The Washington herald., 1920-05-21
New York City
By o. o. McIntyre

New York. May 20. = Tho9ghts
while strolling around New YORK
There's q spooky place Broad-
way customers shop. Grinning
masks. A monk. A Pierrot anu
Shylock. Cynical young reporters
swinging into Park Row TOT tne
daily grind. A lead pencil hawker
patiently awaiting a sale with the
tedium of Alexander. Wonder what
he thinks about all day! A Chinese
hoy in a u, 8, navy costume. A
homeless vagrant watching the
crowds come out of a restaurant.
I'll go uptown in the subway.
Something eerie about the shrek OF
the grinding wheels. And think OF
the life of a trackwalker. All day
long he burrows his way through
the black tunnels. Only a. small
space for him to stand In as the
expresses roar by. A girl reading
South Sea Foam" Dreaming OF
lagoons and palms while whirling
under a seething city.
And here's Times Square. A rest
less crowd always moving up and
down the platforms. The~thin rays
OF sunshine aslant through the graf
ings. Two policemen going on duty.
The clang of an ambulance. They
always clang even IL they are out
joyriding. Girls in gingham dresses
and 500 hats. What is the world
coming to?
There's Madam Laloy's. A great
little French place in its day. Ar
lists, authors and actors gathered
| there. And madam was at the cash
! ier's desk taking in the money. and
mixing the cocktails. And her son
CASTOR waited on tables. Now
there's only the name. Henry Mil
ler's son, Gilbert, just back from
/ London. made a success as a mana
ger. Like father like son.
Noon day crowd in front Of the
Claridge. Dragging about salaries.
Wish mine was something to brag
about. Billy Guard. the Metropoll-
tan press agent. That boy knows
what temperament is. II a news
paper spells a stars name wrong
they will get Guard up in the mid
die of the night to have an out
burst of temper. But II Is funny
those temperamental singers never
| seem to get temperamental with
policemen. Now I'll go to the
Lambs and let the boys match to
see who pays for my lunch. What
a life!
New Workers are quite used to
seeing people come out of a subway
kiosk bathed in a dew of cold
| sweat and as white as statue in
| chalk. They stand for a while in
the open air and then go back
down into the subway. Doctors call
1t claustrophobia-a morbid fear of
being in confined places. l know a
man who has stepped from a sub
way ten times in ride from
Ninety-sixth street to Brooklyn
Bridge just to get away from the
crowds. 1t is purely mental and
those who suffer from it find that
II leaves them IL they have anyone
to whom they may talk. A cele-
brated surgeon suffered from it
acutely. Three years ago he was
caught in a subway jam-that is
the train stalled between stations.
In a few minutes he rushed to the
guard: My God, let me out OF here
or I'll go crazy" The guard was
/ a complacent husky son Of Erin who
replied quite calmly: You'll have
to go off your nut mister for
can't open the door" When the
surgeon realized he could not get
out of the car all Of the nervous
symptoms left him and he has never
been troubled since riding in the
subway.
Lower Fifth avenue has been en-
during a new kind of thief-the hat
snatcher. He mingles with the
crowds in front OF the Flatiron
Building. snatches off hat and
passes 1t TO 4 confederate who
makes a quick getaway. More than
300 persons were victims in a day.
Because of the prevailing high
! prices for hats secondhand ones
can be sold by the thieves at a sub,
stantial proft.
The war on the shirt and collar
profiteers is on in earnest. All over
New York the olive drab shirts with
collars to match are seen. Even
those who ride in their limousines
in some instances are wearing
them. And yet upon reflection one
sees quite a number of daring silk
shirts this summer.