Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-11-26
LETTER FROM NEW YORK.
THANKSGIVING pAY-scKNEs IN rHR POLICE COURT
NEW YORK "JusrIcK"-BKEcHKRss oN-rHR GEN.
ruRY AAGAzINK-BRIKrs ETC

Nkw YORK. November 18Th
Yesterday was Thanksgiving. To-day the polIce
courts calendar OF charges OF drunk and disorerly
cases is larger than IL ever was before Enough
said. Pumpkin pie, roast turkey ana cranberry
sauce are well enough for New England when
cider is the liquid but the eggnog OF the Knic&er-
booker town is a tipple OF another and greater
strength. 1t is matter OF statistics and or some
interest. too, to know that the fines paid to-day In
the police courts, or better said imposed, amount
TO nearly $4,000, or the salary OF half the police
bench OF Gotham.
A New York police court in the full operation is
the most remarkable fe ture OF metropolitan life
III write about its behavior with an apparent
khoWle0ge or its inner workings it VIII be evidence
enough TO form Judgment as 10 the sources
WHEREBY obtained my Information. Why, one
Say not SO many years ago police magistrate
IONS OF the night before 10 Jefferson Market court.
,Ihey were all drunk, and they all sat upon the
oench together, and each in turn tried
case as magistrate. Just TO see how IL
would go to send some poor wretch to the island.
neTe was an inside nFestgation, ami some twenty
or thirty persons were released as having been lie
gaiiy sentenced or committed. One OF them had
oeen held on charge of felony which he himself
had confessed. The business manager of an up-
town theater, who was the judges representa-
tive at the moment, conducted the eXamina-
tion and ordered the commitment Local JUS
tice being not only blind, but drunk sometimes,
no wonder that her steps are devious and
her falls frequent. The incident which
relate don't signify except so far as il hints an the
| administration OF the law The other day there
were $50 prisoners held in one court for twenty
Tour hours because the magistrate was playing
pool from 3 In the morning TIL in the evening,
anu forgot 10 open court. He then came to the
courtroom and melted out justice ooh. the irony
a al se f mor In cases. rangng in their import
assault with intent to Kill. There is no
more n@i,sa ssTTe eius power welded in the
same magistrates They pass sentence on
thelr victims with what appears TO be TO the spec
tator a most reckless view OF the facts presented
nlS lha
S1b1lity in their decisions begins and ends with
the chances OF an appeal by the subject OF their
eccentriclteS, and thought to-day as 1 watched
the crowd OF 400 arraigned In the Jefferson market
court, that 1t was lucky the officers wore uniforms
ana In that was entitled to press privileges, else
the tip STATS and the reporters alike might have
gotten ten dollars ten DAYS" SO wild were de-
c1sionS and so variable.
GOV. TILDEN's SOCIAL LIFE.
These are moral reflections not bearing upon the
fact that Uncle Sammy Tlden is preparing to as
tonish society this year with the grandeur fire.
quency and character of the entertainments he
will offer it in his reconstructed home on Gramer-
| cy Park He has bought the house next door TO
the familiar gray stone mansion, and made IL one
Win the Old place from which he directed the CAM
palSn OF "a In doing this he has exercised his
own lncl1natl0nS as TO arrangement and brought
70 pear the results OF his studies the important
problems OF house drainage and ventilation.
