Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-05-04
ence Of The EVENING SraR.


Correspondence Of The EVENING STAR
NEw YORK. May s.
We are not yet done clearing up the debris |
of this weeks centennial celebration. good
part of it that isn't disposed Of is resting in the
station-houses and on Blsckwelrs island in the
shape OF drunks and disorderlies, pickpockets
and confidence men from out of town, who are
guests of the city longer than they anticipated.
In one period of two hours that l spent Tues
day night with the newspaper reporters at the
nineteenth precinct station-house no less than
twenty-four disorderly strangers were sent be-
low by the sergeant for examination. Ten out
of the twenty-four appealed to the reporters TO
keep their names out of the papers, and six out
of the ten asked the favor on the ground that
they themselves were newspaper men. think
they lied. Newspaper men aren't in the habit
of calling each other brother" and that is the
endearing way five out of the six accosted
Barker Bradford. the Spokesman for the New
York reporters. The sixth man said he was a
Journalist" and that settled il. HIS was the
only name printed next morning In all the
papers.
Some more debris that isn't vet cleared up
is the cheap tri-colored bunting with which
much OF the decoration OF buildings was done.
Nobody knows what to do with it. ami il can't
be given away. Ii won't wash. The great rain
OF last week Saturday amalgamated ali the
colors into one, and the result that houses
all over town were dripping with dark red
gore that dyed every passer-hy until citizens
and visitors looked as if they had been wading
in carnage. Awnings, even white marble fronts.
bear the stains from the cheap patriotism of
the decorators, and a stone-mason told me that
only marble chisel will remove the ugly coll
oring from the dedaubec fronts of houses.
AFTER THE PARADE.
LII Il L
up of the industrial parade on Wednesday the
multitudes trying to get away found their
progress barricaded on every square
by tens of thousands of nail and
beer kegs, cracker boxes, soap boxes.
dry goods boxes, orange crates, and lumber.
These impedimenta had been used by curb
stone spectators in erecting stands of their
own, on which they rented standing room at
half dollar head. Orange and banana peels,
peanut shells, remnants of ham sandwiches
and old newspapers strewed the once beautiful
avenue, all ground into a nasty mess by thou
sands of feet. Add to this the appearance of
the buildings on either side, Uttered with rough
lumber stands, and the Yorker barely able
TO recognize the well-kept thoroughfare which
is the pride of every inhabitant in Gotham.
Washington could have taken both of the
mammoth centennial parades of this week and
made of them thing of beauty. A big parade
on broad, smooth Pennsylvania avenue is a
great contrast TO big parade on our narrow
9Th avenue, lined with buildings up TO the very
edge of the street boundary. Here the only
really good view of the marching hosts was
that obtained from the talest roofs because
the line of onlookers was packed SO close as to
give the procession barely enough space in the
middle of the street to pass. In Washington
the many squares and parks and the broad ave-
nue. allow even those on The ground fair op-
portunlty to separate the people in the show
from the people in the audience so TO speak.
The Washington Light Infantry made great
impression. especially among the ladies. who
cheered enthusiastically the martial bearing of
Col. Moores men. Their uniform declared
the handsomest of any organization IL the line.
and. after the West Point Cadets, their march,
ing and maneuvering were the most perfect
TIE DIsoEDERLY BALL.
Passing from the parades to other features of
the centennial, the first that deserves mention
is the bail, and it deserves mention in terms of
strongest condemnation. Ward McAllister is
amply avenged for his abrupt dismissal from
its management. l have looked upon many
scenes of mad and furious rioting at similar as
semblages of toughs, but | have never seen
disorder more drunkenly rampant than at this,
the American court BALI of the century.
After the quadrilie d'honneur nobody danced
. except in occasional instances where away off
il one corner few feet Of clear space was
taken advantage of for spin by one or two
couples III a waltz. 1t was said that g. 600 more
admitted by ticket, and l don't believe the
number was much exaggerated. Everything
was apparently free as air to all who came, and
the champagne was especially free. When the
snpper-room doors were opened there was
pell-Inell rush for the bar that would have
shamed Billy McGlory's scarlet ball. Womens
hllnsy laces were torn from them, and trains
were ripped at every turn. The walters were
striker with such panic that they handed out
free wine right and left, and the men slowed
bottles under their coats, glasses in their coat
tail pockets and fought their way to place
where they could at leisure knock the neck off
the bottle and drink the wine. If they carried
the bottles in their hands other men who hadn't
any would snatch away the coveted exhilarant,
and the curses among the belligerent were of
the choicest Bowery billingsgate. Ladies strug-
gled in this disgusting crowd were insulted
freely, and sometimes received painful bruises.
And sad to say some women fought as madly
for the champagne as the men. and after the
President left some of these women, as well as
the men, were most Enthusiastically drunk. And
Inspector Byrnes, whose corps of experienced
detectives was present, declares that there
but one person in the ballroom whose charac-
ter was at all shady. L hope he is mistaken,
for it would be disgrace to our civilization to
know that such conduct was possible from peo-
pie who had to have their references approved
before thev were allowed to buy tickets. Soon
after l o'clock the police were ordered to clear
the supper-room, and they were compelled to
do 1t with the same brute force that they have
used before now at balls where not one of the
400 would be seen for kingdom. Stuyyesant
Fish himself, the grand mogul who displaced
Ward McAllister, was hustled out of the sup
per-room with lady on his arm and police
mans club poked in his ribs, and
this modification Of the party response
bic for all the devilment of the ball
was fitting climax to the mismanaged orgie.
Out in the corridor female and male guests
stood in line for an hour to get wraps and hats
that had been checked, and when the police
finally put out the lights and closed the doors
at o'clock, they hustled out several men and
women hatless and umbrella-less, ladies sepa-
rated from their escorts, and people who were
unable to get the carriages they had come in
and were waiting for Others to be procured |
The friends of Ward McAllister are liberal ever
since with their "I-told-you-so's," and they say
with satisfaction that man may manage a |
railroad and make a success of it, but when it |
comes to balls railroad tactics are utterly use
less.
THE BANQUET
on Tuesday night at the Metropolitan opera |
house was distinguished success so far as the |
viands went, but it was a dismal failure in the |