Evening star., 1921-12-18
prominent dramatist.

prominent dramatist.
That's a good guess" says ]. IT'S
part Of my job, isn't it? But I'll say
Calls 1t mixed tifln, doesn't he? I
may be exposing my Minnesota bring
ing up. Barry. but what's tiffin, and
why is 1t mixed?"
He's a great little explainer, Barry.
Besides, he's been to one Of these
affairs before. Says they're some-
thing that Ames Hunt has invented,
probably just to show how different
he Is from any other theatrical man
Ager in town. And it seems they're
either breakfast or luncheon. de-
pending on how late you hit the box
spring the night before. But the
big idea Is to get together little
bunch of people who are, or might be,
interested in any enterprise Of his
that he thinks needs boosting. This
time. naturally, it's '"The Prince and
The Flapper," which hasn't been IA
Tored with capacity house more
than twice in the last six weeks.
"And you'll see how mixed the COM
pany is when you get there" goes on
Barry. you and /, as the leading
lady and the playwright. are the
parties Of the first part. We are sup
posed to meet and get acquainted
with the others. There will be a
couple of critics who knocked the
play in their reviews; ImbraS Teal,
the movie promoter. who might pos
Sibly place the picture rights for US;
Mrs. Jimmy Parsons, representing So
ciety, and no doubt that flawless
dumb Blainey Jones.
What a cute name-Blainey Jones!"
says I. do I gather, Barry. that
you aren't crazy over him?'
+ i kk
~uES the one human being" says
Barry, whose society makes
me believe there may be something
in this hermit stun. after all. I'm
just as fond of having him around as
I am Of wearing burdock burrs on
my socks or a dress shirt with a
tight collar band. James Blaine Jones
is his full name. and if the original
Blaine Of Maine was as big a man
as this bird thinks Blainey Jones is,
then the republicans Of the 1880's
must have been a simple lot that they
didn't make him President for life.'
But hasn't he more or less money
in The FIapper'?" I asked.
That's the embarrassing part of
it," says Barry. 'Tn fact. he's the
angel of the show. Old college friend
of Hunts who came across with a
big check just when Ames needed
banker. You know, Wall street to the
rescue! He's a bond broker, Blaney:
bids on county and municipal issues.
buys 'em in below par. and soaks the
gentle taxpayer two ways. Never
takes sporting chance and always
wins. Bound to. And then he goes
polyannying through life as satisfied
with himself as though he was the
guy who'd invented the art Of smil-
ing"
I'm other words. Barry" says I.
s'he's cheerful, though rich. I don't
quite see how I'm going to hate him
for that. I'm afraid you're preju-
diced"
"wait until you've had q dose of
Blainey's bubbling optimism" says
he. II hope Hunt puts him next to
you" -:s.
Barry got his wish. for when we
had collected in this, basement grill
and Ames Hunt had shooed US into
private dining room that some freak
director had done in what was meant
to be early Venetian, I found that
the owl-eyed person with the round,
pasty-white face was none other than
J, Blaine Jones, and that he was to
sit at my left.
But for the next twenty minutes or
go he wasn't a bit chatty.T What he
seemed to be most interested In Tor
a while was a double order OF grilled
pigs' feet with a plate Of pancakes
on the side. Well, eating pigs feet
does call for concentration, and he
didn't slight the job. First he sluiced
his plate with tomato ketchup and
then he speared boldly In with his
fork. I've never seen better tech
nioue. He never missed bone. and
when he piled 'em back in the platter
they were as bare as II a taxidermist
had fixed them for mounting. Then.
as an antieote to the ketchup, prob
ably, he fioated the pancakes in syrup
and absorbed the solution along with
q second cup of coffee. After which
he touched OF cigarette and
nrounnfIv crashed into the general
conversation.
DARRY tells me that the table talk
II followed the usual lines Of that
sacred New York institution. the
business luncheon; that is. anything
in the world may be discussed except
business. So. while I was listening
for ideas about boosting box office
sales, what I heard was an antique
bootlegger yarn. dramatic Critics
remedy for breaking up cold by
eating raw onions and shifting cam
phor, and Imbray Tears growl that
with ali these strikes going on we'd
soon be in as bad mess as Russia
Which seemed to be the cue for
Blainey Jones.
.Now that" says he. waving tat.
f1abby hand at Mr.. Teal, "fs precisely
the sort Of talk that hurts business
moro than anything else. Calamity
bowling. 1 call it. Here we are, citi-
xens of tho richest and most prosperous
country on earth. and yet a lot Of us
oro,,oA 1ruubline about condi.