his great stone house on the Hudson,
| above 4onkers, which bears the distinctive
name OF Greystone. is a marvel OF interior
| Drain pipe there are three traps, all operated 10y
one machinery and said to be very effective The
TACT That plumber, machinist and an assistant
are kept busy there all the time, makes it pleasant
for those three worthless, although it deprives the
man who hasn't got 'barl' from enjoying the
applied values OF Mr.. Ttlden'S domestic Comforts
Mr. l1lden, however, is very proud OF this house
and his visitors there lind in its careful inspection
the rst day OF their stay provided for said that
Iere Is no surer way OF reaching Mr.. Tildens good
grace than by taking argumentative interest in
nS mouse ana ltS drain pipes, and no Surer way OF
being put in disfavor than by criticising his I'M
mense collection OF engravings. With the excep-
tlon or the vast collection OF plates owned by
OF Philadelphia, MIR. Tflden's is the largest
In this country, and il includes some OF the most
| choice and rare ones He likes them, and main
talns with great force OF expression when opposed
ever so little in the statement that there is nothing
IS is job and hand-me-down lot in
comparison. His house. however, now
ahat It is completed In its additions is probably
about the best adapted for large social gatherings
OF any private home in New York. His household
consists only OF himself and secretary, with four
servants, and they are all CHARTERED on the third
OF top floor OF the building, which they reach by
an elevator. Elevators are becoming quite COM
mon In private houses now, and it is only ID years
ago since Stewart introduced them into New York
by putting them into his new store on
Broadway and 9th street Freight HOSTS WERE OF
course earlier out The luxury OF the nuinan Int
walters run them up with windldSS But this Is
diVefging. All the parts OF Mr. Tilden's house,
except the top floor, are therefore open TO his
guests, and the Splendor OF their furniture, the
interest OF the pictures upon the walls and the
treasures OF his vast library are only items In the
good measure or entertainment he can ofer IL is
pretty well understood that Mrs John Bigelow will
preside at all these gatherings, and society's
milk at any OF them
MIR. Tilden does not ride out SO frequently as he
used 20 On horseback, and the spare figure once SO
familiar on the equestrian paths of Central Park
Is Ialntly seen sometimes through the half closed
window OF cab as the sage OF GreyStone is
pumped over the rough pavement or the city from
EtS frnrA l.t
ter place TO the Grand Central depot as he hurres
OH 10 see how the drain pipes at GreyStone are
working.
HENRY WARD BEECHER's SON
got married His choice was bright little girl
named Bigeiow. 1t is an unfortunate thing. per-
haps, for Miss Bigelow's husband that he is Henry
Ward Beecher's son. When horse wins a lot
OF races they handicap him, so that he carries
extra weights in future contests, as penalty for
being successful In those he has already Won.
There Is hereditary handicap, and on Mr. Beech
er, lawyer, is the weight OF expectation placed,
because he is Mr. Beecher, preachers son. How
ever Mr.. Beecher, lawyer, bids fair to TO the
front. AS assistant district attorney he has won
bar bar q New Sork. He @i is 'e "a hard aird
worker, in fact, plodder, but with a
Davy Crockett idea about his proceedings, which
that he is right. He lives i'm Brooklyn on the
edge OF the Heights, and his father the preacher,
lives with him. Not long ago the preacher lived
upon the meeting OF the waters that frame the
southern part or Manhattan Island, and from
whose windows the housetopS OF population Of
million could be seen: One OF Mr.. Beechers
friends, | speak OF the preacher now, once
said: so natural is it for him 10
promise to do the impossible tomorrow, pro-
vided he didn't have TO start to-day, and to agree
to pay million, II necessary, next week In case
he can spend a thousand before next Saturday;
that he Will always be in debt, morally and pc
cunfariiy" The truth. as applied TO the pecuniary
statement, II to be shown by the condition OF Mr..
Beecher'S finances to-day. is verified. He is just
as hard up as he can be- His splendid home, on
Columbia Heights, has passed under the
for debt. His Life of Christ is an
incompleted thing, but his publishers bankruptcy
is AT .JaH dccoDtDh. Still he is great man.
Physically as Intellectually he towers head and
shoulders above the clergy or this region. The
fe OF his eloquence needs no great occasion to fan
IL 10 DlaZe. 1t falls spontaneously from lfpS to
which trlte expression Is always a stranger and
is emphasized ia voice, the music or whose tones
gives rules TO accent and law to spoken thoughts
Mr. Beecher, preacher, VIII 1--we With his daughter,
nee BigeioW.
THE CENTURY MAGAZINE
Critically inclined literary circles disposed to
regard the issue OF Century for December with de-
pracatOry sympathy for its editors, and half
amused if unopposing appreciation OF the lugubri-
and obituary quality OF the latest issue. 1t is
q fact that the prodgality with which obituaries
CTR M ha eyfr