The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-08-07
In New York
BY PAUL HARRISON

New York.-Under gawdy maruuee, just step off Broadway, hot arc limps blazed on swelter-- ing crowd. Movie cameras whirred as their cyclopian eyes sought out celebrities and near-celebrides on their way into the night club. Po- ncemen, accustomed to sidewalk jams, looked on good-naturedly. Pretty soon several young wom- en alighted from taxis and entered | the place. Then a huge truck snorted up, and sheepish-looking huskies began unloading hundred DC und cakes of ice. Eighteen cakes were toted up the front stairs of the night club. Above the marquee was a large sign: ICE SITTING ING BEAUTIES-WORLD PRE-. MIER."
 | A Plot Discovered
 Upstairs the dance floor was oc- cupied by six large galvanized trays l in each of which had been stack ed three cakes of ice. The or- l chestra plays Heat Wave" and "I'm Sitting on Top of the World" and other appropriate tunes. The l customers fidgeted. Wraiths of vapor curled upward from the ice, | and an ambitious spiritualist probably could have found a cloud picture of P. T. Barnum in one of i them.
 At midnight a side door opened and six girls in bathing suits filed in. Everybody applauded, and few rowdies started making bets. l A master of ceremonies announced the rules, each contestant was to perch on a pillar of ice, and the one who sat longest would win. Il Touching a foot to the floor would
 bring disqualification The girls l hopped up on the blocks and the first ice-sitting contest was under way.
 It wasn't very spectacular. The sitters didn't even shiver. Most of them chewed gum and smiled
 mirthless, midnight smiles. Some
 slipped cocktails, but the judges
 put stop to that when 1t became
 apparent that a plot had been
 matched to ply the favorie with
 an unbalancing number of Mar
 tinis.
 An Icy Interview
 Since this was my first chance
 to interview genuine ice-sit-
 ter, sidled up to one of them. She didn't offer to slide over and
 there and regarded me frigdily..
 She did say, however, that her
 name was Gordon Babette. "Usta
 be Barbara Gordon" she con-
 fded. T kinda changed it
 around"
 I inquired whether she had any
 special aptitude for ice-sitting. She looked hurt. Honest, I ain't got
 nothin' on but this bathin' suit"
 I said no, I only meant to ask
 whetherc she liked cold weather, or
 perhaps had an Eskimo ancestor
 or cherished an ambition to climb : Mt. Everest. Miss Babette seemed puzzled. You tryn'n to get fresh!"
 This sounded like my cue to
 pick up my alpenstock and go . over to the next glacier, which was surmounted by a blonde in a blue bathing suit. But just then
 Miss Babette called me back. T
 see whatcha mean" she said,
 melting a little. T didn't quite getcha at first. I have gotta uncle
 that works in a cold storage plant.
 You can put that in your paper"
 At the Finish
 At 2:10 a. m., a brunette in yell
 low voluntarily slid off the ice-
 Said she was cold. The blonde in blue descended at 2:21. Ex- plained that her fella was waiting for her. At 2:36 lonely patron
 offered Miss Babette $5 if she would come and sit at his table | in a chair. She tobogganed to the
 floor. At 3:10 a. m. two other con- testants dismounted. They had ar-
 rived ar the conclusion that ices
 sitting was very silly pastime. 2 , So had most of the customers! , When left the place at SPA the walters were clearing off the ta- bles and the girl in red, Miss , Searle, was perched on her block of ice and examining a small, sil- verish- looking cup. A fat man with many gold, teeth was telling her that he intended to stage q : world d-champion ice-sitting contest : at Madison Square Garden-"It'll . be terrific" he was saying "Broadway'll eat it up."