New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-05-23

rulings round the ring, throwing OF somere"
jumping through hoops. tossing of balls, SINGING y,
knives and multitudinous misses OF the 'p,
They had an argot of their own these foreign loros
and ladies' in whose mouths "How is his nibsP
and "Cheese it. Gully" were of hourly occurrence
The great circus was located on Mount Pitt NJ Tue
head of Grand and Ptt-st.. and it was palace Oh
Aladdin on the nights the Fourth OF July Ana 'herc
or near by abode the royal elephan prlnces'
Mademoiscle Dick, whom the readers Oh MI
Charles Rcade's Jack at All Trades VIII no u0uoI
recall The old inhabitants of newborn wero
all au courant with the older New-York OF HaiiecK'
and Drake and the Crackers, the knlckerbocker
city of the first two decades of the century wheh
Fanny was thought to be as clever as her dissoute
papa Don Juan when Lang, of The Aec- York Ga
setfe was reputed sapient; when De Witt Clinton
was Governor; when Mr.. Gelston was Collector;
PEEPS Reriep was polite; Trumbul painter OF
genius Francis and McNeven
Famed for long heads short lectures and long bills "
Woodwork, Farmer and Scott, renowned Tor their
polished lines Pauiding, known as the Monarch OF
Back woodsmen; Swartwouts Iron Grays, q Spar
tan band Tammauy Hall, the roysterous haunt of
bucktails forbears of Ryn ders, Dunlap, Taylor and
Big SIX; Scudder's Bale ony inspiring. and the
heights of Weehawlxen superior to Paradise!
The mercantile magnates of Revolutionary days
clustered about the Bowling Green, down State-st.
into Greenwich and Westinghouse. up Broadway
past the Washington Hotel, branching into Bridge
Markctfeld, Broad, Beaver, Hanover and Wall-sts.
budding under the shadows of Trinity Church, de-
vouring the oysters of Downing, and the Strasbourg
pies OF the Delmonicos. The Juno sherry-i that Is
what the best brand was-sccreted itself
In cellars delvei deep and winter cold;
JohannisberCcr disappeared no one knew WHITTIER
except perhaps, the Count de Survilliers and his
Bordentown cronies; OF the Grinnes, Minturns
Browns and Barngs-old millionalres-and the
noureaur ricEe. The two great men of the period
were Dicky Rikcr, the Recorder, and Old Hays, the
Jonathan Wild of Manhattan. HallecNs petition
to the first was carried around III the pockets OF
merchants, and bankers, and lawyers in newspaper
slips or manuscripts until it crumbled away
There never was anything like it, before or since,
and never will be again until we have another
Riker to railroad our Coburns into Sing sing aud
Auburn. The eye of Constable Hays was
an evil eve upon evil doors he all-sceng. And
his ear was like unto the Ear OF Dionysus, tyrant
of Syracuse to which even the highest whisper
thunderousy audible. And his hands-never
Hndoo god had so many, nor with such an inilexi-
bic grip IN the fingers and wrists. One of the latest
descendants of this English Hebrew fell into the
long sleep few years in the studio OF the
naturalist painter Hays.
The great chop-house kept by Clark "
Brown at the intersection of Liberty-St. and Mar
den-lane. What chops of real SOuthdown-what
porterhousc steaks-what rare roast beef and York
shire puddngs-what porter, and ale and 'arf-and-
'arf-wbat larks There was another Brown, of
another family, doubtless who fed his thousands III
Water-st., north of Wall. Men were not ashamed
to eat then: nor women either!
Though by your smiling you would seem to say So
They went-our grandmothers our mothers
our annts our cousins, our sisters and our daugh-
ters-to Bear Market, to Fulton Market, TO
wherever provendcr was forthcoming, wholesale
or retail and literally catered for the long tables at
home They took their luncheOns at Dorlons. at
Downings at De!monicos. just where they hap
pened to be when the hour for luncheon came. And
they were not afraid.
Apart from finance, which spread its bantam
ayes at the Tontine the great industry of Bry-
ants New-YOrk wasin its shipping rests-in ships
that sailed to the East Indies and the Spanish Main,
laden thence with silks of China with and price
less porcelain, and with all manner of 'W. l.
goods" rum sugar, moasSes the sweets and bitters
of all the Southern Continental Islands, from the
| East Cape OF the New World
| "To the long wave that breaks upon Japan"
Anywhere on the East River, from Catharine-st
to the gas-house, ship-yards and the building
of ships by the Eckfords and the Wcstervels, carly
and late Argonauts who put their grdlcs round the
| gobe-not exactly in Shakespeare's " forty mn-
! utes."
OF the home-life of ancestors take the follow
| ing description in the words of Mr. Dayton, to
whose shadow we wish all manner of Elysian
| felcities
| Genuine hositaplity was prominent feature of
| Knickerbocker life. The old fOgies had hearts, and
big at that though their carefulness would not be
| SET down as paIsim0uy, but their Sympathlcs and
| their pleasures clustered around the family hearth
| in winter and the family porch in summer. Ho me
| was the family castle il the stronghold to
which even the ofshOots clung, and in time of
| trouble it afforded refuge for all the worthy
| ones who raised the brass knOcker. 1t was reared
upon q sure foundation, and frugal 1orethought was
| the bolt employed to bar the entrance against
| harassng and wasting cares. Order, punctdallty
aud cleanliness its chief ornaments, aud 1t
was ever ruled by parental authority strictly
enforced There lack of social enjoyment
within its nclosuIe but even that was tempered by
| a moderation which precluded the idea OF safety.
| The tables OF our toreiatheIs were simple IN al,
pontments yet they were bountifully provided
| when the limited variety which the markets
| afforded considered The meal consisted OF
| Que COURSE rather the rrpaSt comprising meats,
poultry, vegetables, pies. buildings, sweetmeats
| and fruits wiz, Newtown plpplns, almonds and
rasins), crowded upon the board with such
| artistic arrangement as circumstances would
| hermit AS extension tables had not then been
| introduced, considerable figuring had to he in
dulged in before the blue china platters could be
placed SO to allow sufficient space for the full
| display of the French gilt edged tea set which
the natrOns piidc. The viands on these grand
| occasions, when pcrchance the Dominic, Doctor or
some other dlgnltary was TO honor the house with
| his company, were prepared or directly superln-
tended by the dame In person, as those duties were
deemed too important to be performed by a deputy
and far too delicate to be executed by mental. In
this connection there comes up vivid recollection
| -grandmothers pantry TO us youngsters it ap
peared the stOrehouse of everything that Mortal
| man could either desire or hope for to make life
perfect Elysian That pantry has its charms even
now in fancy as its many daintes are recalled.
| Notwithstanding some sage modern philosopher has
| discovered the astounding fact that the man who
| signs TO taste more such pies his mother
| made would be sadly disappointed, were his wish
| granted, to find he was sadly mistaken. he had
lost his youthful appetite The idea Is only a
| weak of The enenN.V In