Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1931-07-27
New York

NEW YORK. July 25-Millions or
Americans in a by-gone generation
first heard OF New York's historic
Bowery through an old topical song.
1t went. as you viii recall:
The Bowery, the BoWeryi
They say such things and they do
such things
On the Bowery. the Bowery.... 49,.
Ill never 90 there any nor ...."
This was merely the refrain, but
the song managed to establish the
BOwery as a symbol of r0ughness
and t0ughness. To he sure the
whole country sang the song and.
doubtless. dismissed IL just as 1t
has dismissed songs of O. heartlesS
and s0ulless Broadway.
Yet. after al these years. the
question rises as TO whether this
tune made the famous highway
what IL is today. In a cOlorfal his
tory OF the street titled old Bow
cry Days. 1t is cited that within 10
years of the songs composition
BoWery merchants were complain
ing that 1t had hurt business.
Veteran East Siders stdh swear
that 1t was nothing else than this
slanderous lamp0on that killed the
street" reports Alvin Harlow, the
author.
At any rate. a bit Of research re-
reals that -the Bowery. the Bow
Ur~up urn oNr~n~ a 49, nnw4y lo~- Nft
Hoyt's "A Trip TO Chinatown" 1t
whose name Is associated with a
the legend or a leap from Brooklyn
bridge. 1t has been further immor-
talized hy such common usages as
doing a Brodie" and "Brodie took
q chance"
The lyricist was Charles Hoyt,
known wherever trOupers Travelled.
The BoWery folk are reported as
having gone wild" over the song
I'D to have considered no Ill eff
xecS.
AT any rate, such is the perver-
"A n Of Time that the Bcwery Is re-
inferred ms a sort OF American
4AOAAAA4A EAQuAC AAAAAAA4AAEA ~ u 0AA
of native Apache. Which, TO some
extent was the case.
But what even New Workers for
get is that this was the birth
place Of the drama in America. It
ant lcipated all that is Broadway
nd Fifth Avenue and Park Ave-
nue. today.
Just a few months ago. the his
t0-ic jewelry store OF "a. G. Bene-
dict a. Co. went upon its way. af-
ter a life that began a few years
after the War OF 1872. Harlow re-
ports that its ancier* records show
ed 'the sale of an imitation dia-
mond 10 G. Vanderbilt for sl.25.
And ID was the Bowery that saw
the first production or Uncle
Toms Cabin" The scene OF this
event was the Chatham Theatre In
Chatham Square. It was here, too.
that the American minstrel show
was born, a primitive outgrowth
OF the old museums wherein such
historic stage figures as Weber
and Fields and a hundred others
got their youthful opportunities.
These museums were the thea
ters OF their time, scattering slow
IN YER the city, and combining the
freaks and the spectacular figures
Of the moment with stage enter
tainment. Typical OF the museum
was the importation OF the Ford
brothers after they had slain Jes-
sic James. The modern vaudeville
stage has never quite outgrown
this custom OF displaying people
who have figured IN front page
news. Film news reels and the ra-
do are even newer mediums for
carrying on the traditions OF the
old muses." by bringing before the
public all sorts of sensational fig
ures.
At the moment the Bowery IS
the tawdry. down-at-the-heel- rem
devious Of the vagrants and the
failures. But "a renaissance Is lust
around the corner. The Bowery IS
to be rebuilt into a great East Side
artery.