Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-08-03
-1GS
Eift@
M0Kd
BY GEORGE BRITT
NEA EarVica Wrifar

CHICAGO-At fairs and exposi-
tons you have seen an amusement
section called "The Street of All,
Nations"
The idea must have started from
Halsted street, Chicago, that far
stretching Kaleidoscope, dingy traffic
way of the near West Side. 1t Is
the street of all nations, all Ian
guages and all possibilities.
There may be streets here and in
other cities, where the foreign pop
ulation Is more concentrated and
more colorful. There surely none,
however. where settlements of diff
ferent nationalities r packed in,
side by side, ms after another. in
such profusion.
As a sample, take a walk south
from Madison street, past Hull
House and a little beyond. 1t isn't
far-.Listen to the conversation and
watch the signs In the shop win
dows.
A row first of "Eienikon Kap-
heneion' or Greek coffee houses.
Then signs begin to say Paste
ceria Italiana," and here is the Ban
co di Napoli. Then the intersection
of Maxwell street with it's kosher
markets and restaurants. Next the
Dis ~ dttiiOdl1CO a AA0bQN 16ho "
fet" and you are among the Lith-
uanians.
So goes Halsted street, a new ma
tionality ready to bob UP in the next
block with the unexpectedness of a
revised map of Europe. And in the
midst of any territory n may run
| across an allen outpost. For In
stance, there is a ~"Slovensky" drink
| shop in the midst of the Italian Sec
ton and Frank Sings laundry
draws its trade from the Lithuan-
ians.
Idle r~everie on strolling through
the Maxwell Street Ghetto:
Merchants wagons and stalls al
most filing the street from curb to
| curb. Rubberneck auto of tourists
squeezing its way through. There's
a black-bearded patriarch, who
could step on the vaudeville stage
without makeup and begin iinging
character repartee.
Piles and piles of things to SELL
fish, long black coats, s~uitcases, ba-
naras. live chickens, dressed geese
hanging by their feathery necks al
cohol stills slippers, combs, warm
bottles of red and yellow soda pop,
bathing suits, graphophone records,
smells.
Are there no slender women?
Should nave got a shine: they all
urge me to buy shoes. These peo-
pie are like the desert islanders
who made a living by taking in each
others washing. Most Of them close
on Saturday; a few cheat and keep
open seven days a week.
Pretty little red-haired girl. See
the woman tanning flies away from
the sliced watermelon. 1t would be
messy here If it rained Boy selling
chewing gum probably will move
to the Loop and become a capitalist.
Old woman with a grind organ. On
the street a again, going to an
other world.
If there is any priest. minister or
justice of the peace in the city
who has ofticiated at as many we'd
dings as Fratelli Cannata, 1908 S,
Halsted street, let him step for
ward and receives salutations and
orange blossoms Mr.. Cannata hasnt
tied the knot but he has supplied an
element almost as essential as the
license He is a photographer.
More than 100 photographs of
ly welded couples, the bride al
most invariably wearing her veil
and holding a bouquet of hand
tinted flowers, arrest the passerby
outside the studio. The pictures fill
the window, as well as two large
supplementary glass cases. And
they are simply a foretaste, a
sample of thousands of customers
Some of the pictures there are
10 years old" says the artist. 81 an
so busy taking new wedding pic.
lures l don't have time to change
the old ones in the windows Twice
In their lives the people around
here want pictures-when they are
confirmed and when they are mar
ried They must get new pictures
n send them to their families in
the old country"