Variety (Dec 1929)

Wednesday, December 18, 1929 TIMES SQUARE VARIETY 47 1-NIGHT All Kinds of Tables in All Kinds of Nite Clubs , at All Kmdp of Pripes Along Broadway—$2S to i$S per p^erflon—With and >Villi- out Food and Water Hospital Wired Iniriatea at the Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, D. C, will have this Ghristmas ush- ered In with sound pictures. TV^estern Electric Is making the Installation. . MR. BERNSTEIN SAYS HIS ART IS LOST AD MISS iO N F R Efi t A stupendous show with two mil- lion people on a stage pne mile long and half mile) wlde--^the Rialto—is given once yearly on Broadway- New Year's Eve. It's a one-night stand, that posts inilltons to produce. Nothing tops it for gayety, wildness pr extrava- gance. Admission, is, freel But the con- cessions—Main Stem theatres, night clubs and other places of mirth are more expensive than any other day in the year; The performance runs aoout eight hours at a stretch—no inter- mission. In that period it Is esU- mated $10,000,000 is spent for - amusement and other things. Qn this annual night of festivity. Broadway virtually leases Itself to suburbanites and Other, outrof- towners. They arrlvfe from hundreds of miles around—Joy-bent hordes from Jersey, Westchester, Queens, Richmond, Tuckahde, Phllly, Boston —any spot on the map within rea,d lly reachable radius. j The crowd becomes so g^ea,t bV midnight it autoniatically minuses (Continued on page 63) ELDERIFbROKER LANDS IN DANCEHALL MESS Arrested as about to leave his BUite • in the Hotel Colonial, 81st street tfnd Columbus avenue, Walter Espy, 56, broker with OrviS Broth- ers & Co., 60 Broadway, was held on a charge of felonious assault: Espy was arrested by I>etectives Maney and Kennedy, West 47th sfreet.statlon, on complaint of Gus-; tave Hahn, special officer at the Tioseland, 1658 Broadway,, dance hall. The broker is accused of hav- ing stabbed llahn with a pocket khife^ which necessitated three stitches in his left side-. . According to the story related by Hahn to the police, Saturday night while the dance place was crowded, Espy entered. Despite his age Espy Is known as a freduenter of Broad- way ball rooms. When, he entered Roseland, Hahn noticed Espy had been drinking and was becoming objectionable. Hahn reprimanded Espy and started to lead him out of the place. When Espy discovered .that he was being ejected lie began to. argue. Hahn continued to Jead Espy ■ toward the staircase When Espy is ieiUeged to have drawn the knife and plunged it into the spe- cial officer's left side. The officer collapsed.,. Several dancers rushed to his aid. During the excitertient Espy fled. Hahn was taken to Polyclinic hospital, where Ills wound was treated. The police were notified and after questioning employees and others at Roseland they learned Espy was employed in the broakerage house. Epy denied that he had done the stabbing. He admitted he had been at Roseland. Magistrate Vitale in West Side Court held him in $500 ball for. the grand jury.. SAM WEBER'S 10 DAYS FOR ANNOYING GIRL 'Tour ,Honor, I am Innocent of this charge; I have worked for the Pathe Filna Company for several yearis. I am a film Inspector," said Joseph Samuel Weber; Ijetter known, lie said; aS Sam Weber, when be- fore iMagistrate Albert Vitale In West Side Court on the charge of disorderly conduct. The :fllm mender was charged w;lth annoying a girl who was seat- ed In LoeW's 83d St. theatre. Weber was arrested on the complaint of Dir. Giovanni Stella, who lives In New Rochelle, N.- T. The Court sentenced Weber to jail for 10 days without an alterna- tive. Weber admitted on the wit*^ ness stand he had .been arrested for petty larceny some years ago In an- other city. He gave his address here as 174 West 81st street. Just before Welier was sentenced, his former wife appeared in court and testified to Weber's good char- acter. Weber Is divorced. He was stunned by the conviction and al- naost collapsed, . Dr.'s Daughter There The physician testified at length, explaining the actions of Weber. He asserted Weber aniioyed tlie young girl, who happened to be a patient of his.' The doctor testified his own daughter was along. He