Star-dust in Hollywood (1930)

Los tAngeks — %eligions the work that gives exercise to the body, they hold as derogatory and delegate to the unlettered emigrant or the negro. Hence, perhaps, comes the tremendous forward stride, the pre-eminence of the Jew in America and the consequent jealous dislike of him. For the Jew is both intelligent and hard-working ; he seizes upon all the American's ingenious labour-saving devices, and then works like a horse as well. . . . This however is a provocative digression. The strange thing to us was that Los Angeles did not lie deep-bedded in flowers. Here and there some amateur horticulturist had spread a wealth of purple blossom over his roof; here and there great hedges of scarlet geranium delighted the eye, but, for the most part, green lawns with sprinklers and a few date or fern-palms and yucca-plants were considered ornament enough ; pushing a lawn-mower once a week and turning on the automatic sprinkler fully satisfied the owner's gardening instincts. Our own court had a gardener to perform these necessary duties, but he cost little, for, being lodged in an empty bungalow and acting as caretaker of the other court, he worked off his indebtedness. He was in some ways a queer character. Sandy-haired, with white eyelashes and globular blue eyes, he was a passionate follower of the revivalist Aimee McPherson, a Foursquare Gospeller, and in the most curious way used to combine Biblical language and American slang in his discourse. " Yes, Mrs Gordon, " he would say to Jo ; " I tell you that the wickedness of this here city mounteth up an offence to the Lord of Hosts, and one day He'll soak it good and proper. Look what He did at San Francisco, eh ? And I tell them that the day cometh when He will appear with fire and brimstone, yea, and the earth shall quake and the mountains tremble; an' will you believe me they thinks I'm talking bunk ! And I say that the evil this city doeth stinketh in [249]