The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1931-12-05
Why Do They Do 1t?

WY LIZ IIlSy OO u:
e Just why such a man goes to
all extremes to live as a big
shot i something I wouldn't
know about. If I tried to fig
ure the various angles of a
q, Broadn ayite's brain I'd be even
e., daffier than I am today. So
:. the best thing 1 can do is to
tell you the story of Twenty
Dollar Charlie and let it go at
that.
Charlie got his nickname
around the night clubs. He
was a man of mystery from
: the Start-but the girls and
boys all knew he was a smart
guy in some smart racket. Let's
see why:
Every two or three months,
Charlie would walk into a joint
that appealed to him. He
would begin to unload twenty
dollar bills. The headwaiter rea
1ceiveL one and the waiter was
handed one as his tip. The
orchestra leader wound up with
one, and the courtroom girl re-
Z Gel the same amount when
she turned back Charles coat.
If those twenties had been
hundre &C the mob would have
figured Charlie for a phoney
spender. They would have
known Immediately that he
:. was just a flash in the pan
s'arl that his patronage would
soon be a thing of the past.
But when it came to twentles,
that was a different story.
Gave, $40 Tips
Any racketeer who is up in
g. the money can be counted
upon to toss out tens and.
twenties. 1t makes friends for
q. him, and it's quite. in keeping
with his position. If he gives
too much, it's just as bad as
giving too little
Charlie had the boys and
girls slightly buffaloed. He
never appeared in a cafe more
than two nighGs in rowland
he always disappeared for some
three months at stretch.
( There were those who said
that he was in the dope racket,
and those who suspected him Of
being a Chink Smuggler But
nobody really knew-and no
body ever dreamed of asking
Charlie the exact nature of his
racket.
AS far as girls were con-
cerned, Charlie didn't seem to
be particularly interested. His
= first visit to the clubs seemed
to prove conclusively that wom-
en- didn't form a prominent
! part of his life. Then he met
Mildred and, as has always
! happened, the boys got a new
slant on him. He fell heavily
for the lady in question.
/ Gone on Mildred
There wasn't a doubt in the
world that Charlie was gone on
:. Mildred, and there isn't much
!. argument about the fact that
the girl didn't exactly hate our
hero, either. But Mildred was
no average cafe dumbbeu. She
knew plenty of racketeers-and
she knew the general windup
of the danes who went with
them. Though, while she was
willing to be friendly with the
man, she refused to go too
heavily for that thing called
love.
/ Love didn't make Charlie
!. cease his rather strange habits.
He still dropped into the club
,on his two-or-three-mon SEIZED
ule, and he still handed out the
twenties. The only difference
was that he now wrote to Mil
dred on occasion and told her
he was getting along in okay
shape.
/ Turns Him Down
: In due time Charlie asked
Mildred to marry him. Her
answer was in the negative
and for the reason I have al.
ready outlined. She didn't tell
him the actual reason because
she imagined that he would
understand. Charlie evidently
didn't. Because he left her
that night and sent her a letter
q few days later.
7.