stated he warned Weber and threatened him with his fist. Weber quit his seat and the doc- tor followed him out to the foyer, he said. There he seized him by the scrufe of the neck, and denounced him. A policeman was sumnioned and Weber arrested. . The defendant told of visiting the theatre and stated he accidentally fell over the doctor's leg in his haste to get to his seat when others, ran down the aisle. He stiaited the doc- tor gave him several "dirty" looks, which he thought might have re- sulted because of . the accident. ACtOR BEATEN UP » . Jay Adier Was Escorting Eleanor Graham, When Trouble Started Chicago, Dec. 17. ' Stepia are being taken here to put the lid on the marijuana cigaret fad which is training new fans every day. Narcotic bureau estimates at least 50,000 addicts. Mexican cigaret habit is especial- ly strong among local musician."?, y^'ho claini the .weed gives them an extremely sensitive touch arid ear. Matthew Kearney, 25, 2719 Sedge- wick avehue, captain of bellhops at the Hotel Plymouth, 105 West 49th street, and Charles Weiss, 40, 251 West 97th street, were in West Side Court on charges of disorderly con- duct. After a hearing tliey were discharged. The two men were brought to court on complaint of Jay Adler, 126 West 16th street, who said he had ap- peared In "The Front Page.". Adler accused the two men of assaulting him in the lobby of the hotel Dec. He said his right eye had been blackened arid his face bruised. Adler had attended a party in the hotel' and started to leave with Eleanor Graham, 18 East 58th street. When the girl got to the lobby. Adler said, she suddenly decided not to go home. The actor was try- ing to persuade her when he said Kea;rney and Weiss struck him. Kearney and Weiss said Adler was abusing the girl. They went over to see what the trouble was and Adler began striking them with his cane. They said they acted in eelf defense. The Graham girl testi- fied that Adler and she had had a discussion but ,denied he was abusing her. * "Maybe you don't think I'm glad 1929'^ Is lading, kidi Am I glad? Am 1 blue? Or any other song title you know. I says t'eUwithl929. "When I read Wall street Is flirt ing y(ith the show biz, where's me? Are riiy years In fixing, no good? Nobody don't want .Ereemiein, eh? I'm the.bird that was the original fixer. And here It Is, the high and big spot of everything In the busi ness comes along iand I'm left flat on the lot. ■. "Bo, I made fixing, an art, but my art Is lost All the years I waited for somebody like Wall street to send for me, sayingr 'Freeniari, my lad, we want to cop and you're the fixer. We heard about you. Sic 'em, buddy.' - "Not a word, not a look. I have seen so many 00000000 of late I think I'm up against a row of port hides, arid they all cari^ thef sugar sign But none for .Freoinani I'm worse than a ciphen i "But these mugs will get taiigled up. They doii't. know how to work. Thejr'U' be coming around to see Freeman before long and then I'll give 'em the business. I can be had but I'm tough to get when they have to have me. Tou tell .;'em that, bo. "There ain't a racket I haven't slept with. Most of them I gave away because I had dough at the time. But I knows them all, kid Name any one. What's your racket? Plug Hats: *«If a couple of those plug hats from downtown had apiproached me properly, where do you think they would haye landed by now? Instead of just a film concern, I'd given 'em three arid thrown lii the East and North riverd. I can fix. "It's only a iEew months ago I sold the rights to make ice out of the tears In picture theatres. Just when the coin was to pass, they In- vented frlgldaire and I gets the boots again. I never seen a streak of breaks like lately. "Well, In 1930 we wHJ see. I am holding two or three tricks under my belt to start early with next year. If that wall Streiet criew don't send for me. I don't suppose you know anyone, who's neveir been on Wel- fare Island, do you? Tpu might tell anyone decent you do know about me as a fixer. I can . talk a guy''Into believing his dollar is two If he'll let me hold the dollar. Tou know my work, bo. Ain't It smooth? "One of my rackets after New Tear's Is to guarantee that a car can't break down. I guarantee It for a year or five for a dollar a year. If the guy's got rtiore thari five, I'll make It ten. Going to give 'em a pretty certificate artd everything's jake .with It. Just a Sap "If the car breaks down? Ain't you getting sappy? I guarantee It can't break down or I'll pay.