The Washington herald., 1922-06-12
MMul6nkGH!
Ouy By Day
impressions:
bM00eMsmtyve
hEaItha.,I,lifI::a

NEW YORK. June 11.-Atlantic
City's boardwalk is a slice of Broad,
way and Fifth avenue transpIanted
to the ocean front The first of the
seasonal pilgr'mages to the pleas
ure mecca is on. All the boulevar-
diers a.e there doing their stun"
from Old Chelsea to the Inlet.
The Cinema queen with her pet.
goat and the matinee Apollo, mar
celled. hatless and white ffanneled.
The corpulent dowaeers with cor
sets creaking. the kiddies with tug.
ging balloons. The tramp of feet
on the walk is as ceaseless as the
swish of the ocean against the
sandy beach.
Even Evelyn Nesbit has deserted
the White Way to sing I'm
Broadminded Broad from Broad
way in the supper club floating
her name. The night / was there
Evelyn was chaperoned by her
mother The lifeguards are ac-
quiring their first coat of tan and
fearless bathers leave the surf blue
chilled but happy.
Atlantic City presents the gay
shifting and its sorrow Is crystal
lized in the shutting. trpdgIry
wheel chair pushers. TheyAare re-
cruited from life's army n the
beaten-as shiftle& as the lotus
eaters fro mthe Odyssey.
Ragged. gaunt and sin stained,
they move with weary steps behind
the endless stream of wicker chart
OTIS filled with pleasuring philan-
derers off on a holiday. They gaze
dreamily and with enduring eyes
OF the life that has passed them by.
There Is languorous lure to this
city in cap and bells. The salt
water taffy hutches. the sporty IS
shops, the horses that race along
the beach, the pony drawn cars.
the huge nets that dip for fish, the
pier band concerts, the countless
prize winning Rames-all are SYM
bolical of nation at play.
While in Atlantic City I saw one
of the best-known writer's OF un-
derworld life and a man who is
personally acquainted with hun
dreds of professional crooks. The
Boardwalk is the place" he said.
where crooks come for a day or
So to mingle with respectability. i
met ten celebrated criminals in an
hours stroll this morning. There
Is an unwritten agreement that they
will not play their art while there"
Over in Bryant Park a legless
man sits in the shade, with his
backing box in front OF him. His
is the philosophy of cheerfulness.
He smiles at passers-by and calls
out playfully to the children. Eigh-
teen years ago he won a high
school running race, beginning far
ther downtown and ending in the
middle OF the park.
Down along the waterfront the
docks are miniature margins OF re-
lief from the heat for the slum-
dwellers. The women sit along the
piers in wrappers and the children
play hop-scotch on the planklng.
There is quiet beauty about the
river. with its flashing. crystal
lights and ebony shadows. About
10 o'clock the hokey-pokey ice
cream men arrive with their penny
wares. Once in a while a hurdy-
gurdy man gives the children a free
treat on his way home. and they
dance square dances with the reck-
less abandon of youth. The young
men entertain the crowds now and
then by holding swimming carni-
walls in the water. They are better
swimmers than are found at the
bathing beaches. The dock becomes
a strip of all nations. and faces
that are criss-crossed with worry
become smiling again. The Italia cs
sing their arias in lusty tones, and
now and then a Spanish seaman
thrnms a fandangn on his guitar.