The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1934-03-21
III
New York
BY PAUL HARRISON

New York-To most New York
ers Harlem is less q locality than
state of mind - Kaleidoscope OF
shadowy glamor and primitive rhy-
thms, Of hi-de-ho and cafe-au-lait
chorus girls. of good fried chicken
and bad corn whiskey. And some
thing to be avoided after 3 o'clock
in the morning.
Visitors expect to find vast
cauldron of Nubian hilarity. with
the entire populace tap-dancing on
the street corners and adding few
choral frills to the song called
That's Why Darkies Were Born"
But Harlem isn't much like that.
Outwardly its existence is "dry
long so" peculiar expression
which means ordinary or unevent-
full. A fellow might say, for exam
pie, I'VE was jest settin' there, dry
long so, when in come all them big
po-leeceman Anyway, that's
how it is in Harlem-placid on the
surface. The cuttings and shoot
ings, the gambling and dope dip
ping, the voo-doo and vice, are Sc
crets Of the bleak tenements and
seldom amount to more than a
| brisk notation on the books of the
district station or charity hospital.
New York newspapers don't even
attempt to carry list of the pre-
vious evenings events.
The Color That Is HarIem's
Few Harlemites could tell you
exactly where Harlem lies. Old re-
cords show it's lower boundary to
be from Seventy-Fourth street and
the East River diagonally across
Manhattan to the Hudson River at
One Hundred and Twenty Ninth
street. Occasionally this fact caused
polite embarrassment to wealthy
white folks who unsuspectingly
have moved above the line.
To all intents and purposes.
though, Harlem begins at One
Hundred and Tenth street, but it
isn't all black, even there. Little
Italy on the far eastern edge, is as
Italian as Naples or Messina. Then
there's Little Russia, and a teeming
Spanish quarter. On the edge Of
the latter live the foreign born Ne
groes, mostly West Indians. And
all the remainder of the district,
north and west, is the world met
ropolis of the black race.
by day Harlem sprawls in a vast
maze of big tenements and tawdry
little shops. Over the sidewalks be-
fore the scores of night clubs
bright canvas canopies look wierd-
ly incongruous in the drab scene.
Pushcarts piled with everything
from yams to secondhand shoes
ply through the side streets. Coal
oil and charcoal, Of light and heat
are sold by cellar merchants, Now
and then you see woman walking
with a bundle of lockwood or wash
ing balanced on her head. Baby
carriages, some remodeled from
coaster wagons, impede sidewalk
traffic. Older children are every.
where, many of them latch string
Kids put out on the streets for the
the day when their mothers go to
work. They've learned not to cry.
PawnshOps, secondhand stores,
fish markets, pharmacists. "SaIe OF
KcSOnditiOned CIOthes,". Hog
Nav, 10 cents. Madame Quin.
ines Beauty ParlOr, Skin Lighten-
ing, Hair Strengthening Guaran-
fced". "Herbs Compounded for All
Troubles" '"Tcmplc of Truth. Come
In and See the Helpful Prophet.
Hog Shouts and Pig Tails''. "Doc-
tor Mortinus Mortcr, M. ID. - All
Ailments Cured on Credit"
q
Where the "Blucs" Begin
Evening softens the dreary
scene. Lights cheer the tenements
and theater marques are bright.
Loungers in pearl gray and bright
blue suits take up their stations be-
fore the restaurants and pool halls.
They cheer saffron lass in bright
red costume. even to her shoes. She
smiles back. Laughing couples
stroll on Seventh and Lenox ave-
nues. Music comes from a thou
| sand open windows. Outwardly
Harlem seems an Eden compared
to the utter squalor of New York's
lower East Side, yet 1t actually is
the hungriest. unhealthiest and
most depression-rid section of
the city. 1t keeps Its face washed
and its stomach empty.
Hasn't forgotten how to laugh,
though. No, sub! Laugh and dance
and buy a shorty (half pint)' of
corn whiskey, and turn over its re-
naming pennies to the racketeers