- So If It breaks down I don't believe It. It's my word against theirs, and If they want to sue for $6 or $1 or $10 I'll get the lawyer for them and split with him. That's fixing some, ain't It? "I walked down to the Battery the other day and picked up $15. Saw a nice dressed man. and I says; point- ing to a fellow on a bench, 'Ain't it a pity? That fellow over there is going to commit suicide because he ain't got $15. Look at him, poor kid. I can't stop him.' . "The nice dressed man gave me $15 and says, 'Give It him, quick.' On .the Run It's Ike Gals Who Pay*el^ SAFEST SPOT A stick-up in. a speak in the upper 40's last week was as- suaged when proprietor took the word of the victims and dis- tributed $300 to balance claims of those taken. No questions asked, and some 7 thing new in the way of protect- ing speak habitues. L L MERCHANT SHOOTS CRAPS IN SPEAKEASY Sillsti Heiferman, furniture deal er, of 42 -Sylvan place. Valley Stream^ L.. L, appeared in West Side Court as complainant against Prank Schwartz, 41, auto dealer, of the Maryland Hotel. Schwartz was charged with striking the furniture dealer during a dice game in an al- leged speakeasy at 140 West 60th After Hefterman was able to make his way out of the speakeasy he complained to Patrolman Bob Enright of, the West 47th street station of t^e assault. Enrlght en- tered the place and arrested Schwartz.' The bluecoat niade a search of the speak" and fourid a. pint of liquor. He arrested George Carter on the Charge of possession. The booze; Carter and Schwartz were marched to the West 47th street station. Th.ey were bailed by a professional bondsman. Hefferman had to go to a pliysl clan to have his optics treated. In West Side Court, Hefferman told Magistrate Vitale of the beating and stated the Court Ought to mete out some form of punishment. Court suspended sentence on Schwartz. Hefferman is 6aid to have lost $80 In the dice game. One look at Bootlegger And Jury Said "GuSty'^ Automat "Offices" ^The^^ Tlmes^ sWafi enlisted a fepecial corps of bouncers to keep the floating promoters from using the restaurant as an unofficial headquarters. New order went Into effect last week and there were plenty of the boys out in the snow Thursday. A number of muggs with carnival and other promotions had cards printed with the Automat aa office address and phone number also. Too many calls queered the racket. St. John, N. B., Dec. 17. The wild dancers and wilder mu- sicians who had neighbors at Knolls Corner calling for police every Saturday night haye tamed down. Natives were getting an eye and ear load of flaming youth at Its hottest. , Carousals ended when Charlie Mack, dance hall owner and con- victed bootlegger, was fined $200 and sentenced to four months In jail. In one of Mack's cabins they found 35 gallons of scotch and bottling paraphernalia. No wit- nesses were'placed on the stand to testify against Mack/ The jury just looked him over and returned a ver- dict of guilty. He had been con- victed for a previous liquor Jaw vio- lation. . Knolls Comer dance hall, on the Maine side of the international line, was reported offering rip-snorting jungle dances as entertainment, with hooch served to the crowd at four-bits a shot. Neighbors com- plained they were constantly startled by outside fist fights, yells of "Murder!" arid drunken young- sters staggering all over the neigh- borhood. Vassar, Weilesley, Smith and other women's colleges have some quaint cusjtoms. It's the woman who pays there when the lads drop in for a visit. On ordinary occasions the girls provide the tickets and entertain-, ment, the boys merely supplying their own incidentals. But on spe- cial occasloris, Junior and Senior Proms, the girjs, besides taking care of the dance expenses, also have to lift the check on all restaurant and hotel charges incurred by the boy