The Washington herald., 1922-01-12
MINTYRE TELLS
OF equity DUKE
in FRENCH HOTEL
Returned Doughboy Finds
1t Reminds Him Of Days
"Over There"
By o. O. M.1NrYRE.

NEW YORK, Jan. 11.--It is an old
MOTEL noted for Frepch cuisine and
Parisienne atmosphere. In the tiny
toyer stands the suave proprtetor
oowing low. A perfume shop. rem
lhiscent OF the boulevards. tanks
one side of the desk and n news
stand displaying bizarre French
journals the other.
IL is the rendezvous for the cos
mopolite and affords an interesting
study of the New Yorker seeking
rehef from the beat of Broadway's
tom-toms a single violin'st IN
gypsy garb strolls about playIn /.
muted aries. Dignity fairly. crack :
les in its stiffness.
In one corner sat n gouty Frencn
duke. rcd ribbon across the white
eSpanse of shirt front and II heavily
pandaged foot resting on a chair.
lie ate the richest foods, caring
not Tor the morrow. Two extreme
~ decolette girls SGT opposite,
drinking syrupy Turkish coffee,
brewed at the table.
group of young bloods, sleekIy
froomed, occupied another table
with fair companions that they
wisely refer to as "scenery." All
imoibed from TASKS. Then the
strictly proper bus ness man who
makes dining out an event. his wife
carrying the lorgnette to humble
the bourgeo!sie and his son refer
ring to him as THE Governor"
a haired actress with her
swarthy.. pOt-bellied manager, dis
cusslng the heavy details Of art.
And laughing just a bit too loud. A
lttie anart was lone young man
frankly but good naturedly out Of
the picture.
lie wore soft-collarcd shirt and
slightly worn but neatly pressed
suit. He talked necessarily to the
waiter as one who yraved human
contact. Across his check extend
ing down into his neck was a deep.
ghastiy scar. which gave to one
SIDE of his face sardonic grin.
heard him say: THE food here.
waiter. tastes like the grub I used
to eat at little place near Vcrdun.
Nice people over there-heaped the
plate high. hovered about like
was one OF the family OF course, I
don't belong here. I'm Just a
doughboy but I like IL here because
1t reminds me of the kindness over
there"
New York has had more than its
share of pointless plays this season.
one night last week a play ended
so tamely that the puzzled crowd
didn't know it was finished when
the final curtain fell. They atNin
silence waiting and. maybe. hoping
for the finish when a small boy in
the balcony leaned over the rail and
shouted: We'll. good night ALL"
Fate plays strange pranks, Mack
lyn Arbuckle is one of the clean,st-
minded and squarest actors on the
American stage. lie has an un-
broken record for upholding the
standards of his art. And yet. so
dull is the public mind at times.
that he has actually suffered in
popularity this season. or course,
il is only temporary, but never
theless cruel. Somehow people be-
heved him to be a near relative of
Fatty Arbuckle. Some said a
brother. He has never even met
the motion-picture actor.
On the East side one finds some
strange young dreamers-adoles-
cents who walk about with pom
derous volumes under their arms
and ready at all times to decry the
oppression of wealth. They are ex-
tremely bright in their studies and
generally a year or so ahead of
those their same age in school.
They would be as helpless in a
crisis as a cow and they really do
no harm. They are only pathetic.
for they lose the happiest hours of
youth in a self-imposed fog of
gloom.