The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-04-08
(continued from Preceding Page)

WHO was IaSL learnlnS1 "S1c seven
hundred dollars. Which was very much
better than twenty-five dollars week.
But the ambition of the pretty girl with
the weak character, who has listened to
the counsel of evil friends, never ends
with such casual compensation. To be q
really smart success on Broadway,
a girl should have an apartment, softly
furnished, in a smart place, Dorothy fg-
ured, as have so many more before her.
She should have coats, "and four expef-
sive fur coats are really necessary" ex-
planned the young woman who was fixing
her goals. "And silken underwear,
enough to fill whole trunks. And so
many dresses you don't remember them
all. And shoes to go with everything.
And car. And maid. And jewels on
your fingers and money in the bank"
Thus Dorothy, in the days when she
was hostess at Lannigan's, explained her
philosophy and her ambitions. She then
formulated her ideas of finance.
"A girl should try to live on what she
gets as dinner fees" said she. "And
then when she finds someone who sets
her up in an apartment Of her own, she
should save all he gives her for a nest
egg. l don't mean to die poor. mean
to become a celebrity. I'll find myself a
rich angel, and he will get me on the
stage"
So the misguided girl spoke what she
mistook for wisdom. And then came the
break with Lannigan which upset all her
little plans and might have landed her
back into poverty, had she not taken
watchful account A picture, none too
pretty, is remembered of the Dot King
of those days.
The picture shows the girl in various
places, forgetting her dignity, as she did
mad things which often brought the adj
lad from Princeton who was said to be
fond Of Dorothy. Once when they were
guests at secret rendezvous of the rich 1
and smart, Dorothy jumped into swim
ming pool in the basement, with all her
clothing on. She struck Gut in the fish
stroke, hands over head, and swan the
length of the tank.
81 feel in the mood" she cried out to
the wondering young man. 81 feel just
in the mood for swimming!' And she in
sisted upon going home dripping wet while
he wondered. And apparently admired.
For he gave her a pearl necklace of his
mothers worth sixty thousand dollars.
"My little beads" Dorothy explained
this time when she was learning"
Though later she was forced to return
them when the family lawyers interviewed.
But still the picture of the defiant, spirited
girl recurs during this time when she was
learning"
Dorothy still held a warm corner in
her heart for her mother. She was proud
and yet ashamed of her $4,000 ermine
coat and her rich jewels-she wanted
Mother keenan, to see and admire, but
she must find an explanation for her swift
prosperity.
81 have a half interest in dressmaking
shop" said she, on her visits to the tene-
ment home. II knew | could arrive, if
only had the courage"
And the mother, between her doubts
and fears, struggled hard to believe. So
the picture continues, with titled Eng
lishman now interested in the girl, at
other times men reputed great on Wall
Street. A hundred incidents of her career
are recalled in the Broadway cafes. One
night she again astounded Broadway by
creeping up on Lannigan, her former
friend" and dropping two quarts of but
termilk upon his dress clothes. He was
sitting with another girl, her successor.
"She wasn't refined" Lannigan ex-
planned of Dorothy later. But Dorothy
confined her explanation to graphic acts.
And then, as she teetered on the narrow
brink of poverty, experiencing the lean
days these girls are likely to go through
between hatvests Of their career, she came
upon what she had watched for with eager
waiting.
She met "Mr. John Marshall" She
had gone to a cafe with another girl, and
he was there with his secretary, out for
relaxation. He had much money, she could
see at first glance. Dorothy knew her
types by now He said very little Of his
Wealth. which convinced her of its reality.
But even the rich "Mr. MARSHALL had to
BE taught what was expected of him, 1t
seems. Because, that first night, as she
told so many times later he presented her
with twenty-dollar bill. This as fee for
her company.
"And / reached for match" said she.
"And / lit nv cigarette with that bill,
though | had only a dollar left in my
purse That's what do with such chick
en- feed as this told him. Don't ever
insult me that way again, please. He was
surprised. But he never gave me another
twenty. For he saw that l was expen-
sive."
Again, in the circles of the White
Lights, they have special phrases for such
friendships" as Dorothys and "Mr. Mar
shalps." And phrases for their beginning.
They call the agreement, putting the
proposition" Which is put every night
in every restaurant, up and down the daz-
cling street. Put like this, by the fatherly
old gentleman, like "Mr. Marshall":
My dear, like you very much. Do
you think you could manage an apartment
on two hundred week."