The Washington herald., 1920-05-07
New York City
: =.
BE- o. o. Mcintyre

while strolling around New York: A
dark. brooding sky. A great day
for the umbrella thieves. There's
Josef Urban. the great colorist. Fa-
ther of eleven children. No wonder
he is SO serious looking. Quiet ter
raced home is "a haven for decayed
soaks. Has a soundproof room for
those with the horrors. Wonder
how I'd look in oyeralls.
Something profoundly touching
about an old woman selling news
papers. And yet they seem so cheer
full. Here's Chatham square on the
fringe of Chinatown and the Bow
cry. There are some tough faces
lounging in doorways. All the young
men wear caps. And roll their own
down here. They never come up
town.
Girls from the land of water
lilies. Hair heavily oiled and eyes
that are grave. Many will marry
white men-the no-account wrecks
and wastrels of the Chinese quarter.
The printers setting type in the
window of the Chinese morning
daily. There's a job for you! Think
I'll mosey out of this neighborhood.
I'm not frightened. but I've got oth-
ers dependent upon me.
City Hall Park. The man who has
the shoe shining privileges at the
entrance of Brooklyn Bridge makes
$4,000 a year. The park benches
full of young clerks. The, mayors
car parked in a Keep on the
GrasG" plot. There's Perry's drug
store In the World Building. Every
newspaperman knows DOC" Perry.
He used to have sofe choice pre-
scriptions before-whatever the
date was of the great drought. =
Under the bridge 1t sounds like
terrible thunderstorm. Old-fashion-
| ed shops. There's a wooden cigar
store Indian. And window full OF
terrible paper-back novels. And clay
pipes. Foot mats. Wax whatnots
for the parlor. Old bodies who have
their heads wrapped in knitted af-
fairs sit in the doorways. The
stoops are of wood. Dingy little
eating places. Hear them frying
fish out in the street. The air Is
dank and there is an eerie smell OF
fresh earth. A great place for local
color.
The poor we have with US always,
but New York now has a new
kind of poor-the respectable new
poor" If you please. My idea OF
a poor person in New York has al
ways been the same. l always
thought of a spindly legged child
picking bits of food out Of gar
ba,ge pail in a tumble down street
1t must have come from some car
Ftoonist.
But there seems to be no poor
of that kind these days. Those who
have watched the currents of the
social tide-rip for the past year
say the character of the flotsam
has been altered. The new poor
now consists of the more salaried
and professional men and women.
They are now the biggest borrow
ers at the Provident Loan Society
which is known as the poor mans
bank.
The mechanic and laborer rarely
calls for a loan now. Instead come
the clerks. teachers. the small
merchant and baker, book keeper
and others of those who constitute
the socalled middle and upper
classes. Pawn shops say that the
bulk of their business now comes
from those who spurned such in
stitutions before the rent profiteer
and others of his ilk got in their
deadly work.
One of the most beautiful es-
tates within an hours motoring of
Manhattan is ''Burkeley Crest" the
country home of Billie Burke. the
actress. 1t is located on a beauti-
full rise on the edge of Hastings
on the Hudson. and there Is a
beautiful panorama Of the SHIN
mering Hudson with the dull. ma
jestic Palisades for a background.
Miss Burke's estate spreads out
over hundreds of rolling acres. A
stone fence surrounds 1t. The home
sits on the knob of a hill. There
are massive greenhouses, magnifi-
Gently kept lawns on all sides.
gravel pathways and roads wind
ing in and out ribbon-like - the
whole a contribution toward the
esteem she holds in the hearts Of
American audiences.