OCR Text |
Show liii This Is New York The glint of superiority in the eyes of the boys who shine shoes via electricity, elec-tricity, when one of the old-fashioned shoe shiners passes their shops . . . The lacy title of a shoe store on 57th St., "Clinique des Pieds Sen-sibles" Sen-sibles" . . . The antiseptic look of the town around six ayem, after the long evening has cleansed the city's face . . . Men trying to clutch onto their summer sun-tans via barber shop sunlamps. A bitter winter war between the machines and nature. Sweet poppas Esquiring baby-stare baby-stare blonds to the silk and satin spots. But they never bathe In Joy like the young couples In the two-bit two-bit ice cream parlors . . . The dexterity dex-terity of those who sit in shop windows win-dows and build cigars all day. The swift, sure weavings of their fingers show the artistry of these minor league Rembrandts. The plushy conditions the Rock-ettes Rock-ettes have. Swanky dressing rooms, and the best in equipment for relaxation. relax-ation. They're the only chorines In town treated like the stars they are . . . The ear-serenade of the town in the middle of the night, about 4 ayem, when the city settles down to a whisper. rreuy gai Darners urging you io see the wonders of New York by bus. But their empty stares tell you they don't think there's anythisg wonderful wonder-ful about New York . . . The glare of Broadway light blotting out a superior sight: A blue-robed sky stitched with sparkling stars. The first nights beautifully drowned In sables, silks and stuffed shirts. Only the detached drama critics not getting drunk on the satiny sat-iny atmosphere and Just being themselves them-selves . . . The people roller-skating at the Radio City rink wearing swanky costumes, and the kids scooting along the various side streets wearing their joy like a flag unfurled. The sadness rampant along the waterfronts. Filled with sparkling scenery and ragged knick-knacks that used to call themselves human beings . . , The lady who brings a camp chair to 47th and Broadway and sits there enjoying the elec-tricks. elec-tricks. She gets everything the cinema cine-ma could give except Bingo. The gigantic loneliness of the massive mas-sive empty Yankee Stadium . . . The rains sweeping people off the Main Stem, giving It a chance to breathe. And a chance to show its preny race tnat numans clutter up . . . The description of a woman that fits most of those" who cover night club chairs: "Vogue on the outside and vague on the inside" . . . The snooty eateries with their jeweled jew-eled atmosphere; where everything Is the best, except the people. Private Papers of A Cub Reporter Alexander Woollcott's lesson In journalism: It is related of Lawrence Law-rence Barrett, a once eminent tragedian, tra-gedian, that sometimes in his cups he would grow tearful and lament that nightly it was his fate to carve a statue in the snow. On this solemn sol-emn plaint Brander Matthews made the stinging comment that that artist's art-ist's fame was the more secure who left no work lying around to be coldly cold-ly appraised by a later generation. Newspaper work, like acting and singing, is perishable. That is the conventional thing to say about it. It is high time someone also said that, like acting and singing, it is therefore profoundly modest I count it a high honor to belong to a trade in which the good men write each piece, each paragraph, each sentence sen-tence as painstakingly and as lovingly lov-ingly as any Addison and do so in the full knowledge that by noon next day it will have been used to light a fire or saved, if at all, to line a shell Chinese humor will defeat the Japanese, Jap-anese, to hear Jimmy Young, the International Newspaperman, tell it . . . oung offers this as an example exam-ple . . . The Puppets were holding a big show in Shanghai, thousands attending. Japanese military officials offi-cials were present by the thousands, also. The Chinese DUDDet mayor, in a morning coat and striped trousers (a la Nippon) read off a Japanese-prepared Japanese-prepared congratulatory speech on the new order in Asia . . . The band struck up The Maine Stein Song as all stood at attention . . . The Japs, it appears, thought it was a patriotic tune . . . The Japanese general, commanding the Expeditionary Forces, read his scroll as all bowed in "reverence" to the conquerors . . . The Chinese band then really went to town and played "Listen to the Mocking Bird" . . . Four days later the Japs caught onto the slap and went looking for belittlers. Aint It the Truth! : Oscar Levant met Jimmy Petrillo, the musicians' ur,ion chief, on a train the other day . . . "It s a good thing you married a working girl," counseled the labor czar. "Never marry a rich girl she'll only want you for your piano-playing." Many night club owners are trying try-ing to persuade each other to close on Monday nights, and save a lot of expenses. That's the one night they all play to the waiters, except one or two spots. |