Los Angeles herald., 1891-09-25
BOHEMIA IN NEW YORK.
WHERE ACTRESSES AND THEIR AR
DENT ADMIRERS MEET.


brettcs, Chorus Girls. CIubmen and Col
iegians Mako 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 bizarre company of
men and women who make it a habit to
be very wide awake o nights, when or
dinary 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 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 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
numbers, however, a new and spacious
apartment, aglow with electric lights,
was added to provide comfortable ac-
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. It 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
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
lest. 1t is striking picture of midnight
conviviality. Soubrettes and chorus girls
are the bright particular stars The
actors dressed up like fashion plates,
are sort of background to the picture.
The clubmen and collegians 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 hard to be a boy and
sit up with the 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
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 8
very big mistake.
NOT 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 como
TO town to have 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 collegians joke and
tell college stories. The soubrettes and
chorus girls take hand in the story tell
ing, at which some Of them have gift.
Very often the sun rises while the throng
is still there.
1t 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 revelers enjoy it and don't
bother their heads about any of Ben
Franklins judicious injunctions about
going early to bed and getting up with
the sun.
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 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-
temian caves. There is no boisterousness
and no singing of songs. A stranger will
find ont 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