Evening star., 1924-01-24
TALKS and TALES
,..,s With and about
CAPITALS GUESTS

There will be no 100000 prize
given the first to answer this dues-
tion, but Just for fun. how many IN
the audience can tell why the famous
ice palaces that formerly attracted
worldwide attention at Montreal
Canada, each winter have been dis
continued?
No, the high cost Of Ice had abso-
iuteIy nothing whatever to do with It,
nor. as this little girl over here sug-
yests, was 1t due to failure on the part
OF the iceman to show UP. The huge
structures. niarvels of architectural
skill and Workmanship. were discon-
tinued for the simple reason that
their presence affected tourist travel
and kept thousands away from the
country who otherwise might have
sone there.
This was learned from A. Il. Fran
els, we'll known Montreal steamship
man, who with his wife has been at
the Sew Willard Hotel for rev
days hWhiIe the ice palaces We're
remarkable. and did credit. to- their
designers and constructors" said Mr..
Francis, I'VE began TO realize they
were poor advertisement Investments
Many people 1--we In mortal dread OF
cold weather and the mere thought
Of visiting a place where ice palaces
are featured gives them the shtvers,
and they naturally stay away.
THE truth of the matter is. how
ever" continued the Canadian. the
climate in Montreal. while many de-
grees colder than in Washington, Is
extremely dry, and even with the
thermometer so degrees below zero
one seldom feels the cold as. did
here several days ago"
I-. Francis reported conditions In
he Dominion as generally good. He
s.d the new Mount Royal Hotel at
Ahutreal, with its 100 rooms and
baths, was the largest and most COM
mod,ous hotel in the entire British
empire.
called in by William NJ Butler to as
sist in the management OF the Cool
;dge campaign, shot across the lobby,
the Montreal man was left to thaw
out. and the Cleveland. Ohio. steel
manufacturer was nailed at the desk.
Col Thompson gas wreathed In
smiles. having just received first -hand
Information OF campaign activities in
the Buckeye state from Hoke Dona-
than. Coolidge campaign manager In
nation drifting In from all sections OF
the country, everything was lovely
and the goose hangs high.
We are fast whipping things into
shape, and every day finds the ma
chinery working smoother" laughed
the manager. as he started for the
Shoreham to keep date with some
friends. III be in and out of your
town quite often from nov on, and
II the engine gets clogged I'll give
1T, Il Il
.ng one.
Slipping into the Hotel Washing
ton. who should be encountered on
his way to Keiths, where he Is play
Ing this week. but our old friend Pat
Rooney.
Now. here is one that's destined to
make Doc Osler regret he ever made
the crack about man being all in
when he lowered around forty.
The Incompatible little dancer, ac-
stunning a wicked leg thirty-two
years ago, or one year after his IA
nous daddy, Pat Rooney, the first,
n1ade his final exit. Young Pat was
eleven years old at the time. and.
without exaggeration. he doesn't look
minute over Twenty-Five today.
Pat IS an ardent ad,lirsr of former
President Woodrow Wilson and
thinks him the greatest President the
country ever had. Nothing ever
up IN his box and see him smiling
at some crack I had made" con.
tinusd the actor II liked Presidents
Roosevelt and Mckinley. too. In fact
my politics Is let the best man have
Eour vote; l have never met Presi-
Boston way he's one OF the old school
and a mighty fine man. AL Smith Is
another who stands in a class by him
49,. But !. you only carry the picture of
rock" :" o''a'ih-
That's true" laughed Pat, as he
drew from his pocket. a faded photo
s3aph or woodrow Wilson, which
than ten years.
Pat Rooney is an ardent golfer
S"ears he can play rings around Ed :
die Cantor and never misses an on
percha.
lie has wonderful summer home
.t Southold. Long Island, and boasts
the distinction of being the highest
sa!arted vaudeville star now playing.
IT might have been that Nine Sarah
L..
said the quick-witted Pat, but her
engagement seldom ran over six
weeks, while mine usually goes forty
fouT weeks each year. But that's nei-
ther here nor there; the part that
the bottom to the top OF the vaude-
Vile ladder without leaving the bust
ness. Many come from legitimat te
shows, make good and then return,
but stuck to my first love until i
was acknowledged"
Pat Rooney. 3D.. is a musician, sing
sr. and nearly as good dancer as his
father. He Is fourteen, and will prob
ably take to the foot1ights on COM
pieting" his education.
X Z: !: X
From Pat Rooney to Belgium is
quite jump, but It was refreshing
on entering the Hotel La Fayette to
learn from II. Blaess, we'll known
business man Of Antwerp, that the
little country. SO torn by the war, is
shooting ahead at rapid rate, will,
everybody working. and prosperity
most apparent.
"Of course, land prices are still
about four and a half times as high
As before the war. said Mr.. Blaess
but we refuse to stop to consider
such trif1es. Belgium is hard at work
and VIII never rest easy until every
inch of devastated territory Is re-
stored and all industries back to nor
NAL" "-'t -
fressed for an opinion OF the gen.
eral European situation. tho Antwerp
man merely shrugged his shoulders
and said, Very bad. What the out
come Will be. you know as well as L
We In Belgium are doing all that's
humanly possible to restore peace and
order: whether our efforts will be
successful Is impossible to tell al
present.
Mr. Blaess crossed on the Belgen-
land and says 1t Is a magnificent ship
She carried fey passengers coming
over, but returned filled to capacity
with Mediterranean Sea tourists.