New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-12-14
SOCIAL S1LHOUETTES.
BEING THE IMPRESSIONS OF SIR. MARX MAN
HAITIAN.
Xxs
TIE DESTROYER OF FfliltsipEH

Inc hpewn Npw-yofh we'll ~ 10 nocturnal aspeets
~ length begins ~ nhh himself growing old Than
when he leals memorial ahd retrospective sensations
about The n Fourteenth street i1elnohe0si" mat
haunt or mirlh, relaxation ANA luxury ID 40 moip'
Hum nil n u tue, We can met Win lphnhlee's
iedirirus on the corner ut fWentY-ssh street anh
Ifth avenue iint 20 rs wh0se side-oobs ara getting
quito matureY hanoled, whose ioreheads arc IN
some cases rather beamingly donuded, the now re-
sort is very far from being the old Que. ! fancy,
literally speaking that we somewh hat maunder aud
pratle when We praise the former restaurant so ex-
pansively to the discredit of the present. hut
can't help it; we are getting old; the afternoon
shadows are stealing upon us; and 1t Is only far
that we should he let to have fling at what is no
longer clad with the rosy haze Of youth. just as We
with our college diplomas yet freshly framed and
our digcstiOns capable of a We sh Tarebit at md
night. once had fling Mt the elderly papas and
uncles who praised to us the cakes and ale OF the
past. Still, thuk that can now make a goodc
The cqG in Fourteenth street was more spacious
and cOmmodiOus; tho dining room was more modest
and COSBY; the upper bathrooms were more con-
venenty disposed for Il fcstal crush and more
agrccably suited for n small entertainment. OF
course admit that the old ed flee represented sort
of fashionable cmergence, for New-York, from its
long previous r0yincialism. And how New-iork
did emerge there, What a sequence of g!ittcsing
balls. What glory of magnificent banques !!
The balls are all danced away forever and the ban
ques forever eaten and gone. Many of their guests
are dust The old story of all great cities repeats
Itself with ours. A huge carpct-st0re flaunts its
wares on the site of that aforementioned and
most sumptuons of inns, Already our children $50
aggressvcly grown up, point to it as they pass and
tell each other that DclmOnicOs used to be there"
| think we ought TO have the place called Del
monico square. We don't pay this tribute very
often to oar poets or famous writer's perhaps there
is a bitter reason asthccynlc mlghtproest why we
should pay it tothe cook who has successfully set
so many national paatcs tugng. Who was the
French wit who said that one of the shortest ways to
the human heart was through the human stomach
] confess | don't recall | am not enough Of a dc
vout gourmet.
1t was in the cqf of the Fourteenth street Del
monico's that | first met Nr. Archibald Joyce. lie
was eating muttGn-chOp cooked n some sort Of
FRAGRANT white sauce with little curl paper about
its b0ae and BE was talking 10 me about my father,
whom he had greatly admired. That is the way his
image dawns upon me through tie mists Of memory.
somehow | had drftaA into chair near him; be
licyc ms dead cousin. Bloekor Manhattan had pre-
sented me to him and then hurried away and l. If IT
he not an error was waiting for some male friend of
0fp or tWn-Hnl Twenty 10 JOIN lf III ~ w 0'''t'
theatre. Bat meanwhile Mr.. Joyce was very civil
while he ate his mutton-chop and washed it down
with red vino. He must then have been about Eve
arl-thirtv-an immense age TO my alolcsccnt think
in, of thos, days He strucl, me them as he always
did aftcrwarl. and as ] suppose he had always
strncl everybody cl.c. to he Of extremely unpre-
no. cs.inp ucl>on Ills figure was lanl and un-
roinly. though very slim. His nose was severe
hr,k and under 1t grew u scaut black mouS'achc
while ah,yc m tearrrl small slatvtinted rves. He
WIS lrrssel m evening Glrb. and with great ca'e
VOW wonld ncvrr mistake him how enc is u"rrctn-
,llt iirping ini5 That Worn rut of pAsr foi $50
,rin., rerpnt urnii.miM ! hal hrail 81 hin as y
nr,9,n af sBrai NHtn- ranlt n0t urdirrt Just
.,hrH ~ hnV.arl ~ Nt iAihnr srl-irnttnt
HarFtr / ihMet q Are hint b tt sr'i tha.
,W8 Nith hHM liNe~ W9s sa 'ANph pitAsH'te nhNf
u, ,te ,r,Juph SO heiHs seH elth thls $40 thai ae-
cseitM pahah IT tMiiir hast stii thai AT y44af
po.pia ass sauis, lhWb he m.sh, uaFa eeHn mpfe
cluspiY to GrNpfaN uNthl
Archibald Ioyce quite won mo, that o,ening. and
GA leaving him | could scarcely teil Why Ills ap
pcaranco was so much aglmst him that | neVer
thoulht Of him, for days altuwarl " thout sharply
rr-inyoking il. On the other hand he had said
uoiIuu,a AT all clover Blt he had in Il way, drawn
me out lie had made me fancy that myself was
cleyer-that could get along with tried men of the
world like himself and be liked by them. He had
taken an apparent keen interest in me. lie had
asked me quostions, put in such manner that |
could answer them with touch of humor or gayety
that seemed both apt and fresh. lie gave a slow,
wise laugh at them, II he thought them both apt
and fresh yet did not quite reveal to mo what
good opinion | had made him form of my native
wit Later that evening, talked OF him with my
friend Tom Gramercy. during the eRirdctS OF the
theatre Tom WAS of my own age, but his knowl-
cdae of New-Yorll society was something which |
then Thought marvellous. He had three elder sisters
nil rcignng fashionable matrons, besides having
been reared from childhood IN an atmosphere OF
active ,linner-giying and par;ygoing.
ayes" declared Tom Gramcrcy. " I've often heard
Kate and Maggie and Elvira speak of him. Hes
death ON the women. you know
"Good Heavens | sad. as yet unused to the
vernacular of society lou speak oil nm rs lie
ver, King Ilcrod or Thaaba the Destroyer
they caV him tho destroyer of tiresldes,'"
giooIcl Tom "What funny name, isn't it They
,ay that hos brought more trouble between hus-
lands and wives than any other man in the coun-
try Nobody knows much about his origin. He
.ee,,s to have come from nowhere. Nobody ever
hcnrd of his having mother. father or any relation
,vb,tever He stands entirely alone by himself. as
n were. and he stands very WELL can tell you'
ais he rich 7" | questioned.
"lIe is seemingly quite we'll Off it's not known
inst where his money comes from, as NJ Is com
nlctc dqpcur. / don't mean that he makes mystery
If il: dare.ay he'd be willing enough to tell II lac
wcr, asked. But nobody thinks to ask. lie is taken
mite as a matter of course. Apparently, too
ho has 10 aye. like Zanoni and Cagliostro.
believe that he once declared himself to
lc forty. and Immediately about twenty-five
pcoplo were found willing to swear that
he was nfty-Gyc. Some even asserted him to be
sxt,.0yc. But of course that il absurd. It's equally
ob.nrd to g,vc him any age at ALL" continued Tom.
who had a turn for saying odd. crisp things that had
NADIA him rather unpopular ut Columbia. "ln the