Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-03-05

those big brutes are supposed 10 De
wise and clever. l expect they are,
too. But say. I'm still backing the
human race. Not for learning ring
stunts, especially. I don't know now
1nuch training I'd need before l could
ride standing up on the top deck OF
a dapple gray horse and jump through
a paper hoop. But when 1t comes to
a quick shift in habits and ways OF
living nothing in the animal kingdom
can touch a human being. Particu-
larly the female Of the species.
Take Clara Trueman. for sample.
Less than a month ago she made her
escape from Tonawanda. n. V. and
her watchdog sisters-in-law. and after
sixteen dull gray years in gray
limestone mansion that was just as
honey as a state reformatory. Shed
gotten so used to rolling out for Z
o'clock breakfast and to hitting the
feathers promptly at $3.50 p m. that
she almost thought that routine was
established by the Ten Command
ments. She'd worn tacky clothes.
eaten skinny meals and played be-
zique with a solemn old hubby until
she'd nearly forgotten how to smile.
She hadn't even had her share Of
sman-town fun.
x K * 4
A Nd now. with little more than a
"a weeks practice, she was hitting
only the high spots in New York's
gay whirl. absorbing from four to
five meals a day and wearing the
kind of costumes that got other
women twisting their necks as she
PASSED by Also she was getting used
to being fused over by a French
maid. having the breakfast tray
brought in at am. and toying with
midnight suppers after the theater.
I'll admit she had an expert guide
along the primrose path. Anyway. I
was making a good bluff as joy
conductor. / knew about what she
wanted in the line of fun, and 1 eased
her into it. First off. her idea of a
wild time in New York was to take
In the Aquarium and Grants tomb
and a movie show all in the same day.
let her do that once, and then 1
started in on her education. We
lunched in the Egyptian room at the
"lutoria-avocado pear salad. stone
crabs au gratin. filet mignon and cafe
parfait-drove out to the end of Pei
ham Bay parkway in de luxe taxi.
got back in time for toasted mullins
marmalade and tea at the Ritz and
watched the dancing until nearly s.;
then we dressed for dinner at Tor
tcni's. saw the last two acts Of Tut,
Tut,Mazie." got to the Follies in
season for the bare-knee speciality.
finished with lobster Newburg at the
Pink Pup in Greenwich Village and
checked in at her hotel shortly before
2 in the morning. Clara said her
head ached. but she was happy.
Another day I lowed her down to
Chinatown for chow gal at Mon Lay
Mulberry street pushcart market. and
rung her in on a merry studio party
given by a friend of Berry Platt's.
who was celebrating the first ami
versary of his second divorce. Yes. it
was some party. That was where
Clara sat for the first hour with her
eyes plugged and then gradually for
got her Tonowanda bringing up until
at midnight she Joined the bunch in
singing:
"For We'll all go together as we
To see the lion and the wild buffalo.
And we'll all go together as we
To see-e-e Fernandezs show
More than that. she hummed it all
the way home in the cab and an
nounced that she was going to learn
to smoke cigarettes.
+ Y y X
OF course. sic was no longer liv-
" ing at that old ladies' home. the
Lady Ann. Her choice would have
been one of the big 5th avenue hotels,
but / knew she couldn't be as COM
Portable there as in smaller. more
exclusive place on Park avenue: so L
found a nice, sunny four-room suite
for her and installed her there with
Julie. the maid. Also l had her buy
cute little Pekinese dog. give
standing order to a florist and hire a
coupe by the month with her own
driver. If that isn't fair start on
gay and frivolous life then l don't
h low the combination.
You should have seen the way she
bloomed out, too. and looked the
,art Why. from a dumpy. middle
aged female who bulged in the wrong
pIaces and wore her hair In knob
on the back of her head. she had de-
veloped into a'zippy person who mao
the head walters bowling gracious and
who could even get attention from
naughty salesladies in the depart
ment stores
As a matter of fact this upstate
widow. who had seemed such nope
less proposition when 1 first took ner
in hand. was getting easier TO look
at every day. After the Maison MOTT
ueople had given her a figure and the
beauty shop had supplied her with
complexion and a permanent mar
wave, you could hardly tell her from
the thousands of other smart women
who had been shopping along oth
avenue most OF their lives. she o'o
have rather nice brown eyes anu
now that the scared look had gone
from them. and she'd learned how 10
hold her chin up. she was almost
dashing at times. Especially in din
n,r gown when she was excited oy
-. xa,aic and the chatter from near