The Washington herald., 1921-09-15

.0ay By Day
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NEW YORK, Sept. ll.-Franb
Bacon, wearing his dusty gray hat
/ steel rim specs and Accustomed
smile (Tp paragraphers: Yes, he wa,
fully clothedl. sat in the big auto.
mobile with New York's mayor
while several thousand enthusiast,
! marched behind to bid him farewell
He was leaving New York after a
run OF three years and one day in
'Iightnin'." II was a great tribut.
to an actor and Il represented more
than anything have ever seen tbs
spirit Of Broadway. Broadway like,
to welcome its heroes and prove
them clay but when Il can't be
! done-Broadway cheers. broadway
is never for the loser. But always
for the winner.
And yet as I watched Frank
Bacon bowling to the crowds and
smiling happily I somehow imagine
he had his tongue in his cheek. For
twenty years he played the one
night stands In the same character
never able to get nearer Broadway
than Punxsutawney, Pa. He ia well
up In years now. his great shock
of hair snow white and his face
criss-crossed with the tell-tale lines
of age.
His is the longest theatrical run
In the history of Broadway and he
might easily have remained another
year save for q contract that made
1t imperative to open in Chicago
He was the typical tank actor of our
comic weeklies and has walked the
railroad ties from town to town.
He finally gave UP his fight to
reach New York. He was reconciled
to the dreary routine Of gas liz
town halls when success came. In
three years. II Is conseryatfyeIy e,-
timated that Frank Bacon has made
a million dollars. There were pIay-
wright, book and a dozen other
royalties besides his big salary A a
star.
He Is the same home spun lovable
fellow he was in the less prosper
GUS days. One may see his proto-
type in any small town-lounxine
about the hotel. postoffice and drug
store. the kindly, humorous village
philosopher. ! used to see him al
most every evening standing under
the canopied entrance OF the Aston.
Now and then he would step out to
the curb and gaze northward into
the flaming lights that heralded his
name. Somehow Frank Bacon could
never believe 1t was altogether
true.
Charlie Chaplin Is getting gray.
Those who know him were sur
prised when he arrived in town the
other day with his Jet black hair
spotted with white along the
temples. One evening around 10
o'clock / saw him strollinK down
deserted Fifth avenue. He stopped
to look In almost every window and
seemed particularly Interested in a
haberdasher's window filled with
gay colored lounging robes. o..
Hells Kitchen has "ganged an
other cop" One OF the bravest men
on the police force was lured to a
vacant lot and pistoled to death. II
was done In the dark and the
policeman hadn't a chance. I visited
the irregular double lot where the
GOO Goo Gang" held forth. 1t is en-
closed by solid wooden fences. The
eastern half of the area is taken up
by the ruin and debris Of a FIRE.
Some one has opened holes through
the debris and a man may drop
through one OF these hole and land
in what was once the basement Of a
small loft building. The old base
ment now Is a maze OF passages and
tunnels. The whole place suggests
the caves in movie serials. You al
most looked for black bottles with
suffering candles stuck in their
necks. Hell's Kitchen Is a district
of tenements. cheap shops. pool
halls and soft drink parlors. The
young gangsters. the police say, are
nearly all heroin addicts.
To be in style women must have
hats with something hanging of the
side. Either something that looks
like fox brush or a flock Of rib
bon streamers. Two minutes in the
Claridge or squares stroll along
the avenue reveals all the smart
dressers in this form of headgear.
The largest jewelry store on
Fifth avenue INDUCES in a bit of
snobbishness by not having any
signs or window displays. One is
supposed to know where 1t is II one
Is worth while. Nothing can be
seen from the street for the win
dows are curtained and the uni
formed doormen, have no names on
their caps.
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