The Washington herald., 1922-10-26
NelD York City
Day BY Day
By Q. o. McIntyre.

Il = >
inteHectuals who are conspicuous
at theatrical frst nights have ap-
parentiy decided that to be unkempt
accsntuates their briIiiancy. They
wear loose-fitting clothes. caps and
soft work shirts and are always In
need OF barber's attention.
During the entr'acte they all their
pipes and stroll about the lobby
permitting their pearls Of wisdom
to fall among the bburgeoisie. Not
one Of them has ever done anything
particularly noteworthy in the arts.
yet they are such persistent log
| rollsrs." putting one another in va
rious journals TO which they are at
tached that the public stands a bit
in awe.
A certain Illustrator gave din
ner one night recently to which the
group was invited. The guest of
honor was young English novsl-
list who has achieved distinction.
He came in correct dinner clothes.
He and his host were the only ones
properly dressed.
The illustrator In known for his
frankness and. at the table the in
tellectuals found cards under their
plates giving the address of q dress
suit renting parlor. And after the
| dinner the host and the honor guest
h.
theater. leaving the guests flat.
Another artist gave a birthday
dinner last week and on thefinvi-
tations that he sent the intellect.
uals he wrote in the corner Formal
Dress" Not one Of them attended.
So much talk has been created that
a publication devoted to theatricais
carried this paragraph:
In the hurly-burly of journalism
IT Is excusable that critics attend
the play in informal dress but II Is
not excusable that they attend with
dirty hands and faces and a three
day growth of beard. After all they
are the guests of the producer and
owe pin the ordinary courtesies
that Convention imposes. II the
theater really needs cleaning up
as reformers suggest. let the good
work begin with the critics"
1t is only fair to say that this re-
Election applies only to a few. The
majority of the dramatic critics in
New York are well-dressed men.
There is a little printing shop
at Cranberry and Henry streets
where Walt Whitman set with his
own hands the type for Leaves of
Grass" which made him immortal.
1t was in this neighborhood Just a
little south OF Brooklyn Bridge that
the good gray poet" played when
he was a boy. There is some talk
now of erecting a monument to him
in the section. On Henry street I
saw a little tobacco shop with
horseshoe over the door and there
is big base burner stove where
customers gather on chilly evenings
a bit of village cross section in
one of the most thickly-po populated
sections of the city.
Another old landmark / saw In
my rambles was the ancient Mon
roe house. the home OF James Mon
roe. fifth President. 1t Is an old
iasnloued two-StOry structore Win
an attic under a hip roof. Inside
a rag-picker was sorting rags. The
plaster has fallen from many
places. The building is situated at
the corner of Prince and Lafayette
streets and Is shortly to be reno
waited and kept as a national land
mark.
The flappers are now calling the
cafes "ptomaine parlors." And gin
Is known as swish"
The sudden popularity of the
mid-Victorian paper-back novel is
one OF the surprises of the publish
ing business. There Is one concern
that had warehouse filled with
pot boilers. Recently bookshops
began to call for them and inside
of a month the entire supply was
being exhausted. 1t has proved a
heavenly boon for the hack writ
ers of Greenwich Village who are
| able 70 turn out racy tones in a
very few days.
(Copyrieht. 1927