The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1925-03-02


goodly crowd was there,
(Which well nigh filled Joe's bar
room on the corner by the
square"
There's a soft drink stand today
upon the scene of this most quoted
bit of verse. And Joe, who started
it all-Joe Schmidt was his name
is an old man now, quite wealthy
and he's trying to put off death for
a few years more by resting in Eur.
ope.
He still owns the building where
"the vagabond came slowly in and
posed upon the floor" It's busy
corner, just off Greenwich Village,
and it's u far cry from the orangeade
emporium. and gents furnishing store
to "Joe's bar" famed rendezvous for
theatrical men back in the sos.
Hugh Darcy, who sprang into in
|ternational fame by writing "The
Face on the Floor" as sermon to
Joe, revisited the scene for the first
time in many years on the eve Of
his Send birthday and laughed heart
Ii lily as he saw the throngs hurrying
by and the groups coming up to
drink orangeade.
well, SIR" recited the veteran
Darcy. II taught Joe Schmidt les
son that he will never forget. But
!the funny part of it is that my poem
became propaganda for the prohibi-
I oSckc nI oil I t,,xo I'D
. be was lesson to Joe to be kind to
..derelicts.
| "Certainly never dreamed that it
would bring me fame. Most people
think | made a fortune off that
poem, but it never brought me a dol
p, lar. Everybody that could stole it,
and they even changed the name to
The Face on the Barroom Floor.
But that's neither here nor there,
now.
! What l want to tell you about is
how it happened. There were five of
US sitting in the barroom. And one
iof 'em was Frank O'Brien, the
mayor of Birmingham Believe it
Or, not, derelict came in just as
out for fair and he asked for a drink.
O'Brien handed him his glass. Just
+. then Joe saw what was going on, and
motioned to AL, the bartender. Now
in those days it wasn't uncommon
for Germans to have. their wives and
daughters at the cash drawer, after
the fashion of barmaids on the con-
!.tinent.
! "And Joe's wife was there. What
happened in the next few minutes
Struck me as rather unnecessary and
cruel, particularly with woman
looking, on, Al grabbed the fellow by
: the neck and showed him out. They
i had dog named Toby and Toby
finished the scene by clamping his
teeth in the poor fellows trousers.
l had gotten good look ut the
derelict's face. 1t wasn't the face of
u common drunkard.
| "Well, we all rushed out into the
street and rescued the fellow from
the gutter, gave him another drink
and put some money in his pocket.
l went back to give Joe a lecture,
but Joe insisted that the man was
an ordinary bum. That night l went
home and wrote the verses. l
drought them to Joe the next day,
and tears came to his eyes. He told
me later that it had been a great
lesson to him. And that's why |
have keyed most of my verses in
pathos. think it's good for humans
to cry once in while. But l guess
; that verse has made more women
cry than men.
"How did the thing get famous
That's funny story. sent the
verse to New York paper and Joe
bought a hundred copies. He sent
rs of them to friends in Buffalo
Bills show, then showing in Eng
land.
"A month later heard that the
piece was being recited in half
dozen shows and cafes.
another funny thing is that I
have met four men in my life who
claimed to have written it. So be-
came famous, and that amuses me
a lot now.
ooh, yes, I've got birthday COM
ing ina few days and then I'll know
where Joe is-for he never fails to
send me birthday message. No
he's never forgotten the face"
The old man walked to taxicab
and a new crowd of people rushed up
to the sidewalk stand and ordered
orangeade.