the denizens OF the street
in the Forties give knowing smirk
to the query.
In the street are foreign looking
women, dancers from South Amer
lea. who wear silken. red shawIs.
cheap black earrings and have the
poise OF a Carmencita. They give
of their earnings to the white way
cleaners = youthful. wastrels who
know not the meaning of toll. II is
because they are lonesome and pine
Tor companionship, the street says in
its charitable way.
At midnight tho street in the For
ties awakens to its highest pitch.
There Is clatter OF pianos and
other musical Instruments. Home
brewed cocktails are suffusing new
life. The pavements are filled.
Many of the girls are just through
with their work in the burlesque
chorus.
II
tilt. The manicure shops are open
and the barber shops are packed
with customers. Night lunches are
in demand in the cafeteria. There
Is the unmistakable dash of sup
pressed excitement. Perhaps a
scream, thud of falling bodies in
rough and tumble fights. high
pitched quarrels and the like.
Those are the things that make
gossip-and the street thrives on
gossip
The population is changing. The
| policeman on the beat told me that
he does not recognize a face that
was there year ago. but where
do they go?" 1 asked. He shrugged
, his shoulders and pointed up the
river and then down at the ground
He meant Sing Singer Death!
4
/ New-York has been engulfed by
the charm Of Pavlowa the past few
weeks. Critics say the famous
dancer was never better than she is
today. Pavlowa is a so-called high
brow dancer. She interprets the Dy-
+; ing Autumn Leaf and the Budding
| Rose and things like that. But
strangely enough her appeal is also
to what is called The Mob. Her
audiences are always mixed-pa-
irons of the opera, college profess
sors, young clerks and many day
laborers. 1t is strange how quickly
wanes the popularity of the dancer.
The New York of today speaks only
| of Pnvlowa and of Chalif. Where
are Mordkin. Genee. Maud Allen and
host of others whose names were
/ known from coast to coast a few
years ago?
There is great truth in the OBJ
servations of James Gibbons Hume
ker upon his return to New York. He
says: The motley crowd marches on
needless heels. Possibly a green
face might make 1t pause. though
we doubt It: poor Baudelaire with
his hair dyed green. would not have
a chance of recognition. Just one
more nut. Every nationality except
American traverse our streets. Are
there any New Workers. in town?
| The Slavic. Hebraic and Italian
types predominate where once Irish.
German and American ruled. The
Japanese and Chinese are bound to
Come, and then what n composite
face will be ours!
But New Workers must hurry.
You cannot lounge in a treeless city.
The intensity of life here, its futile
intensity. prevents a man from as
suming the attitude of a looker-on
as in Vienna, Venice or Paris. New
York boasts no dilettanti. You see
no old women. No grandmothers
make sweet pictures for tired eyes.