The Washington times., 1936-07-11
THE VOICE OF
Broadway
-ByLOuiS SObOl-
Broadway Folks!

fLuL1yOu has OCCdSlOudIly u4COL'
porated him in his short stories,
Mr.. Will Corum has often
stopped to discuss the weather
and the current political situation
with him. Mr.. Levin served over
seas in the Great Duel. He was bat
tered about by the Germans
bayoneted, bulleted and generally
Scuffed about as a brave Amer
lean soldier, unafeared and dar-
ing should be. Joey'S reward
came to him recently in the
form of $1,400 in bonus bonds.
AT last, shall I never have an
other bad day. I ms de the
Heinies pay for what I suffered
in the war;" said joey.
Mr.. Levin took that $1,40O
and wawered it all against
$500 that Joe Louis would
knock the Stuffings out of Max
Schmeing. Mr.. Levin'S wager
was made with a German gen.
tleman. Schmeling, the Ger
man, battered Louis, the Sc
plan, all over the ring. Can
you beat that" walls Levin,
''first the Heinies puncture me
with q bayOnet, then along
comes another Heinie and
makes me lose my money"
LEO LINDY is the unofficial
mayor of Broadway between 51st
and SD SITS. The area of ten
square feet in front of his reStau-
rant has uSurped the spot once
held by the wider terrain in front
of the Palace Theater when the
Keith house was the Big Time
vaudeville center. Now, what is left
of Broadway foregatherS shortly
after twilight in front Of Lindy'S
and matches fancy weskitS, radio
salaries, vaude bookings and bids
from the movies. Mayor Indy has
no objection to this. Arguments
stimulate the appetite. Sooner or
later, he knows these sidewalk de-
baters will file into his restaurant
and eat his food.
The other evening, the gather
ing was larger than usual. Song
writer's, actors, music publishers,
radio comics, even a newspaper
man or two were huddled about a
person, hiding him from the curl
GUS eyes of Mr.. Indy. The amiable
host smiled-it meant business
would be unusually fine this eve
ming. He would wait until the de-
bate was overland then make
room for the hungry prospects.
Suddenly the man around whom
they were gathered started to
move-and with him, went the
score or more Broadwayites.
The man they followed was
Arnold Reuben, Lindy's closest
rival-fOIlOwed him to Reuben'S
Restaurant, many blocks away
to the east.
Reminds me of the children
who followed the Pied Piper; re-
member, LeO?" said a newspaper
man.
YEAH remember; it wasn't
only Children IOtta mice fol-
lowed, too"
BILL HARDY operates a color
full bistro known as the Gay Nine
ties, You will see some OF the
prettiest girls in town at his place,
and prettiest is Bills own bride,
who was once Evelyn Groves, OF
the Ziegfeld FollieS. Bill, who IS
one of Mark Hellinger'S closest
friends, became this reporters al
most as close friend, when some
years ago, in an ill-adviSed mo-
ment, we wrote that Miss Groves
was going across to marry some
body whose name we forget just
now, but who had lot Of money.
Bill Hardy was quite upset about
that and wired a rebuke to Miss
Groves, who ignored the wire and
instead went right ahead and got
married-to Bill Hardy. It was
the beginning of beautiful friend
ship between Bill and myself, be-
cause he had the laSt-and if you
know the former Miss Groves, the
best laff.
The quaintness of Mr.. Hardy's
famous jernt lies in the collection
Of ancient prints cluttering up the
walls. Old play-bills, posters OF
long-forgotten mellerS, coverpageS
from aged Police Gazetts. print Of
fighters who were champs when
the late Jim Corbett was a
squalling baby. Mr.. Hardy Is a
sucker for anything old-the
youngest of his entertainers is in
the forties-he prefers them in the
seventies, like good old Joe How
ard, for instance. AS a result, you
have none of this new-fangled,
uh-uh, woof-woof, swing entertain
ment. Everything is solid and
mellow and fifteen for man or
child.
II always wanted to have a
family tree" explains Bill. "But
/ didn't come from that kind Of
a family. So Pm collecting my
own. AS soon as you get to be
so, I'll hang your mugg along
with my old prints" Thought
full gestures like these keep our
friendship blooming.
Montagu Norman