Evening star., 1922-05-21
Searching for Bohemia !


contained q garage on the lower
floor. while the upper part was de-
voted to the so-called temple. The
decorations in the room were. putting
tit mildly, fantastic, consisting main
ly Of cheesecloth, on which Lad been
painted cubist looking monsters that
somehow entered into the scheme Of
preparing the seeker after knowl-
edge for the next step in his or her
initiation.
To the fat old Woman garbed in
cheesecloth quite the worse for wear
Cousin E. e. declared that / was to
take my first step in the study Of the
Great Mystery. Being totally uhpre-
pared for such a surprise, rather
balked, but Cousin E. E., grasping
my not too robust arm, forcefully led
| me to the shrine. was SO confused
that don't remember to this day
just exactly what was done or said.
but the maid from the west. as we
departed, said that had taken my
first step toward higher plane and
that had entered upon the threshold
of true Bohemia.
X *
D DATHER dazedly 1 accompanied
Ethelind Elizabeth to the forum
This place had evidently once been
used as storehouse, but now was
filed with chairs and little tables. and
an artist that wanted types" could
have had his pick in plenty there.
| ~; 10 4, .
west oil section was attired in fam
ing chiffon. and her sole conversation
consisted of "Oh! l just love these Bo-
hemian gatherings"
| There were three girly girls, all
with cut hair sweaters and tweed
with fringe at the bottom, near hose
and sport shoes. Two OF them smoked
cigarettes. while the other puffed
brazenly at a briar wood pipe. a habit
she had picked up in "deah ole Lun-
non." At a table an anemic youth
with flowing raven tresses. Windsor
tie and dark suit wrote sonnets
which he offered for sale at a dollar
each-muse money, I guess you would
call it. A bootlegger's wife. gowned
IN latest fashion and fingers dripping
with jewels. sat. mouth agape, evil
IDENTIFY believing that she was gazing
| upon "sassiety." A twain of would
be playwriters critici ized Avery Hop
wood, Rita johnson and other writer's
who have arrived, contending that the
world appreciated not their talents.
Next was a composer who asserted
with fervid gestures that his was the
lost chord.
! A, golden ringletted miss of seven
teen or SO bemoaned the fact that
neither Griffith nor Ince appreciated
+: beauty or talent. To the side a
gray-haired, fraiI and bent little old
lady with lace collar and cuffs sat
patiently trying to understand and to
be a part Of the assembled mob. A
porcine person, heavy of jowl, with
puffs meath his eyes. sat like a great
spider, now and then shooting his
! cuffs. Bored. tired and cynical, he
was there to please his empty-headed
little new wife, who had three
articles accepted by the home town
paper. 1t was a motley crew. A
raven-locked angular male arose, a
person that reminded one of the ten
twent-thirt tragedian of former
days. He began the discussion of
the evening and SO on it ran, it ebbed,
it flowed and again little E. E., from
the wild and woolly west, arose in
her place and delivered that which l
afterward discovered was her one
set speech. This time the response
to her appeal was not as great, and
at 40 we wended our way homeward.
FOR three more days and nights we
searched the highways and by
ways in search of Bohemia. Driven
to desperate ends. 1 appealed to my
fellow clubmen to find Bohemia for
| gentle E. E.. but to no avail
Bohemia, wherefore are thou?''
Bohemia, that blessed realm of hap
piness. comradeship and devotion to
art as one knew it in the days of
long ago, consisted not of a lot of
indolent creatures. seeking to find
| something freakish. but that which
meant true fellowship, the sharing
| with each other the last crust or
giving the last centime to help an un-
fortunate brother while studying
music or painting. The comradeship
that was fostered by cramped quar-
ters and simmer purses, that COM
radeship made sweeter by adversely.
It was upon these conditions that
Bohemia was founded, but in this, the
day OF strict commercialism, Bohemia
| is but a memory, and while there may
be one or two isolated cases of that
old condition existing in Washington
today, Bohemia in the Capital city
occupies the same position that the
| giraffe in the circus did when the
rustic looked at 1t and said: Gosh.
there amt no such animal"
Handkerchiefs.
! 1t is a day Of fascinating handker-
chiefs. Anybody who goes through
I