San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-05-15
Old New York Signs.


Many of the signs which hung up
on New York taverns were CT Eng
lish origin; some of great antiquity.
The White Iona lion rampant,
painted white, and set into the wall
at st. Johns, Clerken well-was q
noted resort of cattle drovers; the
Kings Head and the Queens Head,
bearing the image of the reignlng
sovereign, were common in all parts
of the kingdom; there were number
less signs of the Coach and Horses in
London alone; the Three Pigeons is
as old as Ben Johnson, and frequent
ly met with; so was the Fight
ing Cocks at StaftOrdshire, where
this sport was in fashion. DR..
Samuel Johnson has made the pine
apple famous; it was originally used
by confectioners, but later by inn
keepers also; the Globe is familiar to
all literary men; the Dogs Head in
the Pot" of great antiquity, had lit
tit to recommend it, save to the scum
of society, emblem as it was from ear
ly time of slovenly housewlfery and
mean accommodation. Strange to
say, however, that while there exist
innumerable examples of the White
Horse in England, the recent eX-
haustive researches into the history
of sign boards have not brought to
light that of the Bl ick Horse, which
was in frequent use in the American
colonies.
He that would understand the story
of New York signs must not be mis-
led by the idea that they were fixtures.
On the contrary, they were as much
property as trade marks are today,
and migratory as their owners.
Among the noted buildings was the
mansion of the Van Courtlands.
IL was a structure Of gray stone,
two stories high; it's windows long
and arched, opened to the floor; from
its rear piazza the ground slOped to
view of the Orange Mountains and
the Palisades on the Jersey shore.
From the cupola on the roof still
more extended prospect presented
itself-the two rivers, skirted with
picturesque wooded hill-sides and
their rapid currents joining each
other at the point Of the island, and
mingling with the waters of the bay;
in the distance the hills of Staten
Island and the opposite shore, COM
handing, with their natural abut-
ments, the passage of the NarrOws.
The Delaney stables were noted for
their excellence, the gentlemen of
this family being famous from one
end of the colony to the other as
breeders and runners of thorough
| breds. Broadway was already the
favorite street. The Church Walk in
front of the Trinity grounds was the
resort of the fashion of the town for
the afternoon stroll. Certainly there
was no more agreeable as well as
commodious site in all New York for
a first-class tavern. 1t is noticeable
that it is announced by Willett as a
gentleman's house only. Ladies' rare,
| ly travelled in those days, and when
| thew did venture, were entertained
by their friends or lodged in private
houses. The manners of the day lit.
tie favored the chance mingling of the
sexes in public. In word, there
were no hotels in the modern sense o.
the word. The arms which hung
over the door of the new tavern
were common to province anC
the city. A heraldic de
scription of the blazOnry is wanting
The outline is familiar: an Indiar
sailor upholds a shield, on which are
the emblems Of the trade in flour and
in peltry, the chief business of the
early city-a windmill, flour barrels
and beavers-all surmOunted by tn,
royOl crown.
The new tavern was Immediately
patronized by the public societies
No work of learning or charity OF
enterprise could be initiated or carried
on in the old days except with the &C
compartment of good cheer. The
committee of the New York Library,
chartered this very year, met hers To
choose it's officers. The college of the
prOvinCe-Kings, now Columbia
the Provincial Lodge of Free and Ac
copied MasOns, and the st. Andrews
Society followed their example,
From "Old New York Taverns," by
JOHN AUSTIN STEVENS, in Harper
Magazine for May.