Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-05-22

| EoN.
| From the New York Sun.
"The private dining room," an experienced
hotel caterer said yesterday, sis one of the i'm.
perative demands Of advancing civilization in
New York. In the Brunswick, Delmonico's,
and the Hoffman House the rooms set apart for
dinner parties have been in constant demand
| the season through. the accommodation being
plainly unequal to the demand. Society looks
| with rare tolerance upon the restaurant In
! America a glance at the popular restaurants
| up town in the middle OF the day shows hun
| dreds OF fashionably clad ladies lunchng to-
| gether In couples or trios without male escorts
condition of things utterly unknown on the
other SIDE OF the water. But while the res
taurant Itself has always been popular, there
waite dining room.
"Iheater parties are primarily responsible for
tie number of private dining-rooms that are
now attached to the various restaurants of New
| YORK. Few forms of amusement are more pop
uidr Inan theater parties. As they are usually
| preceded by dinner or followed by a supper
the people get to know each other through the
many hours of companionship, and no end of
freedom prevails. AS everybody knows the
new ork theater party Is not given to mute
ness, taciturnity and oppressive silence while
AT the play. BY some extraordinary freak in
the code of fashionable people 1t is considered
eminentiy proper to chat. chaf and guy with
essence OF bad form TO speak in anything but
the lowest tones In a restaurant The change
young people who have been skylarkine noisily
at the play come into a restaurant aud are
Obliged TO moderate their manners and voices.
New 1Ork society people are very tree and jolly
IN their manners, you know. There is none of
the heavy tormalljy of the English about them,
and they dislike restraint. A lot of peopIe can
do what couple would never think of attem pt-
Ing and while there is of course more or less
suspicion about man and woman who sup
alone in private dining-rOom, there can be
none when party OF ten or twelve occupy the
same apartment.
mo end or stories could be told of the re-
| markable scenes which have occurred in the
private dining and supper rooms OF even the
most exclusive and carefully kept establish
ments In town. 1t is part of the system of
every house ntereS ted in this peculiar trade to
prevent all gossip or disclosure of any kind.
one story remember got into the papers about
four years ago but in such a misty way that
no one could tell 10 whom it referred. 1t was a
dinner of people OF more or less standing in
society TO celebrate the departure OF French
nObieman who has a great reputation tor high
living and generally rapid habits. There were
no young girls present at the dinner, but q
number OF young married women, and rather a
daShing set OF people generally. An orchestra
was concealed in an adjoining room, and the
dining apartment was beautifully decorated
with ferns, eXotlcS, and rare flowers. The flow
Ing bowl, the music the colored lights, and all
the other attractions of perfectly served
dinner kept the company in their chairs
from o'clock in the evening until
nearly L the next morning. By that time
hings were going at rather furious rate, and
the screams OF laughter and inceSSant roar of
talk We're interrupted by peculiarly sharp and
ringing sound as though some one slowly
beating gong. II CHANGED that ID young news
paper reporter who had been attending his
college dinner in the same building, passed the
door at the time, and, hearing the hubbub with
III, fell To wondering what CAUSED the gUng-like
sound He peeped i'll. The noble foreigner,
looking somewhat dishevelled and entirely
happy, stood in one corner OF the room hold
Ing Il big saiver out at arms length, while the
guests took turns in kicking the saIver to see
which could go the highest. There was an
entire absence of tormality, and everybody in
the room took a turn in regular order. The re-
porter looked in, blushed, hastily withdrew
and subsequently wrote a short and breezy
sketch of the occurrence, carefully concealing
the date and locality. The article upset the
equanlmlty OF two-tnirds OF the society people
of New York.
There is absolutely no end to the queer hap
penIngs i'll these rooms. know of a severe
looking widow who has given IA dinner party in
a gOrgeously furnished dining room once every
month for two seasons now. The table is laid
Tor SIX or eight people always; yet there are
never more than two persons there-the fair
hostess and solitary guest. The guest by
the way, Is one of the queercSt men that floats
about New York. He is lean, sallOw, round
shouldered, saturnine. He belongs to IA dozen
clubs. has small income, never smiles and
cuts acquantstnceS fast rs he makes them.
