New-York tribune., 1922-03-05
Reporters Poke
Fun at City and
State Officials
caes,s a, City Hall Writers
Banquet See Themselves
nepictcd in Musical Com
edy Of Island of zap
cibes and Jeers Fly Thick
xayor, Governor and Other
Notables Are Burlesqued
and Placed on the Grill

anI fAnEuf@
,.,oue. amid tropical background on
~ Island of zap, hula-hula girls at
..ndant upon Father Yaperbocker and
~. Great Mahatma, King of the Yaps
IM.vor Hylanl, as the central figure,
.-.~a revived last night at the annual
.a;rner and show of the Association
- City Hall Reporters at the Hotel
Actor. Eight hundred diners, headed
So Governor Miller, the Mayor and
,,ac.ically all the prominent officials of
+ha state and city, members of the
;rd;eiary, the Legislature, Board of
Aldermen, party leaders and politicians
attended the dinner.
They we're all there to hear the gibcs
md tests, sharp shafts of ridicule and
rointed and pertinent arrows of criti-
.,sm. aimed at them from behind the
4ootl;rhts. They were all depicted at
their worst and burlesqued as others
might see them by the merry troupe of
hard-working actor-reporters. They
,.rohed loudest at each other, as the
lines and songs went home to their
mark. and they all tried to laugh at
themselves when the attack became
rsrsonal. The sparkling, scintillating
vitt;cisms served between courses did
much to restore the kick to q public
dinner in drab prohibition times.
Hylan Cabinet Attends
Msvor John r.. Hy1an. with a fresh
roat of tan from Palm Beach and
laughing heartily at the antics Of his
prototype on the stage, was at table
With Preston Lynn, Rodman Wanna
maker and several members of his mu-
picipal kitchen cabinet. Governor Mil
Ter laughed heartily at the denounce-
ment of himself by the King of the
Vans Mayor Hylan) on the stage.
The compliment was vigorously re-
turned by the Governor to the King in
the show. Former Governor Alfred L.
Smith enjoyed seeing the boys fighting
on the stage. He figured as the ghost
in burlesque of the banquet scene
from "Macbeth," whom Macbeth Muir
phy had plundered to please Hylan and
Hearst. AL laughed aloud most of the
time.
The real Charles F. Murphy, Thomas
r, Smith, George A. Glynn, Herbert
Pel Samuel S. Koenig, Jacob A. Liv-
ingston, Frederick H. j. Kracke, Sena-
tor William NJ. Calder, Richard w.
lawrence, John II. McCooey, Henry II.
Curran, Joseph NJ. Price, John j.
Lyons and many other party leaders
were at the various tables. Comptrol-
Ter Charles L. Craig appreciated the
unlimited powers bestowed upon him
as Sir Charles, Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer of the Island of Yap, and
David Hirshfeld, Commissioner of Ac-
counts, smiled whimsically when he
saw himself impersonated as Sir David,
Lord High Whitewasher and EXecu-
toner Of the Kingdom of the Yappish
King.
City's Secession Depicted
The FIVE acts of the show were dis
persed with the dinner filling in be-
tween the courses. In order to assure
the greatest degree of home rule the
newspaper librettists conceived the
idea of having Greater New York Sc
eede, not only from New York State
but from the United States as we'll,
and moved the seat of government to
the Island of zap. This served an
other good purpose by locating the
home rule city beyond the three nile
limit. Things went merrily on the
little island until Nervy Nate, the AL
bany politician, and his pirate crew
landed and worsted the Yap ruler and
his dusky warriors. The Great Ma
hatma was sent back to Old New York,
and Nate, in turn, was forced to go
back to Syracuse by Al Smith. the only
native of the island who wasn't a Yap
and couldn't be stampeded.
when the curtain rose on the first
act Father Yaperbocker was shown in
front OF his hut on the island, with a
nula-hula girl on his knee. He sang the
song OF the "Sorrowful Taxpayer" who
aiter paying his taxes had only one
nickel lett for car fare. Graceful hula
nula girls danced on the beach in the
cnorus OF this song. After Father Yap-
eloocker had finished his lament -four
,snes and ruffles were heard, and Sir
Aicnard Enright, the police authority
.! tne island, appeared and put Father
tsperoocker under arrest, the prisoner
Semoanlng his fate that since New
torK had seeded and set up a despot-
ism ne couldn't even hold a birth con-
@ol meeting any more.
Flourishes and Ruffles
~ me Police Commissioner wore a
a. i;tt'ee ruffle around his neck. He stroked
ssr, aS proudly as he sang the song of
- s!.o.ur'shes and Ruf1es,' which served
80 80 Tue entrance of the Great Mahatma
ths shs pseudo Mayor, who marched down
saS saS Senter aisle of the ballroom pre-
S ssaea by mounted police (hobby
]uuses), trumpeters and drummers. and
1TJssowed Tased by his bodyguard, revealed as
"essrst, 81. Whalen, Wanamaker, Harriss
~ sao Hlrshfeld- Arriving on the stage
~ sas Alng thanked Sir Richard for
giving him a welcome fit for =
ms!or general" but at the same time
ihavuestly denying the desire for rova]
O." aatuvts' He declared he was content
10 10 De the best Mayor the Yaps ever
A1T; tne lve-cent Mayor"
,o .ne hlng proceeded to organize his
soselnment for the Free State of Van,
assmlng 10 Sir Charles Craig as ianitor
~ - me money bags, Lord MURRAY Hul-
~. lor Commissioner Of Weights and
TS;.Sure T;nI and Duke de Prendergast as
H;sn Dispenser of the Gas, Dav;e
u..s;neid us.sn;neid filled his old role as In.
bos*t,igator to the King. An official
Si~ SSio.legger was found in the audience
t.a M enarIes read short charter "writ-
f,ar." sm WIN IN goose quill plucked from
~ ;e hlrshtleld," and on the "hide
ttpp ttttppeo ctf Governor Miller" 1t gave
Ma G comptroller all the powers not
isIsndD I,u Dy the official bootlegger Of the
~;tt oe nrst part of the second act deal,
na;.n ';n the late lamentable coalition cam.
sxa, so.s Curran was discovered on 3
y"p oox exhorting a crowd of native
rs,, r~ps, who frequently interrupted his
Hankt HMltss < l BY yelling that they "wanted