The Washington herald., 1922-11-09
Ne,., York city
Day By Day
By o. o. McIntyre.

we W iORh. NOV. 6s~-Maunattan
Is surfeited with what is labeled
bootleg religion 1t flames forth
ON Sunday In the midtown hotels
and theaters. There Is scarcely q
hotel or theater in the district that
hasn't Its pulpiteer preaching a new
doctrine or Ian.
While the congregation at each Is
small. In the aggregate they are Of
immense proportions and regularly
ordained ministers are alarmed at
the extradenominationa growth.
The pulpit dish Is of the cheer up
and-live-long" variety.
At one theater ruddy checked
man who garbs himself in white
1annels and carries a pink carna-
with optimism. The world is,r.ght
and everybody can be rich u they
will merely use his theory. He can
eveD grow hair on the bald.
In hot"l ballroom a Van Dyked
professorial gentleman draws a big
crowd. He reads a sonnet or so
while soft-toned bells chime. Then
he leads his cohorts into the ISL
lences." A food of incense is un>
loosed. and then comes heavenly
muted violin solo.
To the denominational mind these
services constitute a departursSrom
orthodoxy. Yet men and women OF
apparent intellectualism are attend
ing. Limousines wait at the curb.
and silk hats are profuse. or course.
there are many who are attracted
by mere curiosity.
At hall on Eighth avenue. Billie
the Newshov has created a large
Sunday following. Billie is a dee
and dose talker. He Is a product
OF the gutter. and In a prize fight
once. he says. he was BANNED right
up against the polly gates" Billie
was an atheist. "But hold the
noips." ne declares, "and I know
there's somethin' on the other side"
Collections are taken at each
service, which as a rule are to de-
fray the rentals of the various the
aters and hotel bathrooms and also
to pay the orators II is said that
the average pay OF the "Dootleg pull
piteer" Is $3.50 a Sunday.
Hale Byers. Broadway's artist
haNophonist wis III wing tn" ..''"r
day. In his studio room over a huge
q
charioteer with foaming steeds
turning a curve in the arena. TWO
moving van ape ,:.mc to remove
tho picture. One looked at the bit
of art and remarked: That's a
bang-up team of horses"
There is touch OF romance about
the pathetic figures who sing on
Sunday mornings in the apartment
house courts on the West Side and
in Harlem. They are the last of a
fast vanishing brood and reminis-
cent of the minstrels OF England.
the troubadours of France and the
minnesingers of the Rhine. They
are mostly old men, some blind and
some lamp. Their arias are of the
long ago. Their voices are cracked
but they are sensitive and II a win
dow is suddenly slammed down. they
bow sadly and wander off.
There is a building on East Forty
first street given over entirely to
dental offices. sat in a chair the
other day and commented On the
clearness Of the auto sirens from the
street. The dentist explained that
but the means of patients in offices
below coming out from under anes-
thetics. There are thirteen profess
sional anesthetist in the building
New York's magistrates are .
rather kindly lot They realize that
no city holds such a place as the
mecca for the foolish and that no
city is so dangerous for the weak.
1t is rare that first offenders among
young girls are sentenced. The ef-
fort is almost invariably to save
them from prison sentence. There
is much wisdom in their philosophy.
A record was kept of twenty girls
who were first Offenders. Nineteen
of them were released with kindly
advice. One was given two
months workhouse term. All are
now leading upright lives and are
happy save the one girl who was
sentenced.
On a Rowery restaurant is this
sign: Dinner or suDper-whicheyer