The Lexington advertiser., 1945-05-31
So This Is New York
BY Nerth caiiahan

BY North Collahan
Moses Myares whose name has
appeared in this column before Il
happier now. He IS the Filipino boy
who was living here at the time Of
Pearl Harbor and whose mother was
IN Manila at the time. Up until a
few days ago, Moses did not know
what had become Of his mother. He
couldn't even get word as to wheth-
er she was alive or dead, much less
regarding her status as a
prisoner of the Japs. Such uncer-
tainty was bitter for Moses almost
worse than If he had known the
worst, he said. Customers, including
myself, in the restaurant where he
works, came to think Of Moses a
being always sad-faced--that is un-
til the other day. For word came
that his mother was safe in north
ern Luzon-and a glad light came
to the face of Moses, probably some
thing like that which came to his
famous namesake when he had
brought the Children Of Israel to the
edge OF the wilderness. The modern
Moses is going back to Manila to
meet his mother. He already has his
steamship ticket. I'd sort of like to
be there when he sees her again.
Around that mythical place known
as Tin Pan Alley, there is consider
able talk nowadays about Johnny
Mercer. He wrote the words to
"Accentuate the Positive" after q
visit to his fortune teller who Il said
to have spoken these eloquent words
to him and thereby given the idea
for q hit song. Now Johnny has
come out with another ''smash" a
the song boys call 1.-THE words fol
Candy, that catchy tune which
has really caught on Besides Al.
all this, Johnny Is = business partne,
In one Of the largest recording com,
panies In the country, and not lon(
ago was q featured singer In q popu.
lar network radio program advertis.
ing cigarettes. A slow-moving South
erner, Johnny Mercer seems to hav,
arrived nonetheless.
IT'S Z good thing that people cal
retain their sense Of humor, especi
ally in times like these. Over 1t Stl
Avenue and 5lst Street d a good ex
ample Of this. Not q new idea bu
always good for q laugh. At thi
corner, q building has been tor1
down and on q rather wide surface
excavating Is taking place right nea,
the sidewalk. A fence has been bull
around the place but two wide slit
have been left in the boarding, one
through which adults can see, the
other for children. Above the first i.
neatly lettered sign, For Sidewalk
Superintendent. Above the latter
For Young Sidewalk Superintend.
ents".
Up at New York Hospital the usu.
al commotion was going on. Along
the modern corridors Of the sump-
tuous sixth floor went a procession
Of yelling, bowling babies neatly
and individually encased in their
respective cloth carts en- route to q
square meal after experiencing
something more triangular. White
dressed nurses moved precisely a.
longside while dignified doctors
looked tolerantly up from their Of
fices as the audible procession went
by. Then into this miniature bedlam
was injected q strange note Of sur
prised laughter which came from
the elevator that was unloading on
this floor. Out came young nurses
and internes in nervous glee. They
were discussing a minor phenomen-
on which had just happened. A
nurse had been brushing her teeth,
got to coughing and somehow swal-
lowed the tooth brush and had to
have an emergency operation to re-
cover the bristled mouth tool.
Over at the Roosevelt Hotel, I
met DR.. Thomas Parran, surgeon
general Of the U. S. Public Health
Service. He is a neat-looking man
with a clipped mustache and on this
day was wearing the uniform of an
admiral In the Navy, to which I un-
derstand his position entities him.
Upon being introduced to an expect
ant father who glibly volunteered
that he felt "quite calm under the
circumstances, DIR. Parran replied,
"It's rarely fatal in the case Of faith
ers." Also present was the niece of
DR.. Parran, Miss Mary Mackall, who
is attending Columbia University
School of Journalism. She said she
couldn't understand why so many
men advised her to get
into something else--but maybe
someday she will see what they
mean. Ginny Sims was there and
pretty too. especially enjoyed talk
ing to Jim Ameche, brother of Don,
and who looks and talks lot like |