The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-11-22
In New York
nv PAUL HARRISON

New York.--Here I've been pok- ;ro around Manhattan for years Tn search of interesting restaurants, and never until the other day had visited. or even heard about, the La Fayette. It's place where, II YOU want to sit at certain tapies, YOU first have to check your watcn with the cashier. At a glance, there's nothing about the establishment h seems unusual. It's trim ana bright, and mostly patronlzed by people who work along the east ern edge of the financial section' But strange things happen at the four tables along one of the walls Tableware jumps about in an un- cannv manner. Lay down a knife and it whirls around With the blade pointing due south. Pick mp | a fork, and you may find a spoon dangling from it. Look at your watch-if you've .disregarded the proprietor's warning and havcht checked it-and you'll find it has stopped.
 The answer, of course, is nl:--:g- netism. Next door, on the south, IS an electric power substatfon, and the main cable carrying 23 00c volts runs right next to the marie wall. This creates a magnetic feli which includes only four tables in | the restaurant. At first, when pa- irons complained that their watch es had to be demagnetized by jew | elers, the restaurant complained to | the power company. The latter complained to it's engineers. who l tried for years to insulate the | freakish force. They failed, but by that time the restaurant was grate. full for the phenomenon; Wall Streeters actually were reserving 1 the tables in advance so they could bedevil unwary friends at lunch con.
 The magnetic pull is even stronger in the La Fayette's kitch- | en, and the chefs had a pretty hard time of it until they threw out all their iron pots and pans and
 bought aluminium ones. They 1 scarcely could pry the skillets off l the stoves, or pull the biscuit pans | out of the ovens. Dishwashers still l curse the cutlery, all of which IS highly magnetized and sticks to- l gether. Butcher knives and cleav- | CTS have to be handled very care l fully because when a cook takes a whack at shoulder of beef his 1 aim is likely to be diverted several
 inches to the south.
 1 old Clothes Mart
 l. From the restaurant on lower Pearl street. I wandered through | the east sides ghetto, up to Chath- I am Square and Chinatown, and l emerged on the northern edge to find myself in the worlds largest old clothes market. A solid block | on Elizabeth street, south of Can l al. is devoted to the buying, selling l and baling of Gotham's cast-or | garments.
 To this center. every day, como | the city's ol'-clo'es men. Bearded | patriarchs. many of them. bowed | under loads of coats and suits and 1 cioaks, but eager for the barter.ng. 1 From group to group along the l crowded sidewalks-and even in the middle of the street they move with their shabby wares. How moch dees overcoat?-fron | a gentleman I bot it'' Look l Two pairs pents. All wool and worn only a little in the seat may
 be- "You wunt a lady's coat. yes? A dollah! Oiy! Look at ia goots-feel da goots-look at ia
 fur! From KapIan I can get tree 1 dollah at least, easy.
 To this market, also, come the | city's down-and-o -outers, and the very poor, who are anxious to re- plenish their winter wardrobes. A few coins go a long way--over- coats run from a quarter to cou- pie of dollars: suits and dresses average about one dollar. Coats are
 tried on in the street. trousers measure. Any approximation is, as the or-clo'es men assure their pa
 irons, poifect fit.
 Big Export Trade
 The combination warehouses and shops which line the block ac-
 cumulate tremendous piles of cloth- ing. ceiling high. Relatively few ar- ticles are good enough to be sold te uptown secondhand shops.
 Most of the stuff is baied and shipped abroad. Two of Eliza beth streets dowdy merchants send more than a million dollars worth
 each year. Export trade has been excellent since the war because, as
 one man told me, Ripple all ofer
 Europe iss wearing clos till dey
 drop off actually"
 It's true that South African na-
 tives like silk hats. A lot or old
 ones are shipped there. along with derbies and various kinds of uni- form caps. Some coats, too. and shoes. But not many trousers.
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