The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-10-13

s''--E1 = For a short
time the gendarmerie strictly en-
forced the order. Violators Of the
decree received piddling penalties
when apprehended in the midst
of a calliope cantata and return
ed to the scene of the crime as
soon a sthey left the court.
But, as in many another in
stance, the laws vigilance has re-
Taxed. The code which banished
them fell into limbo and the VEN
doris of tinny and brassy riot have
resumed their orchestral obligatos,
accompanied by the antics of
trained monkeys and the rattle of
tin cups.
Now the policeman on the beat
doesn't even bother to look at his
handbook of ordinances when he
spies them.
Significant, however, is the cur
rent absence of the once-ubiqui-
tous German band, which, having
sensed a feeling in Manhattan, Is
remaining aloof from busy corners
and backyards.
Just before Grover Whalen
opened the Worlds Fair in Flush
ing Meadows, Mayor LaGuardia
sought to improve New York for
visitors by banishing sandwichmen
from busy thoroughfares. The ped
estrian advertisements long have
been part and parcel OF the city's
traditions. The picturesque sand
wichmen, browsing on their plod-
ding feet, lent note Of color and
calm to the hurly-burly.
The mayoral fiat put hundreds OF
those strolling somnambulists out
of work. They, too, have been re-
stored to favor since the recent
days of summer. The statutes still
decree them as liable for misde-
meanor, but even when Father
Knickerbocker looks sternly at his
various wards, a native son can
detect sly wink somewhere in
his reprimanding gaze.
HORsE-AND-BUGGY
WRITING MEN
A few literary stalwarts still
cling to the old-fashioned method
of composition = writing in long
hand and stunning that new
tangled device the typewriter.
Thought does not come consecu-
lively to them when huddled over
the keyboard of writing ma
chine. They require the strenuous
exercise of wrist, thumb and FORE
finger to form their simplest SEN.
fences. s
Nowhere is this resistance to the
Typewriter age stranger than in
several newspaper city rooms.
Brooks Atkinson, the dramatic
critic, writes persistently in long
hand and is one Of the swiftest
penmen in the. vicinity. Toiling
against a close-cropped deadline.
his pencil finger flies over the
blank copy paper. Once ne beat
this courier, who was going fairly
fluently at the typewriter, by
more than a half hour. His wrist
is muscular.
ANOTHER PEN AND
PENCIL PUSHER
Another longhand devotee is the
editorialist, Harry Pollard, who
composes all his phillipics, haran-
CUES and crusades with pencil and
pen. He has been doing so most
of his life. =
George Jean Nathan writes with
a quill pen amidst his mountain
GUS pile of newspapers, books and
magazines. n. L. Mencken is an
other who has not discovered the
typewriter.
Naturally, these diehard writer's
must be on friendly terms with
typesetters who can decipher their
Manuscript. The man in the COM
posing room must often be a
handwriting expert.
The venerable Daniel Frohman
likes to tell of how he chung to
his post at the old New York Tri-
bune during the reign Of Horace
Greeley. The tempter Of young
men toward the west had an un-
decipherable hand which Froh-
man, a shrewd cub, quickly mas
tered. He was the sole slave IN
the office who could decode the
boss's penmanship. He chung to his
job for years just on that account
LAW SAYS YOU
CAN'T WIN
It seems that the law is stern
regardless of the culprit's intent
For several months, debunkers
have been displaying crooked
gambling devices on Broadway. In
their exhibit were phoney roulette
tables, birdcages and other gaming
implements and they demonstrat.
ed how the gullible are duped ano
fieeced by them. II seems 1t Is II.
legal to display such equipment
around here for gambling or anti
gambling purposes.
fieeced by them. 1t aseems 1t Il
illegal to display gambling OF
anti-gambling pursuch equipment
around here for poses.