The Washington herald., 1922-10-18
. Ne.l, York City
Day by Day
By o. o. Mcintyre.

NEW YORK. oct.aI7.-In the peIl-
nell rush of New York the tragic
| souls who clutch at life and miss
are forgot. Superior young girls
who come here to carve their ca
reers and wind up turning on the
gas" are not entirely the dreams OF
fiction writer's.
The drab- brown stone fronts, once
the insignia of aristocracy but now
given over to room and board" are
the havens of those who are strug-
Cling valianuy for foothold.
Something about Manhattan bresds
false pride. The failures will sur
fer every hardship to keep the
news from loved ones.
Irwin Cobb tells one story of the
girl who lived zone block from the
avenue" That was her badge of
standing in her little home town.
They did not know that ''one block
from the avenue" she lived in
cramped hall room over a dingy
bird store. And cooked over
feeble gas jet.
A pale young woman who was
found suffering from malnutrition
and later died in a hospital had
spent her last penny for mono
| grammed stationery with address
embossed in gold to keep her
| friends in an Illinois town from
| knowing the truth. She had spent
| seven months in quest of work.
Nightly in the hole-in- the wall
cafes around Washington Square
one sees hundreds OF girls who are
living In attics and subsisting on
crackers and milk rather than re-
turn to their parents and confess
that New York proved a cruel mis-
| tress
New York has little use for fall
ures. 1t will give money with a
prodfgai hand to public charities
and turn Its back on the neighbor
next door who needs more than any
| thing else a mere word or so OF
encoura cement. The most palmetto
suicide note ever penned was found
in a Tenth avenue rooming house.
II read: Just a friendly smile
would have averted this"
/ There are all sorts of Welcome
Stranger" movements for those who
! come to reside at the ornate hotels
and spend money in the stores. But
| for the bruised and beaten there
seems to be only disdain. There are
homes for fallen women" but no
| help for those teetering on the
| brink.
| George Jean Nathan and II. l.
'iencker. the literary Siamese twins
| OF the Smart Set, have an office
that is declared by one chronicler
to be the funniest in town. The
| decorations smack of religious
themes and burlesque shows Hard
by picture of a musical revue
chorus is a photograph of Mencken
as monk with the inscription. I'm
nagnetic! Mencken works in the
mornings and Nathan sleeps until
| noon and goes to his grind In mid
afternoon. In this way they see
| little Of each other and so remain
| fast friends even in business affairs
| Talented Edith Day has returned
to Broadway musical show after
her sudden disappearance from the
| Rialto several years ago when she
was AT the pinnacle of fame in
Irene In London she was the
reigning sensation despite the do
| nestle cloud and subsequent scan
dsl that flared forth in the news
papers. Her first night back home
was proof that the public cares only
for the artists art. His or her pri-
vate affairs have no effect on the
| public's devotion. When Miss Day,
as graceful and light as bit of
| thistlcdown, drifted out to the spot
/ light even the critics applauded.
and the ovation had to be stopped
| by threat to lower the curtain.
lR vaudeville booking office the
| other afternoon I sat in room
where new acts are given a try-out
Two curlyhaired boys of about S
years we're sleeping on a bench
while waiting their turn. Finally
| their mother awakened them and,
in vaudeville argot. they did their
stuff" 1t was a clever little skit,
too. and l have no doubt they got
bookings. Several afternoons later
| saw them in one of the mid town
public squares shyly and wistfully
watching a group Of youngsters at
play. They were entirely out of
| the picture and seemed to feel IT..
J don't believe they had ever
learned to play, and for boys that
| is to me life's greatest tragedy.