About once Il week he Will wake up from a
solemn lethargy and make a remark or crack a
joke which becomes town talk at once He
moves about with slow and rheumatic indiffer-
ence. and Is just about as beautiful IL rail
fence. Yet men bow eagerly to him, and the
women scheme and plot for him necessarily.
I'VE see lots OF curious things Ia this business,
you know, and some that are amusing too
About the most interesting of visitors are
those OF the shoddy genteel kind who blossom
out as bowling swellS once or twice a wear here
lneS come with the air OF people who are re-
solved to do II i'll IL right way for once in their
lives, If 1t costs a fortune, and their dinners and
suppers are remarkable illustrations of what
one should not order. A luncheon was given
mere yesterday by "a dreSsmaker who has lust
returned from her yearly trip TO Paris. 1t was
a ladies luncheon. ana there were eight covers
All of the women were attired in the showiest
OF SILK and glossiest Oi satins and their manners
were SO elegant that they greeted another
frigidIy, and refused TO notice the polite atten-
lions OF my head waiter and myself Most of
them are women who are employed in some
way or another They reminded me OF small
CLERKS, who Invariably bully the walters and
find fault with everyt thing that is put on the
table W hen they 60 out to pay for dinner
One OF the women at the luncheon an
nounced that she was very thirsty and sent
her q glass of Burgundy. 1t flew to her head
and she asked the hostess in a very sar,
castle way whether she couldn't take glass of
wine without everybody staring at her. and
the hostess laughed with lofty good nature
sundy made a very deep courtesy to the COM
pany, and despite their protest Withdrew
with her head in the air and her lips pursed up
haughtily. The dignity of her exit was some
what marred by running foul of the screen and
upsettlng 1t into the arms of waiter who
was just coming in with tray full OF soup
plates. Alter she had gone she was mercilessly
torn 10 pieces by the others, who accused her of
every crime, including murder in the first
degree, asserting outright that her first hus-
band had died in most mysterious and suspi-
cious manner. Nearly all of them ate with
their gloves on. and 1T was amusing 10 note
how they gradually drifted into talking shop.
Al first the conversation consisted mainly of
aIluslOnS 10 the weather, the beauties OF the
park the conditions oil the road for driving
and so on. But by imperceptible degrees ii got
along To he prices OF trimmings for hats, what
rooms are renting for now, and on. People of
the best society when they come to dine with
us are as easy and careless q lot of school
children; We get stiff and formal as we descend
the social scale"
'-WhO are your best custOIners?''
Gamblers and their beautiful consorts are
individually the best customers we have had
this season. They spend their money like
water don care IL rap for details give liberal
tips, and are almost constant customers Most
| OF tnein are extremely common beneath their
soou c!othes ana solemn manners but they
are invariably accompanied by handsome
women, VINO know what they want In the way
| OF wine and food, and dom hesitate TO ASK for
But perhaps the most utterly reck less of ali
our customers Is the who lis under.
going the nrst thrOes OF the acquaintance of n
popular actress. III makes no difference whetll-
or he Is 20 or 30 years old. His actions are al
/ ways The same. He comes here early i'm the day
eiaborately attired and noticeably nervous and
| remarks that he would like to have a little
supper Il: Il for two, never failing to mention
| incidentally the name of the stage divinity
whom he Is to bring 10 supper Then he order,
/ enough Tor e1ght people, with sufficient wine
| Tor as many Inore has the room decorated
with nowers, and subsequently drives around
/ III great shape and ushers the lady in Careless
! Iy, trying To assume the air of "a man w no does
tIdt sort OF thing every night. Both OF them
| are more or less bored by the immense preten-
slons OF II all, and most of i'll the house are
aware that the actress in nine cases out OF ten
prefers beer and Schweitzer kase with a man
ABOUT town who knows how To talk and amuse
her rather than the endless display of set sup
per, with its carefully cooled champagne and
u fI