Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-12


three days for sober reflection between the is
suing Of a marriage certificate and the flnal
tying OF the knot. There also appears to be a
local superstition that marriages solemnized In
Reno are more likely to last than those begin
ming elsewhere. Many people obtain freedom
in the morning and tie themselves up again
the same afternoon to partners who have come
there for that purpose.
A few Of the temporary residents seek and
obtain jobs. - This win probably not be true
now that the sentence has been shortened to
six weeks, but in the old days before 1927 when
it was six months, life was thing of continual
hux and disturbing revolution. A lawyer never
could tell when his jewel Of a secretary, who
worked so well for such small salary would
come into the office with gardenias on her
shoulder and manner which told him. before
she said q thing that she was giving notice;
or the food at a hotel or boarding house would
suddenly become either very much better or
very much worse, by which the patrons knew
that the cook was on his way back East
While sentences are being served Reno sees
70 It that its temporary guests are given every
facility for spending their money. In q State
which has never passed q prohibition law, and
seems never 10 have found out that one was
imposed upon 1t, and in which the gambling
that has always existed has now been formally
legahzed, visitors ind that the great silver
dollars Of the West ny from their fingers ike
thtstledown At the willows, at Calineva, where
the scene Of 'Iightnin' was laid, and at q
emotdonaLy unemployed population Of the town
Whoop It up with gusto, their three-month
sentence seeming more Ike . three month
holiday.
During many years Of Illegal hiIarity, few
clouds have appeared to dim the sunny hOFi-
zons. certain billie" Rivers it Is true
created q temporary tempest in 1929. but in the
swiftly changing population Of Reno, even that
distressing episode is almost forgotten. Mrs.
Rivers came to the town, Ostensibly for the
usual popular reason, and was immediately ac-
cepted as q member Of the divorce colony's
inner circle.
At the end Of the required 90 days she had
her hearing, obtained her decree and promptly
married man from Los Angeles. So far all
was very regular. Then the blow fell. With
their hospitality, so to speak, still sweet IN her
memory, she went to Carson City and there
gave testimony before Federal grand Jury
which led to the immediate arrest Of II persons
among them the proprietors Of some Of the
best known hotels and restaurants in Reno.
She then admitted that she was contract IN
former" and wisely added that she was leaving
at once for the City Of the Angels
But this sad episode, as may be gathered from
news reports of Reno's recent celebration Of
tegalized gambling, is water under the bridge.
1t has been forgiven, and Judging from the
present tempo Of life, forgotten.
CEDATE members of the colony pass the time
in sef-improvement; the town is bursting
with French teachers, bridge teachers, horse
back riding teachers and impresarios of golf;
the swimming pools are bursting with mer-
maids, and the dusty Alkali highway with cars.
Even dentists do a more thriving business In
Reno; 80 many people who are taking time out
from matrimony seize the opportunity to have
teeth out also
Antiquarians ind much to interest them at
Virginia City, 40 miles away which, in contrast
to the hveliness Of Reno, is easily the deadeSt
city IN the United States. In the heyday Of its
glory, which was about 1875, Virginia City had
population Of 10000. Now 1t has scAnt 400,
and the only reason these remain is that they
haven't enough money to get away. The town
which sprang up around the Great Bonanza,
and whose citizens clawed from the earth gold
and silver vaTiOusiy estimated ut from $500, Co.,