, 1891-08-26
BOHEMIA IN NEW 0 R
WHERE ACTRESSES AND THEIR AR
DENT ADMIRERS MEET.


b~rettss, Chorus Girls. CIubmsn and Col
IeEians 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,
collegians and professional men, who
have the faculty of never getting sleepy
until the sun wakes up.
The restaurants nave 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 TenderIoin
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 ac-
c~ommodation for the special patrons. 1t
has mirrors and fine frescoes. In the
second restaurant the whole second foor
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 neal midnight before
the neighboring playhouses are shut up
and the fun makers of the stage are free
to enjoy themselves. Pretty actresses,
neat in attire, light witted and fond of
late hours and Bohemian associations
saunter in in knots of two or three. Male
escorts accompany them.
By 2 o'clock the coterie is at its live
liest. 1t is n striking picture of midnight
c~onviviality. Soubrettcs 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 c~ollegians and profess
sional men are the moths enjoying the
glitter. They are almost invariably
young. Sometimes, however, a gay old
fellow with gray hair and a jolly laugh
gives the interesting spectacle of the fell
low who is trying lard to be a boy and
sit up with tho other boys. Whether
the moths are young or old, however,
they 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
ing solid with the actors and managers.
They seem to imagine that this sort of
thing will insure good seats at the the
alter whenever they want to go there,
and that they won't AVE 10 pay for the
seats at all. In most instances this is a
very big mistake.
o WHAT IT USED TO BE.
The ~collegians are partial to the sec
ond-story bower at the upper end of
Broadway. Yale, Harvard and Prince
ton boys go there whenever they come
to town to ave n good time. They boom
things when they get there too. The
polished cherry tables are pushed to-
gether, and the soubrettes and chorus
girls draw up their chairs with the men.
Sometimes as many as thirty gather in
a single group. The c~ollegians joke and
tell college stories. The soubrettes and
chorus girls n a hand in the story tell
ing, at which some of them have a gift.
Very often the sun rises while the throng
is still there.
It all looks feverish and unhealthy to
the observer who has decided notions
about the hurtfulness of late hours and
late suppers, but there can be no doubt
that the jewellers enjoy it and don't
bother their heads about any of Ben
Franklin's judicious injunctions about
going early to bed and getting up with
the SUM-.
All this in marked contrast with the
revelry that used to run fast and furious
in the resorts that were numerous in the
Tenderloin district a decade or SO ago.
The pale faced opium eater and the
painted women of the streets do not pass,
as a rule, within the portals of these Bo
hemian caves. There is no boisterousness
and no singing of songs. A stranger will
find out in a twinkling that while all
seems to look more or less jolly and free
and easy, there is in reality a strict en-
forcement of order at all times.-New
York Sun.
ChIlI's Curious Currency.
IN. - Wilt - .o,o,+