Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1934-02-08
Lights Of NewXork
BY [. L. STEVENSON

~-~S NV~AeAS ANO6tSkCA oAOW0 why ~
many marble mansions are shattered
and tenanted only by caretakers or
left to their own loneliness while so
many swanky and costly apartments
remain closed at a season when ordi
narily. gayety reigns at its height and
debs and dowagers are kept busy trot-
ting about the town attending affairs
OF various kinds. It seems that this
season more society families than ever
before have decided to make their
country places their winter as we'll
as their summer homes. In other
words. It's smart to stay In the coun
try. Even the opening Of the Metro
politan opera season. which sets new
record for lateness In getting under
way, has failed to lure back many Of
the smart set. Thus evenings in those
upper East side streets are far more
quiet than they have been in many a
year. u.
One Of the homes that has not been
opened Is a rather grim brick house at
Fifth avenue and Sixty-frst street.
1t Is the home OF Mr.. and Mrs. NJ.
Hartley Dodge, Mrs. Dodge being the
niece Of John D. Rockefeller. The
reason the house IL not open is that
the Dodges spend most Of their time
on their huge farm near Madison, N. ].
The Duke mansion at East Seventy
eighth street, is tenantless most of the
time except for servants and guards.
the family spending the greater part
Of the time at Duke farms near Som.
erville. N. J. Then a stones throw
away. at 972 Fifth avenue. is a silent
white mansion. That's the home Of
Mrs. Payne whitney. But she's sell
dom there. Usually, she's at Green.
tree, her estate at Manhasset.
The home of Mrs. Mary Duke Biddle
at 1909, Fifth avenue. is also a town
house practically tenantless. Mrs. Bid
die. prefers the mansion at Irvington-
on-the-Hudson, high up on a hill over
looking great sweep Of open country.
There are more, many more. And
those silent town houses don't do those
who profted by the entertainments of
old any good at all.
Millions Of dollars were spent by
the late ]. B. Duke on his New Jersey
estate. The ample grounds are trav-
ersed by 35 miles of paved roads. In
the past, the grounds were open to the
public. But the public was unappre-
ciative. Shrubbery was broken and
rubbish left behind. So now the pub
+. lie is barred.
~ Speaking of rubbish, wonder what
1would happen II other magistrates fol
low an example set recently by Magis-
trate Johan Fl. GoIdstein. Three cul
prlts who appeared before him plead
ed guilty to throwing rubbish on the
sidewalk. They didn't have the 81
fine, so the magistrate set them to
work sweeping in front of their homes
for an hour with police inspector to
see that there was no loafing on the
Job. The offenders live down on the
lower East side where among many
it is the custom to wrap garbage in a
paper bag and drop it out of window
In some higher rental sections, tenants
drop refuse down into courtyards.
Learned something else-this has
absolutely no connection with the pre-
ceding paragraph-from the Social
Register. Among those listed therein
were 910 marriages last year, while
the year before, there. were 1.044. Five
hundred and fifty nine deaths were re-
corded.
Dave Chaser is certainly a durable
stooge. At every performance oil
"Hold Your Horses" now on tour. six
husky stage hands had to be on the
alert to keep him from being killed
In the course of the performance, Joe
Cook tells Chaser to drop down to the
corner and get him a cigar. Chaser
instantaneously disappears through a
trap door. Various devices were used
to break the force Of his fall. But
only human arms proved reliable. And
at that, Chasen took a lot of bruises
on the road with him.