The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1869-01-30
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NV DIRK, Dec. /, 1905
This is the season Of . openings'' in the metropolis
When the last leaf has fallen from the trees in or
streets, and natures life has become extinct fol
another season Of dreary snow, the vitality of society
and Of business m~anifests itself anew; as if Their,
was a fixed quantity of growing-force in the world
which, upon being checked in one direction, must
appear with double activity in another.
In society, the influence of the time is felt in the fire.
quency of the balls and parties which occupy every
evening of this gay advent season: while wedding.
are more frequent than ever before. Ii is a fall
fashion, by the way, this year, to decorate the int.
rior of the church, where the wedding is celebrated,
with natural howers-another item Of expense for
the bridegroom. Fat Brown, the professional snob,
the celebrated Sexton of Grace Church. predicts an
unusually fashionable winter season this year; and
fat Brown has every means of knowing. If the
number of wedding cards that your correspondent
has lately received is any sign of the times, the latter
are certainly prosperous; for the number of marriages
has been found 10 bear a direct ratio to the price Of
coal and grain.
In business, there have been two notable . open
ings'' since my last letter. ii. I. Helmbold, the SEN
sational druggist, had one n few days ago,-the occa-
sion being the completion of the refurnishing of his
Broadway store. He threw open his doors to the
crowd, and invited all corners to supper and cham
payne. 80 great Il throng poured into his establish
ment until midnight, that his wine bill, presented to
him ON the following day by Leland of the Netropo-
Titan Hotel, amounted to nearly $4,000! Helmbold
paid it with . good grace, remarking that it was
moderate. IIelmbOld was the man who offered, Gin
October last, to bet n million of dollars ON the sue
cess Of the Democratic ticket in the November cleo
tons. He had no intention of putting up the money,
it was a larger sum than he had to put
up; but he created n sensation by his offer, and got a
magnificent advertisement all over the country. lie
can now afford a $4,000 treat occasionally. But
this champagne supper was SO extraordinary an
affair that n report prevailed, for several days, that
IIelmbold was insane, and had been sent by his
friends to a private lunatic asylum. Unfortunately
this report proved to be false. Helmbold is still at
large, and still busily proclaims to the world that all
mortal ailments can be cured by using his infallible
40 Extract of Buchu."
The other : opening occurred yesterday; the oc-
casion being that of the completion of Stewards i'm
mense addition to his uptown store. This building
now occupies the whole block between Ninth and
Tenth streets, Fourth Avenue and Broadway, with
the exception of a corner still held by Goupil, the
art-publisher; but this corner also will be occupied,
eventually, by Stewart. His building is already
claimed to be the largest shop in the world. 1t
wv NNN N"%A 'NAN' GtNhAAiS Oh
a plot of 200 by 300 feet, except the Goupil corner;
and it is six stories high, besides having a high base
ment story and a sub-basement; SO that its eight
floors have an area of twenty acres. The building is
of iron, foOlishly carved and painted to initiate mar
bic. Iron has its own appropriate style of architec-
ture; but Stewart knows nothing of that-ftness and
beauty are things with which he is not concerned.
\ central rotunda and dome admit the light to the
interior of this immense building, and form its most
feature. The dome is 100 feet high, and
is supported by sixty iron columns, weighing from
to eleven tons apiece. The building is to be
lighted by electricity. \ thousand women are en-
ployed, in the manufacture of the countless articles
of fancy and of the toilet that are sold below. Six
hundred statesmen are employed in the retail depart
ment; and the total number of employees in the shop
is 1000. The first floor is devoted to general dress
goods and to domestic goods. The second floor, the
walls of which are TO be covered with large mirrors,
is filed with upholstery, cloaks, and shawls; the
third, with carpets. The inner and outer lines of the
rOtunda are used for the silk department.; and the
centre is devoted to the sale of gloves. The light,
falling through the frosted glass of the dome, illu-
inmates beautifully the rich goods that are gathered
in this great mart. The - one-man' power is sell
Ion better shown than in the case of this man
who, without generosity, without culture,
ith'u ~ 'hEAS hA5h fAiAtg VI ~ Ia
to himself so immense a share of wealth,
and compels the labor of so many thousands
IF men and women to bring him tribute, that he may
truly called n Republican despot.
Stewards monument" as it is Familiarity called
in New York. is slowly approaching completion upon
Firth Avenue, at the corner Of 34th street. 1t is in
tended for his private residence, and is an immense
Of marble, in the coolest and most painful style
II the Greek architecture,-that architecture which
Ignorantly copied in marble the level straight lines
which were correctly used by the earlier builders in
wool. Stewards monument is Il Greek temple,
built in the worst spirit of the Renaissance, and, like
nearly all the so-called - fine houses in this coun-
it is an architectural barbarism. How to build
IN stone according to the nature of stone,-the
architecture of the pointed arch, the scientific and
Christian architecture, the method of all Europe be-
fore the days Of the thOughtless u Renaissance that
covered all Europe with square houses filled with
'quare windows and square doOrs,-the pointed archi-
lecture, in short, is now almost n forgotten art; and
We see men like Stewart spending a million of dollars
lpOn n private residence which is n petrifed false
mood. One should not expect much, indeed, from a
who has no thought but money-making; yet it
seems that Stewart might have purchased taste and
knowledge in his architect, even though destitute of
himself.
One of the arts, however, fiourishes in New York
the art of music. The winter campaign has opened
unusual vigor in the concert-halls and the
opera and the Philharmonic society announce
FOR this. their twenty-seventh season, a series of six
of five concerts as heretofore. Each concert
IS preceled 10y three public rehearsals; so that the
over Of orchestral music can hear each symphony
and overture played four times by a splendid orches-
ira Of 100 performers \ better opportunity for
the best music can hardly be found in the
capitals. The Geoandhaus' concerts, in
Leipsig, arc claimed TO present the most perfect or
,hestra in Germany, and perhaps in Europe; but
seat in the small hall where they are given is -
family possession, and admittance 10 the Gewandhaus
IS a matter of personal favor, not Of free purchase.
With Us all the world can come TO hear Beethoven at
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