| Show BROADWAY BROADW Y AND MAIN STREET fA Handsome Is Is Handsome Does Case of Mind Over Mattress By BILLY ROSE At a spaghetti salon I got to talking with a reformed bootlegger bootlegger bootlegger boot boot- legger who is currently the Mister Big of a big whiskey company What do you hear from rom the mob I asked Anything that would fill lill up three sheets of copy paper The former Man of Extinction thought a minute Theres one story I dont don't remember seeing in print he said Its about an old man named who ran a candy store on the East Side around the time Dutch Schultz was buying his first delivery trucks L LL L une One as the uie we storekeeper S was about to lock up a hoodlum stepped into the shop and pressed a agun agun r- r gun against the theold theold theold old mans man's mid mid- dle die Hide me somewhere he said Bald The old man knew mew better than to argue with a revolver chasing you Billy Rose Hose he asked as he opened th the trap door which led to the cellar Some fellas from Jersey When they got to the basement pointed to a couple of old mattresses near the coal eoal bin bun Lay down he said and Ill I'll make a sandwich A minute later the storekeeper had rolled man and mattresses into a bundle and tied it up with a piece of old clothesline AS HE STARTED back up to the store a couple of men guns in hand came down the stairs What cha doin in the cellar asked one Bankin the furnace said theold the theold theold old man The gents from J Jersey poked around in the trash barrels examined examined examined ex ex- the coal bin and then came cameto cameto cameto to the up rolled-up mattresses Ill throw a is bullet into them for luck said one of 0 them You 1011 been seem too many movies said the other Lets Left ll try the roof roo The mobsters went upstairs and andRonowitz andRonowitz andRonowitz heard the door bang He banked the fire and waited in his store until he saw the men climb into a car and drive off Then he went back down and untied the mattresses You done fine Pop said the fugitive taking a wad of bills out of his pocket Tell me when to stop countin Such money I 1 dont don't take lake said the old manY manYa manYa man Ya Y is kin have anything ya 4 want said the gangster Make Maks Maksis a is wish Better yet make three wishes like in them fairy stor stor- ies Well said the storekeeper I hear in a couple weeks some guy from the West Side is opening a candy store on the next block He aint gonna open said the hoodlum Keep The man who sells me my chocolate syrup all of a sudden he wants a 15 per cent mark Ill discuss it with him Chances are rp you'll Pot gat t a reduction One 01 0 more wish to go this go-this this time make it good all I can think of said excepting maybe you'd like to tell me how it felt when you was in the mattress THE GANGSTERS GANGSTER'S lips tight tight- ened Youre makin fun of me Pop he said and I dont don't like it I wanted to pay ya off oU nice and proper but since ya dont don't want it that way maybe I better try some- some thin else Ten minutes later as per phone instructions from the hoodlum a a black car drove up and was pushed into the back seat The car headed north and kept going until it parked near a wooden woodenbridge woodenbridge woodenbridge bridge somewhere in Westchester The driver took some chains from the luggage compartment put puta a heavy piece of ot scrap iron on the theold theold theold old mans man's middle and then lashed his legs to his chest so the metal was wedged in between Throw him over when I count three said the hoodlum One One Two Two The Th old man braced himself and wondered who would mind the store the next day Suddenly the gangster grinned He walked over and began to undo the chains Now you got your answer Pop he said how I felt w when en enI I was in the mattress |
