Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1923-04-02
MODEL s MURDER
SHOWS PERILS Of
n. Y. WHITE WAY
Says Kay LAUREL, Famous Broad.
way Beauty And Foll;es
Star
HUNDREDS OF TRAGEDIES
Dorothy King Murder Only One
Among Many Of That Char
acter, She Says
BY KAY LAUREL
Former Follies Beauty, Now a Star
on Broadway.

NEW YORK, April I'm the
shadows Of the shimmering lights of
Broadway are enacted daily hundreds
Of tragedies of which the Dorothy
King murder was just one of the
many closing chapters.
For among the thousands attract
ed by the White Way Hghts-some
just to watch and look on, some to
heel the warmth of the glow, some to
have their wings singed-are many
who seek the esaiest way.
And find 1.-THE hardest.
Then, on the other side of Broad
way, they fall lower and lower, I'M
til completely engulfed in the mael-
strom, they give in
Victims of drugs, drink and other
vices that sap them until the very
end.
On Broadway since 16, I know Of
these tragedies. Luckily my home
training and natural reserve spared
me from temptation. But many 9TH
er girls weren't so fortunate.
They fell into the pitfalls-some
voluntarily-bu mostly victims of
circumstance or the connivance Of
scoundrels. These are to be found
in all guises from the fatherly old
men-called "daddies to the slick
haired lounge lizards-human para
sites, all.
Elsie Lee Hilar was well known
along Broadway. She lived uptown,
but loved the glitter of the cabarets.
She used to sneak off afternoons
and come down to the popular tea
dansants." Amiable dancing part
ners made her life pleasant until she
was found murdered in a hotel sew
eral years ago,
Several thousand dollars worth
Of her jewels were missing. The
police Investigated, rounded up
gang of lounge lizards" but never
solved the mystery.
1t still remains a closed book, re-
sembling, in many ways, the murder
Of Dorothy King, the model, whose
real name was Anna keenan,; she
was found dead, mysteriously chloro-
formed, and $4,000 worth OF jewels
were missing.
Both women tried to blaze path
along the White Way that would
make even blase Broadway take
notice. Both women finally sue
ceeded-in death.
But the deepest tragedies come
when the young, naive girls, untutor-
ed in the ways of the Broadway
world, become innocent victims OF
another's perversity.
A young chorus girl | knew had
been raised in a convent. She was
barely 16 when she got her first JOB,
One night, after a long rehearsal,
one Of the other girls gave her, q
sniff Of powder saying it would
brace her up. i}l.. II
more She liked it. Before she real
ized it she had become addicted to
The drug. the name of which she
didn't even know -,
She tried to break herself OF the
habit. But it had made her its slave
She went to another theater Inc
leading man there became enamoreq
Of her. The money she received
from him, she used only to pur-
chase dope from a chorus man VINO
was a vendor on the side,
To cast off the cure, she went 10
sanitarium. But the habit grlpped
her AGAIN. even after she had taken
tbe cure. Finally there was but one
way out. She took it-by commit
ting suicide. .,,l,,nod
who once played in the same COM
nanv with me, became friendly with
an apparently charming old gentle
man known as daddy" his ruling
passion was gambling.
Not many weeks elapsed before ms
Younger companion contracted MS
fondness for watching the wheel go
round. With bated breath she
would stand for hours to see wheth'
err red or black came up.
1t was not long before she wanted
to spend all her time in the gambling
dens. Even old daddy couldn't
keep up with her. He finally dropped
her-as most ''daddies" eventually
do
Then she had to go it alone.
It's amazing how many dives there
were for all sorts of victims. When
the GIRL couldn't get into the more
fashionable resorts, she went down
the scale
Down, down, down, until now
She's at the very bottom.
But the real gold diggers are not
in the chorus or leading roles of
the big shows. They are not on the
stage at all. They live in New Works
most sumptuous apartments - just
off Broadway-supported by men OF
wealth. They are unknown to the
world at large until the end comes
as it did in the King case.
Then the focus of the public's eye
lis turned on their affair for while
Only to be dimmed by the glitter
of the bright lights which keep shin
ing on Broadway, dazzling, drawing
on, singeing and throwing aside.
CHARGED WITH NOT