The Washington herald., 1922-02-06
one DAY SERENE
FOR NEW YORK'S
MODERN PEPYS
FURRY About Building
Caye-In Chief Excite
ment, McIntire Says.
BY D. o. M,INTYRE

. NEW YORK, Feb. s.-A pare
from the diary Of a modern sam
uet Pepys: Lay late and vexed dew
ilishiy over this and thai. In our
street a great hubbub over a build
Ing cave-in. Out across the town
and 70 zee s. Shipman, the play
actor. who made great deal OF
envtous do about my noble great
coat.
For lunch at the Blue Dog Tay-
erne, mixed gathering Of ladies'
with hne furs and sixpenny neck
laces and here icame Mr.. Jonston,
the journalist, to talk to me of
public matters, and ! made a brave
show OF knowing much albeit I
know nothing.
In the afternoon with c. Sale, the
actor to see Anna Christie" n
good play, but not so good as peo-
pie cry II up. And between the
acts we saw Mr.. BeIasco. who
seemed as ever lost in thought
Home and at my scrivening and
reading my mail. which enjoy
most of all things. Dined on a
chop. hot potato and beaker Of
whey and later to party for Miss
Rambeau and all very merry, In
especially M. Connolly, who MIN
licked Paderewski. So, home again
and to bed,
The gilded tower in gloomy Mad
lson Square Garden occupies the
front pages again barking back
To the days of lowered swings,
spiashinG fountains and mirrored
rooms in the Thaw case This time
the promoter of the Garden prize
fights was accused. Great changes
have been wrought in the tower
i visited ii the other day-stufry
rooms filled with old furniture,
walls coveNd with cheap Iltho-
graphs and the odor of decay re-
main. Even the SCARED Diana
that is poised atop the tower seems
to reflect the vanished glory. The
Garden is the gloomiest archItec-
tural pile in Manhattan and the
management has dlfficulty In get
ting watchmen for the nights, so
ghostly Is its interior.
Each night at 6 IA tattered group
OF derelicts gather in the south
east corner of Bryant Park. They
are members perhaps of the poor
est club in New York-the Sand
man driftwood of a great city,
mostly old men who wander about
the streets encased between boards
that carry advertisements and
picking up at the most IS cents a
day. Rain or snow they meet to
talk and pun their ancient pipes.
then at s scatter to their dreary
15-cent lodging houses. Between
and Is the only time all day
that they speak to a living soul.
There is an abject helplessness
about these down-and-outers as
they trudge along through high
wind. hail. sleet and snow with i'm
passive expressions. Most of them
live with ghosts of the past. Drink
in many cases brought about the
downfall, but there are many, too.
who have worked hard and lived
respectable lives but never able to
make headway. Just clutched at
life and missed! But willing still
to carry on.
The carriage starters in front of
the big department stores are ask
ing for more wages. They say
that they get very few tips and
then only from the occasional man
shopper. Women go to the shops,
spend more than they can afford
and come out enveloped in resolves
for thrift-so the carriage starter
suffers. 1t Is different in front Of
the night restaurants. The starters
there will take the jobs for moth
ing. but in many cases they are
furnished by the hat-check padrone
who pays a salary and keeps the
remainder received in tips. The
tips for restaurant starters range
from SO cents to IS and the earlier
in the morning the bigger the tip,
they say.