Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1924-08-06
More Pretense There, Says
Writer, Than Anywhere Be-
tween Broadway and
Hollywood
BY HARRY &. HUNT
NEA Service Writer

NEA Service Writer
WASHINGTON, August Cts
the customary thing to toss bout
Duets at Washington. Perhaps it's
sort of national pride, a sense of
obligation to stick up for our ma
tional capital that leads writer's
here to stress the undisputad
beauty that does exist IL many eff
the public buildings, the parks and
in certain of the more select resi-
dental districts.
And, as it is these beauty spots
that are always emphasized on the
attention of visitors viewing the
town, they also catch something Of
the booster spirit and go away dis
coursing on beautiful Washing
ton"
But no city, noe even Washing
ton, deserves all bouquets. Brick
bats also are in order And, con"
sidering the fact that it is The
national capital and should be the
ideal municipality of the nation,
Washington is deserving of as,
many brickbats as the average busy
and begrimed industrial city Of
our hundreds of much-maligned
main Street" towns.
=
Washington is, mentally and
physically, a city of false fronts.
There is more pretense here, per
city block, than in any burg be-
tween Broadway and Hollywood.
Possibly this is a reflection OF
the political instability which al
ways threatens a large part Of the
population with change. Under
civil service, of course, government
jobs are not so dependent on the
whims of changing administrations
as in years gone by.
But it is not the civil service
employee who helps hold up the
city's false front; it is the tenn
porary political job-holder, the big
duck out Of a little puddle who
comes to Washington expecting
to be big duck in a big puddle.
In nine times out of 10, or 30
out of 100, he finds the city wholly
unimpressed by his advent. But
he feels important and is deter
Imined to make others recognize
his Importance
So he puffs out his chest grows
gruff and growly with the Sub
bordinates" who perform the actual
duties Of his office, rents a home
which costs him most if not all Of
his government pay check each
month, and joins the "false front
lfusileers.p
These mental false fronts are
matched by the physical false
fronts of a large part Of the city.
| What appear to the eye Of the
lcasual passerby as handsome resi-
I dences Of cut stone will be re-
vealed, on closer examination, to
be ordinary brick structures, with
Icluttered back yards and crampod
Iareaways, with simply a veneer
facing of stone in front.
| What appear to be three-stcry
houses are normally but two stories
in reality, there being nothing be-
hind the third-story front but some
bracing or quickly sloping Roof
over a small storage space.
Great apartment buildings, sug-
costing commodious and comfort
able living Quarters, with spacious
and impressive entrance foycrs.
are revealed as high-priced tenc-
ments, with small rooms ARRANGED
IN small suites and the only size
able thing about the individual
quarters being the amount Of rent
demanded monthly in advance.
Usually these rent at around $50
per month per room, with the
large majority of suites consisting
OF but two or three rooms.
Such quarters, Of course, are
not conducive to that american
nome LIFE which, of al places.
should be found in the nations cap
''a. But they have the front"
Newcomers to Washington ouick-