Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-23

PARK-'ABDEYs LUCK" rs on THE wASE.
Correspondence of THE EVENING STAR.
NEW YORK, March %.
Years ago, when lived in a quiet little city
| in the interior Of New York state. and read
| novels, dreamed dreams and practised other
silly habits Of adolescence marveled greatly
| ut the tales heard about the Bohemian life,
so termed. of the painters. the poets the actors
and the other geniuses of the great city Of New
York. l never had very substantial idea of
exactly what this Bohemian life of the devotees
OF art and the muses. was like, but my imagi-
nation pictured it as delightful devil-may-care
existence, where people of bright minds met
together and talked OF their art and of odd
| things in the world which the vulgar public
could not appreciate, where the sexes were
always on terms of platonic friendship and
good fellowship with one another, where the
| sordid greed for money was never present. and
where the fetters of social law and the rules of
an effete civilization were cast aside for pu, e.
Undecided freedom of action, speech and
thouSht. Such an existence / considered an
ideal one. and determined that some day
should share its delights.
am looking for that Bohemia yet
For years now have been among the paint
crs, the poets, the writer's and the dramatic
artists OF the metropolis. and wherever l have
sought among them for this ideal Bohemia of
my youthful imagination it has always been
Just beyond my grasp, Just without the con-
lines OF my horizon, and l presume it always
will be-
When inquired OF my first newspaper &C /.
qualntanceS IL New York the whereabouts of
bohemia. they said: We'll. there hasn't been
any real Bohemia since Pfaff's disappeared"
Ptaff g. learned.was "A Eort of beer cellar where
roc, Willis ami other lesser verse writers. Jour-
n Crnfp
ana 1t was sail that much of the popular lit
erature OF the day was written out on the little
round tables Ill the quaint old beer cellar. |
hunted up certain men still living who had been
frequenters of Ptaffs s. and got enough inFor-
| nation about that resort to satisfy me that it
Chdn't meet my ideal Of genuine Bohemia. In
fact 1t was low groggery. where vile rum was
dispensed. and the men who frequeEted it were
the "bums of journalism and the stage. and
so lar as was able TO learn there never
any brighter communion OF minds there than
the telling OF ali unprintable warm now and
| then and the hammering of beer glasses in APP
| pauding approval. Nor does evidence sup
| port the statement that Poe or Willis ever set
foot within the walls of Pfaff's. Then some re-
| porter said to me. Bohemia Oh. yes. Just
| go into Hudnuts any time of night after the
morning papers are made up. There you'll
ind 1t" / went to Hudnut's pharmacy, under
the Herald office, that night. Eight or ten
| editors who had finished their work
strolled in. They all drank whisky. most
OF them swore profanely, and they growled
! with great unanimity against their employers
+, for cutting salaries, giving them mo show"
and acting as despots generally. This wasn't
bohemia, surely. Then got another clew, aud
| began frequentiDg sundry dives in and about
Union square. where actors were said 20 con-
| gregate. met the actors, such as they we're
| vi their art they said never word. When
they had spare moment between drinks
which wasn't oiten-they told of the '.mashes'
they had made. of the snap managers who
| owed them salaries, and of the great DRINKS
they had been on in kokomo or Cheboygan.
| Disguised but not dsheartened. visited the
| Press club, and there found many hangers-on
of journalism and more city politicians. When
| l cast my lot among writers of the stage had
| the coveted opportunity of going behind the
scenes and becoming acquainted with the
players. And here was the worst disappoint-
! ment of all. l found that the busiest work
shop, the most practical business in the great
town, WAS this same stage. as viewed
| from the rear. No business is more
mechanical, none more prosaic. And never
did hear the professionals talk of their art 1t
was all greed for money, and hustle to raise
| 1t by schemes, BY pItfS, by cunning, but never
| by the noble Culture of their art, that filled
their conversation. The musical professionals
were as bad. Such jealousies such material
ism, such utter absence of all that is poetica
and beautiful had never encountered. even in
club of dry-goods clerks. When l finally sat
| in the editors chair of periodical devoted to
light literatureI met the poets, the story-writers
and the romance makers. l attended the lat
homes" of some of the famous women WRITER'S
where genluses of all branches of art were said
to meet But there was no Bohemia. There
was even more worship of set forms and more
idolatry paid to mammon than at alleged So
ciety receptions had attended Well. 1 have
since been among the painters. have sat in
the Authors club and eaten my grill at the
Players club, and have not found Bohemia
And yet am assured that it is here. But
have my doubts. In romances. perhaps it still
exists. In reality it is thing of the past of
| the far distant past, and it has succumbed to
the Americans one end and aim in life-the
all-powerful craze to make money. If any
reader of The STAR dreams of Bohemian life
and its freedom from earthly vulgarity and pro-
sale d'ggin3an delving, let him dream. But let
him not hunt for Bohemia. Ii is better to be
happy dreamer than disappointed cynic. as
the cruelty deceived idealist is apt to be.
New York is at length to have the park IA
! cilities that such a great city should have.
Pelham Bay park, vast territory on the Sound
about twenty miles from the main business
portion OF the city, is to be opened to the pub
lie next summer. And, thank fortune, it is not
to be improved" for the present, at any rate.
There will be no signs warning visitors to
keep off the grass. and no rules to be OBJ
served against taxing dogs into the park pick
ing wild flowers or ferns or MOSES. and there
will be no hot, hard asphalt walks upon which
one must take his stroll or suffer immediate
election. The tract is much of it wild land,
with bosky dells and wooded ravines. where
nature has been left undisturbed for years by
the wealthy people, whose summer residences
and grounds have been purchased for the park
site. Then there are high hills and broad
grassy meadows, rocky promontories and great
stretches of sandy beach, where the tract
borders directly upon Long Island SQUAD By
July there will probably be line of steamers
plying between the city and the park. and the
will cost nothing to picnic, to battle. and to re-
Jolce III the pure atmosphere of heaven. In
the tract purchased are several fine mansions.
formerly occupied by the various owners of the
land. and in some cases these residences are to
be leased to people who will prevent them from
going to waste and destruction. But these
leases will in no way interfere with the perfect
freedom of the public to go wheresoever they
list and enjoy themselves al they please Only
few sparrow cops" the park policemen
are called. will be on hand to look after the
troublesome tough" element.
For years "Abbey's luck" has been among
theatrical people the synonym for good for
tune. Everything that Henry Z. Abbey has
managed has seemed to turn out prosperous
and the risks he has some times taken have been
so rash that the conservative ones have at
tributed his success to blind luck and nothing
else. But however good Abbeys luck may
have been, the luck of his stars and artists in
has baep rafhar fha ito Of