The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1881-04-02

! ASJOT l1Oust-bdIhull al
dusts and his Distinguished Guests-Old
Park Theatre, its Actors and Patrons =
| The Leister Rebellion-Pewter Mug
| Pueilists and Politics-Horace Greely
and The Tribune, etc.
New YORK, March 26, 1881.
EDITOR CHIEF:
Scarcely any part Of New York has un-
dergone greater revolution in the last
ten years than in the immediate vicinity
of tho Post-officc. As the legend is told,
it is more than Il century ago since John
Jacob Astor, walking up Broadway,
stopped before the block OH which the
Astor House now stands, and vowed that
some day he would erect on that site the
finest building in the city. 1t was a
nice thing for John Jacob to do. have
tried it several times myself; have
vowed it i'll Chicago, st. Louis and San
Francisco, but there was Il slight differ
cnce between John Jacob and myself
he did and l didn't. The Astor House
was opened As years ago, and at that
time it was the wonder and glory of old
New York. Everybody who WAS any
body stopped there, and if a public din
ner or reception was to be given to any
distinguished functionary from home or
abroad the Astor was the place to do it.
General Scott made it his headquarters
up to the day Of his death, and it was
also the favorite hostc,ry Of Webster and
Clay. Liberal gratuities to servants in
those times was tue order Of the day, and
the old porter who had charge of the
baggage room under Coleman & Stetson
retired from his situation worth fifty
Thousand dollars, entirely accumulated
IN his position as porter. Across the
street, on the present site of the Herald
office, stood Barnum's Museum, and it
was here he laid the foundation of his
fortune by the exhibition Of Tom Thumb
Joyce Heth, Washington's nurse, and l
believe, the handle of the little hatchet
with which tho expert Snowman !ured
the nicllels ont Of the pockets Of past
generation. The Fcejee mermaid was
not the least of his beguiling maryels,
while the ouraDg outanS, from Borneo,
and the wild gorilla from the interior of
Africa, excited n curiosity and wonder
which has not been equaled since. A
story goes that Dan Conover, the singer,
was engaged to play the gorilla, and a
skin was made for him ont of a buffalo
hide. The gorillas den was in q very
dark corner of room up stairs, where
sou could only see his outline in the
gloom, and he had a littledark hole in
the corner into which he used to retire.
Dan was engaged in the winter, and, rs
the spring opened, the crowds began to
pour into the museum to see the African
monster. at last the hot weather came
on and Dan was nearly suffocated in his
buffalo skin; he kept striking for five
dollars % week advance, till his salary
reached fifty dollars, when one night the
gorilla got drunk and made such an ex-
hibition Of himself that they gave out
that the monster had died of the cramps,
and that was the last of the gorilla. On
the other corner of Park Row was Win
dust's famous restaurant, where as fine a
bottle of port could be found and as ten
der joint Of beef as at any place in the
city. AS long as William Windust kept
it, it was the resort of many Of the most
substantial merchants and most eminent
literary men of the town-Geo. P. Morris,
N. p. Willis, DR.. Locke, the author Of
the Moon Hoax, Edgar A. Poe, Park Ben
jamin, Major Noah, Mcdonald Clark and
many others whose names are not un-
known to fame. 1t was also a famous
resort Of actors and singers, and it was
here l first met Braham, Templeton,
Henry Wood, and Ned Seguin, the king
of them all. When kean first came to
this country all the Intervals of his en-
gageme,lt were spent in Windust's cellar,
and it was always the headquarters Of
Forrest, Hamblin, Ingersoll, Gus Adams
and Old Mitchell, one of the very best
we have ever had in America.
Elegant Rufus Blake, and Billy Burton,
" !lrs,, Captain GuttiG and ToodIes viii