The Russellville Democrat., 1882-02-09
STOKES AS A HoTsL.KEEPER.
The Gorgeous Style in Which F skis Mur.
 derer Plays the Part of Mine Host.
N. '. Traveler.

l NOnuucI, character and antecedents
 count for but little in this city where 1 wealth is in question: That is, a man
 nay have robbed a bank committed
 murder, been in jail, and under the
 shadow. of the gallows, but, so long as
 he has abundance of the worlds means
 people are, for the most part, willing to l forget and forgive his record, aud take I hlm lnlQ'coniidenee and favoE.ms One ol I the leading hotels in New Work, the
 Holman house. is now owned, for the 1 greater part, by Edward s. Stokes, who i murdered Fisk after as cool and deliker- ate fashion as ever marked a hired I Italian assassin with the stiletto.a He | lay in wait for his victim till he caught him alone in an uuguarded and unsus- 1 pectlng moment and shot him down
 without words warning, as, if he were
 dog He was duly sentenced to be
 hanged, received snew trial and spent
 fouryears in Sing Sing in partial expia
 ton of his crime. He subsequently, went
 to the Ear West. to the mining regions
 of the Rocky mountains, and accumu- lated a great deal of money, which he conclude1he could invest and spend 10 better advantage in New York than any
 where else. As proprietor of promin-
 ent hotel, where lie WIS bound to come
 in contact with a large number and variety of people, he believed he could rehabilitatc his character and reputa-
 tionsand make money at the same time. He selected the Hoffman house for lis investment, and since he has become part or fldef owner he las made u coin- plete Transformation of it's inte for. He paid special attention to the remode- ing aoft the bar room, and here the ne- culiar taste of Stokes, whose beau ideal
 of purity and lovelines5 was the sensual and voluptuous Josie Mansfield, display ed itself in full. He has certainly made 1t one of the most imposing barrooIns in the city, and has his reward in at tracing thereto all the fast men, young and old, about town. The approach t5 the bar-room from the hall way of the
 hotel is through avesdbnle, fanked on either side, just at the entrance, by two glarge gilt bronze basins filled with earth.
 from which springs luxurious growth fof plants. In the center of the entrance, mounted on a red pedestal with gil2ed' mouldings, IS a huge vase of light bronze
 with green tendrils twining round its arms,m Inside tue the yestibHle. facing
 each other from either side, are two black marble statues, representing q
 male and female Nubian slave with
 great thick lips and ,broal, dilated nos tris and each bearing on it's head d basketof natural flowers. On the walls are supanded various ] curiOsities-a 4 bears head, with the handle of cham pagne ice-bucket fastened in it's mouth; 1 sledge and pair of oars. Between the two entrances from the vestibule to I,Nl I +,,I1
 table, the legs of which are formed of buffalo horns and the top covered with a buffalo hide. Passing into the bar.room,
 the eye IS struck with ths loftiness of the ceiling, the spacioHness and the great display of color. On, the left hand
 is the oyster counter, and from the
 wall behind project the huge antlers of an elk, hahked by small antlers of young deer. On the right is an open space
 leading to the billiard tables. Tn the
 center of the high, square room runs the
 bar, the back of which ascends almost to the eeiling1n fancihIlly carved woods,
 principally walnut and birdseye maple
 A bewildering array of ornaments covers
 the steps and projections in the wood
 work-behind the bar. Here is beau tiful bronze statue of female diversswith I body and in the act of plunging into the
 water. Here is statuette in terra cotta ofa lady ofthe court of Louis XIV; on
 the other side is a monkey in q very eomical attitude. Then there are silver
 tankards and miniature casksof wine
 made out of rosewood or mahogany, and
 hoped with silver, and, in fact, an end less variety of things that keep the eye
 engaged At the other side of the bar,
 occupying just half the entire room. are five billiard tables, with all the neces7 sary appurtences, in the b1st possible
 style. The floor is csrpeted richly. The
 west wall is impanelled with mirrors the light from the Twenty-fourth street. { side comes through artistic designs in
 cathedral glass; the ceiling and walls are Ia blaze of prismatie tints, mingled with gold. In the billiard room hangs a large oil painting, representing the strugg' Of ashepherd's dog with wolves Nelr by is a bronze statue of female gypsy iuggler, Facing the bar are tables and easy chairs. On theHall opposite, to the
 left hand, isa picture of,a Russian mail | Carrier tearng it wild rate oyer the snow covered steppes in sleigh. Next
 to that, and in the middle, is a large
 picture, with a most elaborate frame, called The Vision of Faust iut the
 sort of picture that a man like Stokes
 might be expected to select for his bar
 room. In place of the The Vision of Faust" it should be called "The Vision
 ofStokes," being that of multitude of nude Josie Mansfelds in the most las
 eivious attitudes that it is possible for an artist to cohtrive. The painting has
 no pretentions to be called work of art for the drdwing is out of proportion and
 and unnatural, but it answers all the
 purposes for which Stokes bought it. It
 ministers 10 the prurient fancy of his
 patrons, who throng around the picture
 and slake their lustful capacities by feast ing their eyes upon all it's suggestive
 features Faust isrepresehted reposing on bank and wrart in slumber. and in
 his vision he beholds 8 throng of maid
 ems dispotting themselves naked, after
 tue most wanton fashion. The blase
 men about town never tire of gazing on
 this indecent exhibition provided for
 them by Josie Mans fields quondam cav
 alier, Edward $. Stokes. To the right of this are two other pictures-one of a quartette of monks helping themselves
 to a good dinner in the season of Lent,
 when they are supposed to be starving;
 also picture called "Etienne"-a lady
 and her lover in rural situation. Be- yond the picture is a life size marble statue of Eve. standing on a pedestal in
 front of mirror, so that her whole naked
 figure is brought into view at a glance
 It is not Eve as she departed from Eden
 with an apron of fig leaves. but in her