The Washington times., 1923-03-30
By HAROLD r.. HALL,


BOSTON. March 3O.-"I believe
Bill Hart loves a nickel more than
any person ever met" said Miss
MacCaulley. Without a doubt he
is one of the stingiest men in the
world. A nickel means a lot to that
man, and he is very careful in his
distribution Of them.
when I met Bill in Los An
geles had no idea as to how much
money he was making. l knew, OF
course, that he was one of the he
roes of the screen but knowing
nothing then of the salaries paid
these stars Y had no idea what he
was being paid. In fact, I had not
given it thought.
Afraid Of Being Cheated. !,
''I had not known him long when
I made up my mind that he was
not getting very much money Tor
his work. OF course, knew he
had a lovely apartment, where he
and his sister lived, but there are
many people who have nice homes
and little money.
You see, he used to take me out
to dinner. and there 1 had chance
to observe him closely on financial
matters. The outstanding char
acteristic of Bill was his regard for
money. He would get his check
from the waiter and carefully scru-
tinize every item on 1t and figure
It, out himself before he would pay
the bill. Sometimes he would go
over the figures several times. He
apparently did not want to pay
cent more than the actual bill came
to. He was not going to be cheated
by any waiter.
Worried About 80 Cents.
ct remember one night in par
tfcular@ when we were at a restau-
rant for dinner. Bill received ms
check from the waiter and after
figuring it out was preparing to
paw the bill Suddenly he started
fishing through his pockets fran
tically.
Someone has either cheated me
somewhere or else someone has
cts he shouted, to me. You would
have thought was deaf the way
he shouted it. OF course, thought
he must have lost a large sum from
the way he was acting. I was
greatly concerned over 1t and ex-
pressed my sympathy.
FINALLY he gave up the search
and paid his bill. We left the
restaurant and went back to Bills
apartment at the Rex Arms. Bills
entire evening was spoiled. The
money was worrying him to death.
He could think of nothing else He
would speak of nothing else.
"At last I ventured to inquire
how much was lost. Imagine my
surprise when he told me the sum
was slightly more than thirty cents.
All that noise and fuss over that
sum, can you imagine it. did a
deal Of thinking right then.
just Plain Stingy.
THE next night met Bill he
was all smiles. 1 asked what the
with really joyful smile that he
had found the money he thought
he had lost. He said he found it
scattered through several pockets
He was happy again after finding
his thirty cents.
THAT and the careful way he
paid all bills together with his gen.
eral penuriousness gave me the
impression that Bill was a hard
working and greatly underpAid
ACTOR who was struggling along
trying to keep up appearances. II
could not believe that a man who
nursed his nickels as he did could
have much wealth. Now I see that
he was just plain stingy.
Sometimes Real Spender.
after seeing him spending 81
carefully 1 do not believe I would
have allowed him to spend freely, for
l would have thought he could not
afford it.
But the peculiar thing about it
is that in some places, where 1t be-
comes well known in public, Bill is
real spender. / guess that is done
so his reputation will be maintained.
l know of several cases in which he
has befriended certain people-not
women-Which really amazes me. OF
course, he received much credit for
it, and possibly charges that up as
advertising. He probably knows that
what he spends on the women will
not bring him much added glory.
Child's Support Evaded.-
He showed the same penurious
streak in settling with me for our
son. Imagine him, the defender of
women as he loves to be pictured.
haggling over a few paltry dollars
which are needed for the support of
his own son. 1t hurt Bill Hart to
give up $50 a month to help me give
his son, which he has repudiated, the
food to sustain life.
"He evaded the payment of the
hospital bills. He evaded the pay
ment Of the clothing bills after the
child was born. He evaded all the