The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-07-27
1 NEW | 1 YORK
By PAUL HARRISON

New York-"Avant Balbo" "And my DEAR, he's the most GORGEOUS thing you ever SAW!
 ssVfva Italia!" "Pm going to meet two of the lieutenants to. morrow at a reception" sym pafico-that's what they are .... and just CUR-R-RAZY about Am. erican women, hear." ... "Dit you hear how lucky Mrs DeBlon, was, having one to dinner? Yes, she did; he turned out to be the brother of her chauffeur."...
 And 50 it went, in the lobby of the Hotel Ambassador. Lion-hunt- ing society folk trying to- capture the handsome, gold-braided and
 be-meadled officers of the Italian air armada. And willing, most of them, to compromise on non- commissioned radio operator or mechanic ... After the flyers had changed to white mess jackets, not even the hotel bus-boys, some what similarly clad, were safe. one of the latter, who happened to be an Italian anyway, graciously gave
 four autographs in one evening to palpitant young ladies'.
 For the leader himself, the four room suite occupied in 1928 by Queen Marie of Rumania had been edecorated-and dominated by the biggest picture in New York of Mussolini. All his men. even to the mechanics, were quar- tered in the same swank hotel on P a rk avenue. "The humblest soldier" Balbo had curtly remind ed those in charge of arrange ments. ''is as good as the Gen. eral." ...
 Balbo's English.
 Four Italian-speaking operators were hired for the telephone switchboard. And for a week the elevator boys were given lessons in Italian, taught to count up to
 sixteen in the language, and were provided with printed cards bear ing the meanings of the most com
 mon words. .. Balbo, profoundly impressed with the speed of the elevators while going up in one. exclaimed, "Molto presto"
 Huh? asked the operator nerv-
 ously.
 ''Molto presto" repeated the Gereral, and was amazed to see the boy stop the car between floors. yank out his emergency vocabul- ary and scan the list. The words weren't there, but after delivering the General safely he found to his
 relief that they only meant very fast"
 Incidentally, though the brown
 bearded hero's interviews are con- ducted through interpreters. he
 knows some idiomatic English.
 Damn cine, damn fine!" he ex-
 claims over cocktails, receptions. skylines and other things he likes. merry men.
 After arranging sequence of very special Italian menus with the German chef and his two Ital-
 ian assistants, the hotel discovered the flyers were anxious to try Am
 erican food. .,.. The newsstand or dered stacks of Italian newspapers but mostly sold only the local tabloids, full of pictures -. The tobacco -stand man, not to be out
 done, bought huge assortment of Italian cigarets--but Is selling them only to the sightseers, while the airmen smoke popular Ameri- can brands. With the exception of
 Balbo; his are gold tipped.
 The Flag Problem.
 Among the other Intricate little problems a big hotel has is the matter of flags. The Ambassador.
 for instance, has only two fiagpoles
 Lone for the American and one | for the nation of any visiting cele- brity. Thus, the Italian flag was
 hung out when Balbo arrived, but l if the British Ambassador had I walked in at the same time the management would have been fin
 The waldorf Astoria has staffs ably would have installed another fagpole overnight. | The Waldorf-Astoria has Saffs for up to seven foreign flags, but even so has to be very careful to put the flag for the highest-rank- ing celebrity on Park avenue. for the next most important ones on
 Fiftieth street, and so on. The
 French Ambassador usually stays
 at the Ritz Tower when he comes
 to town, and the Netherlands, Ann bassador at the Barclay. Mere con- suls or ordinary generals don't
 rate a banner in the breeze, but
 famous men like Marconi and Pa-
 derewski do.
 | frenuent experience that when