The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-02-16

New York;. Town Hall.

oIC VII 4KAYw
block would scarcely be too sas
TO meet the elocutionary ns.. ~.
New Workers.. For with Ns-v Y
err talking is an obsessiosv N
talking. prepared and imnr,.aa
goes on every night in Nev g
than in any other city in III. =. Ia
try-public talking. that i U-
cry high school auditorium T.. =
lecturer; every club its puhl,. /. y
cussion corner; nearly s ~
church its civic forum. ana ,. WI
dition the. city is filled With : ~ -
halls whose platforms are = s s.al
vacant. Then there are .. wa
hundred theatres. many az -ssI
are used for lectures in thu , INC
tngs;\ and Madison SQUARE ,sss. a
which will hold almost a ~.
borough at one time, and csa s0,e
union, which is now comnl.,.,a
dominated by radicals. Yet II, !,
these facilities are always 90 mr.s
in demand that it is practicallv s -
possible Tor new groups ana A. -. ~
cites to, hire a hall.
Elegant Interior.
And the leagues town han ~.
only 100. There is but one !,
cony with a row of loges in nm,
and the doors Of the foyer on
rectly on the aisles Of the lc,,,
floor, so that there is no stanai,.
room. 1t is a rather small ,S
compact and dainty town hall n.
architecture and interior fumj,h.
ings are of the early colonial \.
riod. The interior walls ara N
Caen stone in blocks, very ~.
and the chairs and proscenipn
arch are of the shade known !,
mulberry. At the present tin. !,
gorgeous tapestry in pastel shad.,
covers the moving picture sre,r
above the platform. but it NAV IA,
be there next week. 1t seems Tia,
it was loaned to the hall lsrin,
the opening week by a largo MAJ
York interior decorating coucenV
evidently in the hope that mi
league would decide to buy It But
the league cannot afford any I'M.
Their extravaganza. the hall alre,dv
having cost over a million dollar
The league intends to use the hal
for its own meetings during IA,
morning hours, and it will have III
club headquarters on the Cos,
above the auditorium. The Eco.
0omic club Of New York on a.
count Of the generous gifts Of iii
members, will also be favored ii
the use Of the hall, while the civil
forum and the Town Hall club will
occupy Offices in the building. |.
is estimated now that the hall will
be available for public meeting,
about two afternoons and two eve.
nings a week.
Speeches Mild.
So far, nothing particularly
startling in the way of free speech
has occurred in the hall. On The
night that the reporter ATTENDED, 1
couple of well known New Yof
women, active in political wort
made a mild attack on the patfm-
age system, and intimated yague!
that now that women have the bll.
lot they are going to make the GOV,
eminent take care of their sex aE
their babies. A member Of the a.
most forgotten kerensky cabiast
in Russia made a rather incoher,
ent plea for the return Of Ker-
ensky to Russia; a lady made Al
even more incoherent plea for The
children of Austria; and one Of the
borough presidents made a lors
speech about nothing in particpif
Since then Frank A. Nanderhphn
caused a mild sensation by pr
posing a brand new body in os
government. consisting of 80 SEM,
tors. to keep tab on what he eN'
IDENTIFY considers a somewhat un'
trustworthy state department oul
the rest of the free speeches nav'
been in keeping with the hal'
soft mulberry tones.
In fact. the more radical ele
ment of New York is tribe ID
clined to sneer at the gentle utter
ances which have issued from III
platform. But the most radical o
all are it's greatest admirers: ;,
Il think it's a great idea. sal'
one of these. who lives about w
blocks from Cooper uuion. the an
er evening. 1T will give az .
these reform organizations
chance to Let off steam in talk, W.
they won't be half as energeu.
when it actually comes to putuus
the reforms tc work. If dlscusslou
keeps US bolsheviks in order w.
wouldn't it do the same thing "
themT'