The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-10-12
Our Grand Hotel.


AT length New York boasts grand hotel. 1t
is situated on the corner. of Thirty-frst street
and Broadway, is built of Westchester marble,
in the Romanesque style, and was erected at
cost of nearly one million of dollars. Il is eight
stories high, and each story has distinct archi-
tectural feature in the marble framing of the
windows. You enter by portico, and find
yourself in an ample hall, upon which an abun-
dance of light rains down through an immense
dome. Corridors on every side branch out to
the hotel Office, the restaurant, the bar, the
reading-room, the cigar store, the barber shop.
A double stairway of black walnut leads to
rooms which are glittering conglomeration of
mirrors, marble, curtains, carpets, and natty
modern improvements. The lees of luxury are
supposed to have been drained in furnishing
the appointments for this public palace. You
dine in an apartment in which the conspicuous
colors are bronze and gold and where the
shutting of walters feet is hidden beneath the
music of flowing fountains, and the SAVIOR of the
kitchen is sweety disguised in the flavor of full
blown flowers. The suites of apartments are
such as might exist in heaven if archangels kept
hotel and saints attended to the creature-com-
forts. novel invention in locks is attached to
every door. In summer every room will be sup
piled with ice-water from the ice-tanks, thus
avoiding the trouble of sending especially for it.
The bar is as dazzling cut-glass, frosted silver,
and binding calcium lights can make it, and no
more dazzling place for the disposal of eye-open-
ers and larynX-lubrcators is to be found in all
New York In short the Grand Hotel is the
nearest approach we have yet made in that line
to Partisan perfection.
Opposite the Park
from the office window at which daily sit and
write, command full view of City Hall Park.
A very vivacious view it is. There is always
something going on there. To-day it is mad
dog, tomorrow madder bull. Atnoon plug
ugly assaults gentleman, is badly beaten by
him, and ignominiously forced to retreat. At
dark two apple-stand women engage in riot and
are hustled off to the Tombs. Within eye
glimpse of me sits "Aunt Maggie" notorious
seller Of newspapers and frequenter of police
courts. Not very far off appears the Cement
Man, whose unctuous Appearance bespeaks him
the pOssessor of a snug comp ency. In imme-
diate proximity comes the handless montrosity
with the crimped-up arms, who cuts wood up
into shavings and has his hat ready for stray
pennies. Once in awhile a runaway
horse dashes into the narrow eXtricacies
of Nassau street. like desperate hero rendered
reckless by failure. AS for drunken men and
drunken women, in the last decrepit stages of
drunkenness, they are of too frequent occurrence
to awake the slightest comment. Professions
through the park--a Fenian procession, or a
butchers display, or a fremens parade or
tailors' demonstration-occur regularly every
Monday. If were an invalid to whom q little
healthful excitement and constant variety
were recommended, 1 should certainly have
small Office opposite the park, provide a sufii-
cient quantity of lorgnettes and fied-gasses, and
take long looks at the kaleidoscope provided for
fharo hu h1m otu ria
may fail occasionally in other localities of
Gotham, but you are certain to find it opposite
the park"
And this reminds me that the latter half of
yesterday afternoon was devoted to the celebra-
ton in the park of the
Cuban Anniversary.
The real anniversary was of course on Sunday,
but the festivities were postponea until yester-
day, when they were celebrated in this city
simultaneously, Ipresume, with those in Phila-
delphia and New Orleans. The flag of the
sIone STAR was hoisted by many private firms,
as well as by several of the hotels. The firing of
the one hundred guns commenced in the park
at half-past four, and shook the panes of glass
in the rattle-pated old buildings in the eastern
side of the park until they nearly fell In splinters
from the sashes. The portion of the park be-
tween the old City Hall and the new Post Office
was crowded with lookers-on, who ran hither
and thther, and gave the large open space the
appearance of an immense stage thronged with
ill-dsciplined supernumeraries. The balcony on
the south side of the old City Hall was stuck
full of Observers the bright toilettes of the
feminine majority of whom were beautifully
picked out against the black background of
their masculine escorts. Various national airs
were played but regret to say the music hall
element was perceptible, and Columbia, the
Gem of the Ocean" had hardly ceased its strains,
when the vast auditorium of the park trembled
with the reverberations OF Tommy Dodd!
Tommy Dodd!" Nor did the celebration pass
off without an accident, for long ere the compile
ment of the one hundred guns was complete,
one of the gunners named Andrew Mum, who
was loading with frightful rapidity had his right
arm shot off. The poor tellow--who has wife
and children it is only to such people that such
accidents happen-had been repeatedly eau
toned by q bystander; but he was working
under mad excitement, and sacrificed limb to
his imrrudence.
The Tribune Buildings
ore IN come down next year, and it is believed
bv the credulous that something inimitably
grand is to go up in their place. Never, 1 say,
while Horace Greeley is the presiding genius.
He has not worn his shirt open at the bosom,
white coat, trowsers six inches short and pock-
cts bulging with the contents OF the mail
ba rs for these many years, to be brought to that
at last. Such an uncanny form as that was
never meant to do the business of life in an
orcbitecturally beautiful building. You mi ght
.s we'll rive him pearl-handled penholder and