The New York herald., 1921-11-09
BROADWAY MISSES
ENTHUSIASM OF OLD
Election Crowds Far From
as Large as Turned Out
One Time Here.
COWBELL RINGERS FEW
Purveyors of Noise Making
Devices Bemoan Lack of
Pep and Sales.
POLICE HAVE EASY TINE
Restaurants That Arranged
for Big Rushes Are Badly
Disappointed.
POLICE HAVE EASY TINE


boarded up their store windows last
night against the eventuality Of surg
ing crowds were thinking of twenty
years ago and should have saved them
selves the expenditure Of money for
lumber and nails.
There was an election crowd out last
night, OF course. But nothing like the
dear old days. Inspector John O'Brien
OF the Traffic Squad. who had charge
Of the enterprise Of keeping the crowds
moving and orderly, and with plenty
OF police to do it, ran his educated eyes
over the assemblage in Longacre
square around o'clock and estimated
it at $1,000. And many Of the men and
women who helped fill the square were
on their way to theatres. Az iour
afterward he figured that the figure
had grown to 10000.
It swelled a bit when the theatres
turned out around IL o'clock, tut the
swelling only made up a little for a
certain amount Of diminishing that
had been going on steadily. Put it
that at the peak $4,000 people were
massed for a half hour or SO at the
most open of spaces in the most likely
part Of the city for vast election
crowd to appear and the story Of
Broadway is told.
What may be called the less sophis-
ticated quarters Of the city took the cleo
tion night more seriously and turned out
into their pet thoroughfares In steady
streams. Harlems main artery Of com
merce and the drama-125th street
was we'll packed between the hours Of
sundown and midnight. SO was Eighty
sixth street, which is Yorkville's prin-
cipal street, and at 149th street and
Third avenue and 177th street and Tre-
mont avenue, in The Bronx. were really
excellent showings of interest.
Jolt for Returned New York Man.
Anew Yorker who had left his home
city fifteen or twenty years ago and
returned suddenly to 1t last night would
have had difficulty in believing that the
vast teeming metropolis-which by
every tradition and expectation would
have to be a vaster and more teeming
metropolis than when he saw 1t last
was thus taking an election night So
leisurely and TRANQUILITY.
He would have heard a considerable
noise of horns and rattles as he emerged
from the subway or aHghted from y
taxicab into the heart OF the city. but a
brief tour of investigation would have
shown him that all this clamor and
plangency was the spirit of commerce
rather than Of merrymaking. On every
corner he would have found sad faced
merchants OF noise machines. one In
each hand. and waving them madly at a
public 90 indifferent that TO see the mer-
chants was to become filled with COM
passion. One said instantly that it was
pathetic that grown men should have
devoted all this forethought, outlay, en-
thusiasm, salesmanship to futility so
utter.
There was an astonishing cearth of
the old time hat highs to the effect OF
Il told you 80" and PAY 1t now" APP
parently the litterateurs who flooded the
election night markets OF other years
had writer's cramp this year.
The restaurants along those streets
which by every standard of elections
should have been bulging to the doors
between sundown and whatever times
their proprietors were able to close them
had made all the necessary preparations
last night. but did only little more
business than on any good Saturday
night and were not overworked turning
away custom. There was enough going
on In them to keep them mildly inter-
esting. but certainly the crowds were
not clamoring at their doors.
"a
between F'orty-second and Thirty-fourth
and Forty second and Fifty-ninth streets
there was really little more movement
on the sidewalks than on any ordinary
night. Over on Sixth and Seventh ave-
nues Il was as though there were moth
ing especial afoot In the city anywhere.
Down In Park Row. where for years
there had always been good sized
crowd and plenty OF work for the traffic
police TO do, there was Just n small extra
sprinlsling OF downtowners who always
go TO Park Row on election night by
force of momentum and ingrained Gus
tom. But there was next to nothing for
the police 10 do and at o'clock hall
OF the patrolrnen who had been assigned
there were sent to their stations.
Only one set of guardians OF the peace
were really worked hard last night
Iney were the men VINO uriNe tne CITY
sprinkling CARTS and who had been put
on patrol duty against bonfires for the
night A number Of them answered
emergency calls UP to about 10 O'Clock
and by that hour had quenched about
500 boys fires IN various sections be-
tween Greenwich Village and Harlem.
Bonfircs Are Numerous.
The putting out Of fires became a
extremely busy business between
o'clock and midnight. At o'clock al
least one bonfire had been drowned ir
every street block between Forty-second
and Ninety-sixth streets. and between
each of the avenues between Lexington
and First. In some OF the blocks five
and six fires were burning at once wher
tho sprinkler carts or flre engines came
TO put them out.
More than seventy alarms were turned
IN in Manhattan and The Bronx. fr
some cases fire companies would nc
sooner return 10 their quarters thar
they would be required TO respond &c
another alarm. Harlem had more street
fires burning last night than anv othoI
election night within official memory
that part of Harlem which Is lsrge,
italian supplying the most part of tn: