Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-02-04
AN ARTIST IN THE EATING LINE.
BILL MORRISON AND THE DUCK
CORRESPONDENCE OF THE DIsPArcH.1

CORRESPONDENCE OF THE
WASHINGTON, February 3.-Mr. George
C. Boldt, who has been selected by the In.
%augural Committee to serve the supper a;
the inaugural ball, was in town the other
day making arrangements for his task, which
is simply a herculean one. He may have to
serve supper for 5000 people, and perhaps
for $1,000 people. The difficulties of his
undertaking are self-evident. Mr.. Boldt
has made name and fame as the proprietor
of the Hotel Bellevue, in Philadelphia,
where, for the past six years. the dinners of
the Glover Club have been held. He is to
Philadelphia what Delmonico is to New
York, and the Inaugural Committee feel
that the feast end of the great quadrennial
ball could not nave been placed in better
hands.
Some Of the most unique and brilliant
dinners ever given in this or any other
country have been given at the quiet and
petite Hotel Bellevue. Boldt is an artist
as well as an epicure, and he has developed
some exquisite artistic and material et-
fects.
''Perhaps the c~ostliest dinner L ever
served he said to me, twas the one given
to Franklin B. Gowan, in February, 1882,
by the railroad presidents of New York and
Philadelphia. Mr.. Gowan was then the
President of the Reading Railroad. Mr..
W. H. Vanderbilt was one of the 80 guests,
1 remember. Tie name of Hr. Gowan,
formed of Jacqueminot r~osebuds, appeared
on the wall Of the room in letters 10 inches
high. Red-birds were served which had
been kept on ice for ten months, and the
Roman punch was brought to the table in the
tenders of miniature railway trains, one of
which was placed before each guest. The
tinv trains were set upon steel rails, and the
engine and cars bore the initials of the
Reading Railroad. The dinner cost $50 a
cover.
''In that same year Mr.. Clarence Lewis
a v a dinner in honor of Miss Agnes Rob-
erts, the niece of the President of the Penn
sylvania Railroad. A dozen of the seasons
debutantes were present, and 1 was hidden
to produce some quietly startling effects.
This is what 1 did: The dinner was se&ved
in a corner of the large ballroom. The table
was surrounded by Japanese screens six
feet high. tn center ornament of the table
was an enormous ball of violets. The mo-
ment the Sevris coffee-cups were placed on
the table a spring was touched. The ball
of violets fell apart, exposing a great bunch
of La France roses-a ball favor to the
guest Of honor. In another moment the
screens were whisked away; o score of cages
containing chipping canary birds were
seen hanging from the ceiling; music came
from a hidden orchestra, and the ballroom
was at the disposal of the dancers. All of
this was brought about in an instant. The
effect was charming and the guests were de-
lighted. What had been a cozy d~iningroom
a moment before was changed into a large
ballroom without the slightest confusion or
noise. The accomplishment of this was a
bit theatric, perhaps, but it was very effec-
tive.
'Tn October, 1884, Mr.. Clarence h. Moore
gave a dinner of Is covers to Mrs. Richard
son, of London, formerly of Philadelphia.
The table was strewn with autumn leaves
and chestnut burrs. A different set of
deliberately decorated plates was furnished
Tor each course and each plate was an art
study. The favors for the ladies were solid
silver card cases with the monogram of the
recipient engraved on one side and the menu
and date OF the other. Jeweled scarf pins
were given to the men. The dinner cost
over 500 for each person.
MIR. Rodman Wanamaker, in October,
1888, gave An ante-wedding dinner to 18
men. The table was set in a grape arbor in
the middle of the largest room in the hotel.
Two hundred and fifty pounds of grapes
were suspended from natural vines. The
apartment was illuminated by hundreds of
tiny fairy lamps. There was no other light
in the room. Large trees were placed
against the wall of the room as though
growing there. Graveled, serpentine walks,
strewed with leaves, led from the central ar
Dor throughout the room. Miniature sum-
mer houses ~abounded, and in another arbor
the orchestra was concealed. The result was
perfect. All the effect of a dinner in a pri-
vate vineyard was produced" !
##
Mr.. Boldt has given several "Greek'
dinners. The prandial customs of the an
clients are followed as closely as comfort and
convenience will permit. The room is hung
with garlands and over the table wreaths
and garlands are carelessly thrown. Rugs
are hung on the walls. Silver tankards take
place of glasses. The men must wear a
laurel wreath and a muslin robe. A boar's
head edorns the center of the table. Roast
kid, served whole, is one of the features,
and dates and powdered nuts form the de-
sert. The menu is printed in Greek as well
as English.
Silk and plush table decoration was first
introduced in this country by Mr.. Boldt. In
referring to dressing a table, he said:
81 look upon the table as Worth looks
upon his subject. L throw a lot of silk or
Dther material on it, adjust or crease it until
[ am satisfied. / pin a bit of ribbon at one
point, a silken bow at another; throw a
here, a leaf there until an artistic and
result is attained. 1 sit up nights
for new ideas"
Mr.. Boldt's collection of china is a very
are and valuable one. The most notable
of it is the "Crown Head" set of
Inner plates. 1t was painted on his order
~ Dessard at the Royal Sevres factory,
Paris. Each of the IS plates contains a
perfect portrait of a king, queen, prince or
and the cost of each plate was the
modest sum of $S7. They have been used
N but four occasions. The first was the
dinner; second, the Wanamaker en-
ertainment; third, a luncheon given to
Mrs. W. w. Astor, and fourth, for the
luncheon given by Mr.. George W. Childs
o Mrs. Cleveland while she was in Phila-
attending the Constitutional Cen
ennial Celebration. They are works of art.
nd the envy of every lover of ceramics.
y 4 = \
The Southern members of Congress are
poor. All of them, to be sure, are
guilty of that greatest of faults las it is
in Washington), but it is the rule
ather than the exception. A story is told
f a well-known Senator from a Southern
jtate which is based on this peculiaritv.
The Senator was poor-so poor that he found
.reat difficulty getting through his canvass.
n his extremity he did not hesitate to Dor
a few hundred dollars here and there,
consoling his conscience with the
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