The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1891-09-17
BOHEMIA IN NEW YORK.
WHERE ACTRESSES AND THEIR AR
DENT ADMIRERS MEET.

Metropolis Turns Night Into Day-sou-
brettes, Chorus Girls, Clubmen and Col
Iegians Make Up the Parties.
At that hour when staid and solid
Gothamites are either preparing to go to
:. bed or are already fast asleep there be-
gins to gather in two well known Broad
way restaurants a bizarre company of
men and women who make it a habit to
be very wide awake O. nights, when or
binary mortals are abed and asleep.
These nocturnal gatherings form an odd
feature of the faster life of the big town.
They are Partisan in their Bohemian
good fellowship, and they seem to pos
sess marked interest for those who find
pleasure in contemplating the various
modes of existence that the lively me
torpolis presents to the philosophic OBJ
server. The nocturnal bon vivants who
make up the coterie are actors and
actresses, men about town, clubmen,
~collegiaas and professional men, who
have the faculty Of getting sleepy
until the sun wakes up.
The restaurants have become noted re-
sorts because of the presence Of these
Bohemian spirits. They are prosperous,
and in the character and quality Of their
creature comforts rank in the first class.
Their prosperity has been attributed to
fortunate location. They are situated
half a mile apart on the west side of
Broadway, amid the group Of fashionable
theaters and big hotels in the Tenderloin
district, that famous parallelogram of
Gotham blocks which has for years been
known as "the heart of the city," and
which is a locality that the police say
never goes to sleep"
Special accommodations are provided
for the Bohemian set. They recall the
Gave Of Harmony" that Thackeray tells
about. In the restaurant at the south
ern end of the big Tenderloin parallelo-
gram this Bohemian Cave Of Harmony
is located ON the ground floor. When
the restaurant was first established the
bower was directly back of the big
apartment where ordinary guests got
their late meals.
WHERE THEY MEET.
1t was separated from the main res
taurant by an alcove decorated with lace
curtains. When the coterie grew in
numbers, however, q new and spacious
apartment, aglow with electric lights,
was added to provide comfortable &C
commodation for the special patrons. 1t
has mirrors and fine ~frescoes. In the
second restaurant the whole second floor
of the building is set aside for the Bo-
hemian bower. 1t is carpeted and com
fortably furnished, and the indispensa-
BILE mirrors are there too.
1t is generally near midnight before
the neighboring ~playhouses are shut up
and the fun makers of the stage are free
enjoy themselves. Pretty actresses,
neat in attire, light witted and fond of
late hours and Bohemian associations
in in knots of two or three. Male
accompany them.
By 2 o'clock the coterie is at its live
lest. 1t is a striking picture Of midnight
.conviviality. Soubrettes and chorus girls
are the bright particular stars. The
actors, dressed up like fashion plates,
are a sort Of background to the picture.
The clubmen and collegians and profess
men are the moths enjoying the
They are almost invariably
young. Sometimes, however, a gay old
with gray hair and a jolly laugh
gives the interesting spectacle of the fell
low who is trying hard to be a boy and
sit up with the other boys. Whether
the moths are young or old, however, |
seem inspired with the same ardent
ambition to gain the good graces of the
theatrical people.
Each plunges into his pocket for money
and tries to excel the others in spending
it for the entertainment Of the soubrettes |
and chorus girls, and incidentally keep
solid with the actors and managers.
They seem to imagine that this sort of
thing will insure good seats at the the
ater whenever they want to go there,
and that they won't have to pay for the
seats at all. In most instances this is a
very big mistake.
o WHAT 1T USED TO BE.
The ~collegians are partial to the Sec
ond-story bower at the upper end of
Yale, Harvard and Prince
boys go there whenever they come
70 town to have a good time. They boom
when they get there too. The
cherry tables are pushed to-
and the soubrettes and chorus
girls draw up their chairs with the men.
as many as thirty gather in
1 single group. The collegians joke and
ell college stories. The soubrettes and
girls take n hand in the story tell
ng, at which some of them have a gift.
Very often the sun rises while the throng
s still there.
1t all looks feverish and unhealthy to
he observer who has decided notions
about the hu~rtfulness of late hours and
ate suppers, but there can be no doubt
hat the jewellers enjoy it and don't
their heads about any Of Ben
judicious injunctions about
early to bed and getting up with
The sun.
All this in marked contrast with the
that used to run fast and furious
n the resorts that were numerous in the
renderloin district a decade or so ago.
The pale faced opium eater and the
women of the streets do not pass,
Is a rule, within the portals of these Ro-