Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1881-01-31
a New York Bar for Women.

| New York Correspondence Cincinnati Inquirer
| The latest project for the refreshment of
| fashionable women is a bar. Now, barrooms
| in which disreputable women drink are no
| novelty; but this is no such concern It is
as respectable as it is unique. 1t is in Broad
| way, close to Stewards great mart and Wal
| lacks, in the midst of handsome retail estab-
ishments The front is resplendent with
plate-glass, and the store itself is wide, deep
| and elegantly fitted up The walls and cell
| ing are frescoed and the floor is marble. One
| side is devoted to the sale of confectionery.
| That shows the proprietor's shrewdness, for
| women would not probably go in it there
was nothing but bar in the place. The bar
runs along the opposite side, and is about
| the same in style as those of our best cafes,
| though the marble counter is a little lower.
| An immense mirror faces the drinkers, and
| the back-bar is adorned with cut glasses and
| decanters. Instead of beer-pump, however
| there is q soda fountain. Piles of lemons
| an ornamental lemon-squeezer, groups of
ginger ale bottles and pyramids of silver
| Tom and jerry cups, make display as gor-
| geous as can be found on any bar in the city.
| Two bar-tenders, of the regulation pattern
with their hair and mustaches carefully
| brushed, diamonds glistening their pol
| ished shirt-fronts, and the sleeves of their
white coats turned up to the elbows are con-
stantly on duty. The women walk up Just
| like little men, and order their drinks with
| the careless air of veterans. The enterprise
hassbee under way only few weeks and is
already an established success. The bever-
ages are about what might he expected.
Hard liquors. are not sold, except in mixed
drinks, as in Tom and ferries. on which the
run during the present cold weather is
brisk They made hot and sweet, and
the women dote them. The next
most popular drink Just now is hot
punch, composed of rum, lemon-j juice, water
and dash of brandy Sometimes seltzer is
ordered in place of the water. Hot Coffee
chocolate and lemonade are also sold in large
quantities. On days of moderate tempera-
ture the call is for cold lemonade, claret
punch, ginger ale and soda water. While
was there yesteday the pop of the ale bottle
was momentary and the lever of the lemon
squeezer was in almost constant motion.
Women stand three feet deep in front of the
bar. Two companions drank together, and
each paid for her own dissipation but as a
rule the gentle tipplers gracefully initiated
polite bar-room manners, though they were
given to slipping their beverages slow
ly, instead of tossing them into
their mouths like SO much medicine.
" What you going to drink ?''
said mild-faced sapling of girl in cloak
of satin matelasse and blue capote s'It's
my treat this time, replied a cherry-ipped
dumping of belle in a maroon velvet mo,
no; you bought yesterday. Come, what'H
you take?'' "a seltzer lemonade" Make
me a Tom-and- Jerry, SWEET So the confu-
sion of orders and the eager drinking went
on 1 asked one of the bar tenders why he
didn't keep lager beer on tap, since New
York women drink it at home and in the con-
cert gardens SO generally. He said 80, we
want to go slow at first, don't want to startle
our customers too much; but we'll give 'em
beer as soon as warm weather comes"