friend? ' On these gala days about the only expense the boys have to stand Is sending their tuxedo to be pressed and buying fiowers. In return for ajl the deadheading, however, the college girls, exact a heavy toll froria the boys. One Long Dance Day of the prom, which is formal, the dancing starts Informally Iri the nilddle of the afternoon, and though the men may feel pretty silly, they have to appear mid-day in tuxedo. They danCe straight through, with a couple of intermissions, until uncon- scious. Girls hot bringing men try to horn In via the "Introduce me to so-and-- so" route, creating a female "stag'* line. At the formal program dancea the girls do a thriving booking busl't ness exchanging America's youth ariiong themselves. At the smaller Informal dance^ where cutting-ln Is permitted, and five men sometimes have to be di- vided between 20 girls, the college boys, take a terrible beating, while the hard boiled girls make it tougb on their less aggressive sisters. Some of the more enterprising, college girls promote, or hire, autoB in an effort to get orie whole man to themselves. It is also not unknown that when the girls get a weekend off, and are New Tork bound, they wire the boys at school telling them that the party's on and that K they're broke they (the girts) 'will take the financial slap. Many a lad has spent a weekend at shows, night clubs, etc., in this manner with the girls paying everything unto hotel expenses—the boys quite often stopping at a dlfEerent abode. Just two days of slipping coin under the table for the lads to pay off. The lads have no compunction about the matter. In fact, they think nothlnff of It, and the girls are satisfied* "So I starts for the guy on the bench on the run, hollering 'Hey, you bum.' Well, he starts to run, of courise, but the nice dressed man can't catch either of us. "When I turn up a'side street to catch my wind, I isays, 'Freeman, -you*r6-the==bum,_^Tou:^could.Jbiay^ taken that gump for $25.' "I ain't squawking, but It's ideas like that going to waste what burns me up. "I'm a fixer, remember that. Can get or take them coming or going. Tell it to 'em downtown, kid. "I can wrap this show business up for 10% or what anyone el.se can get it for. Paying dlvldendsj! To who? For what? The whole coun- tr5''s going niats." HEALTH DRIVE Dr. Shirley Wynne, Cominlasioner of. Health, launched the theatrical coriimittee for the New York Tu- berculosis and Health Ass'n drive at a luncheon given at the Hotel As- tor, Dec, 13. ■ :G corgc -^M.:.,-CDhan,^abjS£nt:=JtQin the luncheon because :of family ill- ness, is chairman of the theatrical division, one of 106 trade units in Greater New Tork organized to make the town tuberculosis-con- scious. An educational campaign to ham- mer home to every family^the need for early diagnofils and treatment is to be updertakprt, Arlolph Zukor and Dr. Loft DfForost were present at the luncheon. MADISON COREY PAYS $1^000 AS SOUARER Bessie Browning, who' played In Texas Gulnan's "Padlocks of 1928," "All Girl Revue" and "Just Claudia," received a Xmas present In,the form of a certified check for $1,000 from Madison Corey, play- broker,, residing at the Lambs' Club. Corey Vfas summoned to West Side Cbtlrt by Miss Browning, who ksserted she gave Corey, in 1927, j$2,000 for stock in the Dlsoncor' borporatldn. She declared she waa: to be made secretary of the concern and to be given the leading role In one of Corey's productions. She was also to get 8% on her Invest- ment. "I never received the 8% nor the stellar part In one of his plays. I did receive this," she said, indicat- ing some shares of stock. Magistrate Maurice Gotlleb sug- gested the attorney for Corey , he nriake a settlement, ... The Court proposed that Corey give Miss Browning $500 initial payment and the balance to be paid $50 monthly. _ '"'"Cb'relr^S^iTtlfMc^y hours to cogitate. Later in the day Magistrate Gotlieb sugKCsted Corey pay Miss Browning $1,000 and wipe out the trouble. This was agreed to. Mr. Corey handed over a Cer- tlflofl check. "Wliat a Xmas pre.sent," gleefully shouted Miss Browning, She told reportcr.s that she lirst sought the return of hor monfy Corey in 1027.