The Washington herald., 1920-10-22
WEIRDHORRORS.
SCARE VICTIMS
Street Museums Display
Faxed Freaks to Trick
Young Men.
by o. o. MINTYRE.
Especial Correspondent Of The wasA.
/ fngton HersldD

inston HefsId.D
New York, Oct. 2l.--Fourteenth
street still gives place to a few rnu-
seums of horror. One pays twenty
hve cents to see the wax figures de
| ptcting stages OF diseases that are
rarely reached. Up above, OF course
are the Partisan or Berlin doctors
who are the hlrelings of the syndi-
cate who conduct the places.
The doctors are young and still
/ believe in the impressive psychology
Of the Van Dyke beard. They are
not recognized by the ethical mem
bers Of the profession. The guides
who escort the patrons through the
museums have a way of letting II be
| known that the doctors upstairs can
cure anything.
The museums are For Men Only
and so cleverly are the wax figures
displayed that the healthy young
| man rarely leaves without a
blanched face and the idea that he
has one leg In the grave. Medical
societies have waged incessant war
upon them and they do not thrive
as they did ten years ago, but the
| few still claim their victims.
Each visitor Is given catalogue
book Of the exhibits which he gen
orally carries away. These books
are master strokes of charlatanism
II one reads the symptoms and their
| significance 1t is difficult not to be-
lieve that the worst fears are real
lied
Several months ago a Bowery der.
elict dropped into one of the mu-
seums. lie was shaky from third
| rail hnnza hoI
er unsightly skin eruption. The
| next morning he was found with
, his throat slashed in a cheap lodg,
! ing house. 4 note said that he had
just been told that he had leprosy
| The examining physicians found
only an incipient skin malady that
Is easily cured.
Silver F1asks Flash.
New York diners-out smile cyni.
cally at the news from Washington
of the arrest of a socially promi-
nent couple for drinking in public
cafes. They doubt that any special
campaign will be waged in New
York. 1t would take too many rev.
enue agents. Silver TASKS are free
| ly displayed on almost every table
in the smart places. Women carry
| COChldllS IN silver tuOts u luHCh-
con and drink them in cocktail
glasses furnished by the cafes
| There is no harm in serving n cock
tail glass. nor is a law broken, they
argue. Indeed. cafe managers say
| that patrons drink more now than
they did in the damp days.
Singing Days Over.
But there is compensation for the
| loss of the cheering cup at the
street corner saloons. The sponta-
| neous quartet that was heard on
Broadway almost every night in
each saloon is missing. Somehow
men have found that they cannot
sing as well as they thought they
| could.
| Club Life Pleasant.
The view one gets from the street
| of Fifth avenue clubs around II
| o'clock in the morning is an inspi.
ration for thrift-~if these club fell
lows arrived at these easy mellow
days by that process. They sit al
tables with their newspapers lean
| ing over the water carafe. They are
white-haired and Immediately
groomed, and il is easy to see they
| have no need of haste. Telephones
| are in easy reach OF every ia bic
Alert walters stand at the back OF
the chair on tiptoe, ready to antici-
pate the slightest desire. After a
while all drift into the card and
| billiard rooms, and so 1t goes until
| lunch-then comes the nap until the
o'clock Scotch and soda. But the
| other morning l saw one standing
at the window. peering out at a
! dirt urchin, who had made
an automobile out of a roller skate
and a box and was propelling him
self slowly but surely down the av-
enue. Somehow I got the idea there
was a wistful look in the club fell
| laws eve