The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-10-15

.Day By Day
impressions:
bAGCeRsm1w,e
hIsalIEaI.lii!5::a

NEW YORK. Oct. Fifth ave.
nue. sparhies these crisp mornings
with autumnal gaiety. The shops
are aiiuring in their fall displays.
The cognoscenti. home from London
and Paris. the college boys, the
girls who have come East to be nm
ished. the trippers and the beau
monde-the procession is endless.
The smartest. women in the newest
fashions are on display
A girl swathed In black, with
sleeves that Jared at the wrist and
ight-htting toque from which
black birds OF paradise plumes
sprouted magnihcently, sat at
breakfast on a hotel portico. A rope
Of pearls cleaned white at her
throat She was the spirit of the
avenue! A spirit OF rich display.
Across the way public fountain
rose and fell In the gay sunshine.
The stueco benches of the esplanade
were hlled with confusion Of peo-
ple-the real and the spurious.
Horsey men in red vests and nuf
ties. Dilettantes talking ponder
ously about nonessentials.l Self
conscious debs posing, bowling ana
stopping to spill empty, gaudy So
cial phrases. Only occasionally the
dowdy note--the whining beggar.
The very freedom and grandeur
OF Firth avenue seem to invite i'm
posture. The Tenth avenue clerk
gets one look at the thoroughfare
and becomes a revolte He scrimps
for a suit Of modish cut, a cane and
spats, and not even the avenue can
tell him from its very own.
the great mansions are un-
boarded now. Hothouse flowers
bloom in the window boxes. Smart
pony-drawn equipages carry chill
cren born to the purple merrily to
the park in charge of those uni
formed and aristocratic looking
nursemaids. In the millionaire
clubs one may see the great open
hearths cracking with burning logs.
II Is all life carried somewhat to
ludicrous extremes. 1t represents a
faded people seeking TO break the
shackles of monotony. And always
falling. At the Carnegie home I
turned back. A father. mother and
brood OF children with lunch bas-
kets had seeped over from the East
a window in a castle sat a pale
faced old man. He was %istfully
watching the happy family out OF
sight
Everybody in New York seems to
delight in telling lies about their
favorite cafes. Superb liars they
are, too, when they touch upon this
subject. My ears have been warmed
with the tales of this place and
that place and always they prove to
be duds. The other night a man
who knows his Broadway and sits
in at all the first nights told me Of
a miniature bit of Paris tucked
away in Catherine street. It had a
violinist that would some day
startle the world. The women pa
irons were deyastatingly gorgeous.
1t had cosmopolitanism blended
with hauteur, joie de vivre-and the
soul of a Viennese waltz. Its des-
serts plumbed new astronomical
depths. In short-it was some
place. I invited a party of six 1t
was terrible. Never again.
Cosmo Hamilton and Augustus
Thomas had dinner together the
other night before going to the the
alter When the check arrived
neither grabbed for It. As a matter
of fact each had discovered himself
broke and was hoping not to be be-
trayed. Finally came the combs.
sion. Hurried dressing and wallets
left on dressing tables. They didn't
know the restaurant manager.
Hamilton suddenly got a brain
wave. He would ask the first man
passing the table to pay the check.
explaining the situation. The first
man did gladly, which shows New
York is not so stony hearted as
pictured