The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1922-04-12
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Dan By DAY
Impressions: .
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NEW YORK. April lin the
shadow Of Brooklyn Bridge there Is
cross section of squalor that
might have been snatched from
London's Limehouse. 1t reeks with
underworld slime as murky as the
green ooze that laps the river piers.
Human life is bartered there with
coldness as metallic as steel.
with night comes the lighting OF
coal oil lamps in dingy shacks-
tobacco shops, soft drink stands
and two-cents-a-cue pool halls. A
kaleidoscope tumble of faces
brutal. wolfish and scarred-can De
seen from the Uttered streets.
In police circles the district Is
known as Beetietown. 1t Is ruled
by THE Beetle" q legless character
who shuffles along beetle-like. a
news vender by day and a plotte- OF
bloody intrigue by night green
patch covers one eye and the face
Is masked in a demoniacal leer..
From Beetletown came the phrase
ION the boat" during the Rosen-
thai Becker gambling war. To be
put ION the boat" means In the I'M
derworld that the victim vanishes
and is seen no more. The hired
killers do not leave any trace ror
the establishment of the corpus de-
licti.
1t is in Beetletown that the drug
vendors and others In nefarious en-
terprises recruit their gorillas for
strong-arm protection. Murder Is
done for as low as IS job. Only
zone woman lives in the area and
sh Ia he ,s,tfo NJ q rhnn-
suey cafe keeper, strangely a Turk
himself.
At night when the moon rides
high over the East River. Beetle.
town is like a bit of scenery liza
from the old Bowery mclodrama.
The Bridge silhouetted In the dis
tance with moon-lit ripples dancing
underneath. Figures that cling
close to walls. the wall Of an accor-
dion and gutteral oaths from low
dives Only the puffs Of air blow
ing up from the harbor seem clean.
He came breezing into a hotel
lobby in Times Square to pull this
nifty" rs Henry Ford in the
houseT he shouted. Finally a
porter replied that he was not.
''S'funny." said the comedian, his
car Is OUTSIDE.
Zip. the whatisit. Is back In town.
OF course. with the circus. Because
lips head runs UP to q point. he
Is the most popular freak with the
circus. with his hat on Zip is no
different from Other negroes. Cir
Gus legend has 1t that Zip came
from a wild Zulu tribe and Is now
tame cannibal. Zip really came
from an Indiana farm and is quite
Intelligent. One of the circus press
agents wearing bel canto whiskers.
a frock coat and a two-gallon hat.
took Zip around to the newspaper
shops the other night. Zip chat
tered in native Zulu, growled and
looked ferocious. And screamed
when they took flashlights. Out
side on the street Zip remarked:
Great life. this wildman stun. I
was in a crap game last night with
won. He lost. He ought to be
the wild ONE
The bell-shaped trouser. faring
at the ankle. is making a brave
struggle for recognition especially
with evening clothes. All OF the
actors are wearing them in mu-
steal comedies. but just the exag-
Eerated dressers are taking to them
on the stage. The Inverness cane,
with the white silk lining. Is being
seen more and more at the night
haunts.
In the block on West Forty
second street between Fifth and
Sixth avenues oppOsite the library
and Bryant Park exactly half of
the merchants and Office tenants are
moving out. Rents have been dou-
bled In every instance. There is a
touch Of the ironical in the plight
of one merchant. For ten years ne
has been 6annting hamboyant BAN
ners across his front advertising
Removal Sale" This week urfder-
meath he has the announcements:
Maybe You Didn't Believe Me-"