Evening star., 1945-06-19
After Dark
News and Comment of the Night Clubs
Trade Marx Registered q. once

It happened. Within a few feet
of each other in the Embassy Room,
the other evening, sat Gen. Elliot
Roosevelt and Westbrook Pegler.
Naturally. Mr.. Peglar and Gen.
Roosevelt weren't the only people
in the room. It was crowded as
usual, so crowded that neither the
general of Mr. Pegler knew the
other had chosen the same night
and the same room for their night
clubbing. First person to discover
the fact was waiter who had been
assigned to both tables.
II just finished serving a friend
of yours" he said to MIR. Pegler.
Really, who was it," the news
man inquired? 1
Brig. Gen. Roosevelt" the waiter
answered, "he's sitting over in that
corner"
Did he ask for me-" Mr.. Pegler
wanted to know.
Chances are if you were to ask
any sailor or soldier his favorite
night spot in Washington, he would
answer, there's no place like the
Palm Room" On just such a rec
ommendation the Spectator figured
there was nothing to do but 60
over and have look at this Palm
Room.
Arriving at s1S 10th street NV,
We climbed three flights of stairs,
turned twice to the right and there
it was, sweet music, cool breezes
created by whirling giant-sized fans,
palm trees and all. A mammoth
crystal-coated ball in the center of
the room revolved slowly casting
myriad of little colored lights on
the faces of the boys in khaki and
Navy whites. In between the whirl-
ing dancers the rainbow colors
spilled over one of the largest and
finest dance floors we had seen.
A sailor near us murmured softly,
"Jive"
And then we noticed the sailor
wasn't the only one caught up in
the surglng, gliding, room of happy
young people. Everybody seemed to
be dancing, 500, maybe 800. Some
times on Saturday night soldier
standing near the door told us, there
might even be 1000.
"It's is the finest floor in town."
he said. In fact, it's the best I've
seen anywhere in any city"
And still they danced. The Palm
Rooms brilliant red and blue drap-
cries literally rocked with a musi-
cal din, an impudent brassy noise.
Jitterbugging we would have called
it. But to the KIDS who bounced and
glided, tWirled, dipped and spun
their partners like a taffy machine
at Coney Island it was being solid"
All the while the band tquite often
one with big name musicians) beat
out a hot version of Candy" One ),
two, three, jive it boys, swing it SOL
dier. Get in the groove. And that's
exactly what they did.
No wonder the boys in uniform
liked this place. When the music
halt to give every one breathing time,
there are soft drinks at the bar
none over 10 cents. Upstairs on the
balcony overlooking the great cir
cular dance floor are cozy tables for
two and snack bar.
Why haven't we heard about this
Palm Room before, you ask? Espe-
cially when it's been operating full
blast for two and a half years?I
Maybe, it's because you're not a
young man in kakhi or a kid in navy
whites. You see, the Palm Room is
their place. In fact, originally it
was the idea of the Rev. Thomas B.
Dade who launched his project by
enlisting the aid of the National
Catholic Community Service. The
NCCS then took over the gymnasium
in the Knights of Columbus Building