The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-10-08
In New York
BY PAUL HARRISON

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 New York odds and ends: The ..gimme,, gentry of Gotham have thought up some heart-wrack ing tricks to keep them in coin this winter. With police showing litle tolerance for ordinary pam handling, the most successful bee'- gers will be the sidewalk traged- fans who win voluntary donations. { For example. there's q certain youth who fishes for coins whicf. people have los tthrough subway grattngs- along the streets. Many down n-and-outers practice the same occupation, but they make very little money because there al q very few lost coins to fish for. This young man carries his own coin ,-- lead quarter - and re- trieves it several times each dcy Since New Workers are con- firmed gawkers, small crowds ale ways gather to watch with intense concentration the efforts of these grating anglers, who for tackle use string with a weight on one end, and a bit of tar or gum on the bottom of that. The trick is to lower the. weight exactly over the object to be picked up. then drop it short distance so that the sticky substance will adhere. When this is done, after many herve-trying attempts. there's the breathless minute of pulling the contraption a height of some six feet and wondering whether the prize will stick until it's drawn through the grating.
 The lad with the lead quarter makes a great show of anxiety as he works to recover 1t. Spectators. sensing how much 25 cents would mean to such . ragged youngster. excitedly offer suggestions. As he finally grasps it, his grin of tri- umph fades to a look of despair. "Oh. golly!" he. says with g half sob. 'Tt's just a phoney." On- lockers pitch him nickels and dimes for solace. A few minutes later, and few blocks away, he'll be staging his act again.
 He Had a Book
 On one of the tours of the Marx Brothers, Harpo took a copy of Lady Chatterly's Lover" and read little each night in his hotel rooms. It was during sieeper-jump, after the bawdy novel had reached the sizzling point, that MT Marx decided to finish it. He can't sleep on trains anyway. Fumbling in his bag, he brought forth a book and to his amazement discovered that he had packed Gideon Bible and 1efS Lady Chatterly'' at the bedside of his last hotel room.
 Something of the same sort of ahnrlr x,0tyrk howa haav naA by a young lady who dared walk alone. late at night, the several blocks between friends house and her apartment. Almost im- mediately she became aware that a man was following her. She'd cross street: he'd cross behind her. She'd quicken her pace; he'd almsot break into a run. She couldn't find policeman, a taxi or even another pedestrian, and her terror mounted.
 Finally the pursuer. not quite so tough h-looking as she had imag- ined cought up: with her. Take this," he growled and thrust bit of paper into her hand. Almost hysterica1, she soon panted into her apartment house. and safety, nervously unfolded the paper and read three printed words; Jesus First French Lesson
 There's pleasantly daft author named Martin Green who exercises a curious influence over certain people by Jabbering in tongue faintly like French. Entering a night club. he'll point to a choice ringside table and loose an excited torrent of strange words at the head waiter. The latter, sensing the futility of trying to argue, us- ually gives in. The same thing hap pens at theater box offices. Rather than risk really heated outburst from this queer foreigner. ticket men sell him the. choicest seats.
 MT Green always says the same thing to all these people. He says, This is the house of my grand mother. It was the house of her father also. Look at the flowers growing arouhA it. Do you not think 1t a pretty. house?" Deiiv- cred with rapidity and expression. and with atrocious mispronouncia- ton the old French primer sen- tences might mean almost any thing. - . : -