The Washington herald., 1922-05-09
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NEW YORK. April SIN the
dens and dives OF the Bad Lands
of Hell's Kitchen-the molls, moll-
buffers. stool pigeons and prurient
dregs OF the underworld are cling
ing to the shadows. Fear. a
hitherto unknown quality, stalks
that region that has time and again
shown its contempt for law by
"ganging the cop"
Pitkin's. the dingy candle-sput-
tering cellar haven for the criminal
riff-raff, Is even deserted. Gas
House Tommy. throat sitter extra
ordinary, is said to be in the wilds
of Sullivan County. Mamie Fein-
stein. Twentyreighth streets Beau
Brummel, is fusticating in Jersey.
Heckled into action by journal
istic jibing, New York's police are
out to kill. The crime wave has
become national disgrace. Thrones
are toppling. Serious conclaves in
Tammany Hall. Hints that the
governor may remove the police
chief along with the mayor have
sent the finest" out to retrieve lost
glory.
l walked through West Twenty
eighth street the other night with
a fly cop. Leering gangsters had
deserted their corner haunts. From
Ninth avenue to the Hudson there
was Main street noon-time solitude.
A pasty faced snowbird, twitching
from cocaine, was a lone figure
silhouetted against the Gas House
background.
: The nymphs du pave have packed
their cigarettes and kimonos and
fed to Harlem. Every scrofulous-
SCARED brick house heralds the
exodus with Furnished Rooms for
Rent" A street-hawker at his
pitch under a banjo torch was only
able to muster his cappers about
him. The ''sanitariums" where
wounded criminals go for first aid
were emptied.
Hell's Kitchen got the word. the
story goes, from Whispering Dave
TO move. Dave runs q tobacco
store. Because of a throat affIic-
tion he speaks in whispers. He is
one of those rare species OF the
underworld who retains friendship
with the police as well as criminals
at least until he makes a false
step. In a way he Is the high court
of the Bad Lands. Middle Men"
they call them.
A natty steam drill and triple
plated shovel has stilled the bluest-
blues of the comedy fou-s that
yodel in Tin Pan Alley. Not = high
note can be heard above the din.
And the irony of 1t all is the sign
board on the machine that tells the
world that IL is the property Of
the Allegro Construction Com
pany."
People think of stage stars as
gay young things. AS a matter of
fact the most of our sweet stage
ingenues are mamas. 1t was a
shock the other day to read through
the report of an attempted robbery
that the ever girly Laurette. Taylor
had son of her first marriage, a
husky young fellow in the first
flush of manhood. They tell of one
mother who has a son in his 24th
year. He has been in Australia for
number of years but came to
America on visit. The first night
the mother and the son were invited
out to a dinner where there were
a number of stage people. The boy
wore Lord Fauntelroy collar and
knee trousers. But il seems he had
neglected to shave before the party.
There is a little cafe in the thea
trical belt whose proprietress was
once pupil of Whistler. The chief
decoration OF the place is a manu-
script excerpt from The Gentle
Art of Making Enemies in Whist
ler's own hand and with the famous
butterfly signature presented by the
master to his pupil. then an am
bilious young student abroad
What kind of an actor was Whist
ler?" many of her patrons inuuire.