The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1922-02-04
GOTHAM CUNhIAN
ELATDV SCHOLAR,
SAYS M'llTYRE
He Reads Dickens and
Voltaire and Loves
Soda Water.
BY O. o. M'INTYRE.

mask II Is that hides the Broadway
tragedies! On every hand are those
scorched in the sacrifcisl holocaust
of the White Ways consuming fire
playing the game grimly to the
end. A boy In his thirties who came
up from the depths. Fortune
snatched him up in her fickle arms
and carried him to the purple
heights.
Once the life of every party, he
now sits in cafes as gium as an owl.
His pale features wear the unerr-
Ing pallor or those who smoke
opium. He still has a fortune. but
only when gazing dreamily at the
tiny poppy lamp is he happy. He
Is gifted, loyal and handsome, but
fate has written "Finis"
Just now broadway is wagging
Its head over a former beauty Of
just three years ago. 1t was once
said of her that a chevalier spent
a half million to cultivate her voice
and complained that the "only note
she knew was one she could cash
at a bank"
Five dismal attempts have been
made to star her. She had no dis
tinguishing traits save beauty, and
so from gilded independence she
was left to shift for herself. She
came into a supper place the other
night in an alcoholic haze. going
from table to table.
And a group of strangers who
did not know her applauded her
clownish chatter and urged her on.
When dawn came she was found
behind the orchestra platform In q
stupor and awakened in the psy-
chopathic ward. Perhaps her final
fling.
Then there is a writer whose
name sold fiction magazines just a
short time ago. He still frequents
the places where writers meet
babbling of his one-time success
and drowning feeble jokes in hys-
terical gusts of laughter. His body
is completely covered with tiny
needle pricks-which tell the tale
and a CHASTITY facial paralysis has
set in.
These are only a few. Every
night haunt is sprinkled with tn ose
who in the Broadway patois have
hit the skids." Perhaps in other
surroundings, with new thoughts
and inspirations. they have a
chance to rebuild their lives. But
they cling tenaciously to the false
gods that dragged them into the
tormenting pit.
number OF pawnshops with
Irish names and signless dignity
have opened on the fringe Of Times
Square. Secluded side street en-
frances provide a way for those
fallen on evil days to enter unob-
served. In New York the rich and
poor make use of these havens to
butter over lean days. There are
soft-lighted booths with comfort
able chairs and the plush-voiced at
tendants fairly drip phrases OF
solicitude. Fevsrish times. you
know. and stocks away of. One
must have cash to live. One Of the
tricks Is to mention great names as
il they were regular patrons.
New York's latest daredevil gun
man from the East Side is an ac-
"omplished Latin scholar and reads
Dickens and Voltaire. He has
never drank or smoked, and aside
from his prediction for killing,
his consuming vice Is soda water.
He shot three men in a stuss-game
brawl the other night, and when
they found him he was in a Greek
candy store buying bonbons. 1t
takes New Workers back to the days
of handsome Big Jack Zelig. Louis
the Lump, Jack Sirroco. Kid Twist
and a dozen more who have gone by
the bullet. They were hard drink
ers- and in their murderous mo-
ments resorted to drugs. The only
schooling they had was in the East
Side cutters. where they grouped
about faring street lights and read
penny dreadfuls.
Nearly every well-dressed man
along Fifth avenue wears a bout
tonniere-usually a white carnation
these days. So much so that the
price of a single carnation in the
best florist shops is now so cents. A
few months ago they sold at Is
cents. As a rule the bouttonniere
has been worn only with evening
clothes save by rather elderly men.
She was a young debutante and
had her first callers. The next
morning at breakfast the father
questioned her about them. We'll"
she said. 'one played a guitar and
the other one didn't amount to much
either"
When Harry Lauder arrives in
America he ia the victim of the
merciless quipsters nightly at the
Lambs. They love Lauder, but they
also love to fay him with their ssar-
casm. One of the latest at Lau-
der's expense, was pulled by Willie
Collier. who asked Lauder II it was
true that he was going to leave his
fortune to the unknown soldiers"
widow?