Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-08-29
NEW YORK LETTER.
conx on rHI rxAruREs or A ooTHAx
PICNIC.
o1ub uatsers- Lonsdale TO DO snubeed-
sporting Gossip-Mr. Tilden's
will-The stage.
soorv,moudence the Rlohmond Dispatch J

NEW YORK, August %, 1886.
A feature of New York life are the
pie-nics, several OF which every day in
he week take place in some suburb
and grove or place Of resort, and o.
which there is . good deal Of fun and
very often considerable fighting. There
are many people in this city who regu.
larly make good living by getting up
and running these pic.nics. Most oil
them are politicians in q small way,
bright youog fellows, with little moral
sense, who 60 for dollar every day 10
the week they see il, and grab 1t, only
20 blow ii in the next minute. The
way they work Is about as follows
The manager gathers together half
dozen Of his chums in some lager-beer
saloon, and the gang associate them
selves together as the s. Gentlemen
Sons Of the Fourth Ward" Tho
Helyetia Guards" or goodness knows
what. Sometimes they take the
name Of some solid man OF
the district, who likes TO be adyer-
tised, and very often they christen them
selves after some leading ward politi-
clan. Next in order is q selection OF
the Committee Of Arrangements, who
are named by the originators without
asking their leave. Then meeting is
called and committees are appointed to
make arrangements for the picnic. just
here is where the manager begins to get
in his fine work. lie puts himself on
every committee which will have the
spending of any money, and couple
of fellows be can stand by" keep
him company. The tickets are.ordered
10 be printed, and the meeting adjourns
for a week to tackle keg Of beer set
up by the manager. In the mean time
be goes and sees the steamboat man,
makes o conditional contract with him,
and braces him for an Ak" or more
II be is an old friend, Then he goes
10 three or four Of the saloon-keepers
and talks up tho barpriyileges to them.
lie also gets q glorious set of sample
badges, all silk and yard wide, every
color in TIE rainbow, with gold and sill
YER into the bargain. These he dis
plays at the adjourned meeting, brags
about the figures he has made with the
boatmsD, and hoorays generally over
another key Of beer. Then tickets are
produced. Some Of the lambs present
are induced to pay cash for few Of
the tickets. This the printer gets and
departs happy, with the manager at his
heels claiming a divvy around the cor
ner. The tickets are all supposed to be
counter.igned by the secretary and trea-
surer, and then they are told oifin patches
of ten and twenty to be left at the stores
and houses of all the prominent citizens
of the neighborhood. The manager
sees that be and his own particular
friends will pay personal attention to
the solid men who aye sure to come
down with the dust, aud it is curious
fact that the tickets purchased by these
solid men and subsequently used by
their friends have never been counter
signed by the proper officials. Next in
order comes the marketing Of the bar
privileges. II there are half dozen
saloon-keepers all competing it will be
q very cold day II couple of bills don't
slip into the managers pocket from
each Of them, and even after the contract
has been signed with one party some
times another contract will be signed
with another one. There have been vari-
Gus adjourned meetings, each more large.
" attended than the other, some rising
citizen with more wealth than brains
has been liberal with beer, and when he
is asked after en- evenings Notification
to sign the contract for the steamboat
and bsrges, just as matter of form,
he does what be is told aud the next
day o deposit is made and the manager
gets another whack." AT last the
day Of the picnic arrives. The musi-
clans foot three times, and then sit in
grim silence guarding the mouths of
their instruments until they are paid in
full, when once more the sounds OF
melody welcome the guests. The
manager can't beat them. Now
the committeeman come along splen-
did in Sunday clothes. There is
kick when the unsigned tickets come in.
But they are IN good hands, and moth
ing can be done. Hurry, scurry, the
the gapgway is crowded, until at last
the whistle toots. the boats move away,
and the last man left behind is the man
ager, who skips the whole show, leaving
it TO shift for itself. The picnic pro-
ceeds; there is trouble at the bar;
there is trouble with the music. The
Captain says he will only go SO far and
no farther, and every time there is
trouble some Of the well-to-do victims
have to help things out, and when the
next adjourned meeting comes and the
treasurer presents statement there is
. tremendous row, which ends IN
free fight. But the manager is all
right and repeats the game again with
in month.
W I'LL ON
II is binted that there will be gen.
eSal snubbiug in the Union and hnick-
tTbocker Clubs of the enterprisiug Lord
Lonsdale il he accompanies Miss Violet
Cameron to this country, as he has pub
licly declared he will, Ito look after
the money be has invested in the blarsted
show, YOU know" Lord Lonsdale has
many friends in the Clubs named, and
under ordinary circumstances he would
be welcome guest, especially at the
Union Club, which, Notwithstanding the
fact that i. has often been shabby
treated by them, not only while here,
but on their return home, always Sc
cures as guests the visiting nobility.
The troubles Of the Union with its noble
guests would Gil an interesting chapter
Of metropolitan club-liie, as often
these gentlemen forget to pay their
debts before leaving. or else boldly
violate the rules, knowing they are be-
You'd the reach OF the governing COM
mittee. The iinpocunious and dissi-
mated Lord Vaudeville would have dis
rupied the Union Club had his three
months' card run into six months
lease. The member who introduces the
delinquent is responsible for his debts,
and until quite recently ii was held that
the card WAS irreyocabie. An excentioa