Birmingham state herald., 1896-04-05

worth close to $1, ,000, 900. Today he hasn't got cent of that vast sum.
 man need not be very old to remem- Der Harry Hill in his glory, and there are tens of thousands in the country who do. Twenty years ago no one came to New York to see the sights without paying visit to the concert hall of Harry Hill at Houston and Crosby streets. There the visitors could see boxing and wrestling, singing and dancing, and mingle with all the big sports of the nation. It was the sporting center of the oity when New York was run on @ free and easy plan and before reform was ever dreamed of
 Tough characters-both men and wom- en-frequented Harry HilPs in those days, but if they attempted to mar the harmony of the place they were ejected with no gentle hand and the police were never called in either. The bent old man, with the wrinked face and sad look had mighty crafty pair of dukes in those days. and no matter how big the rowdy was Harry never hesitated second to go at him and thrash him into submis- sion. There was long pair of stairs, broad and slippery, leading up to the concert hall, and when a tough had been thrown down these after having been dumped badly there was very little fight left in him.
 Plenty ofRioh Patrons.
 Just before the war broke out Harry Hills was great resort of the sportive southern planters who came to New York with bulging pocketbooks. It was close to the old New York hotel now torn down, like all the other landmarks in that vicinity, and was within a couple of blocks of Niblo's Garden, also torn down. A few blocks away was No. SIS Broadway, the most famous gambling house New York ever knew, and which lasted longer than the others, for 1t has only been closed for a couple of years. The rich planters stopping at the New York hotel would go to Harry Hills after having visited 'S1S,' or the show at Niblo's Garden.
 As Safe as Bank.
 It is boast of Harry Hill that no man was ever robbed In his place, although men went there very tipsy and with im- mense sums in their pockets. It was al- ways his custom to relieve these patrons of their money and return 1t to them when they were sober It is a we'll au- thenticated fact that drunken man vis- ited the place one night and made great show of a large sum of money. Harry took every cent of 1t from that man, and on counting it up found that 1t amount ed to %64 900. The man went away, and the next morning, when he had sobered up, he discovered that the money was gone. He had dim recollection of be- Ing in Harry Hills the previous night, and he lost no time going there to find, if possible, some trace of the money. When the proprietor handed him his $84,- 900 intact the man wanted to buy cham pagne for all of New York, but he was advised to go home before he got into more serious truble.
 Like Gold Mine.
 In those days the receipts of the place averaged S6000 day, and more than half of it was clear profit. Like his patrons, Harry Hill spent money with liberal hand, driving the best horses that money could buy, lending right and left, and be- ing a good friend to every one. Yet last winte he had to pawn his overcoat to buy cloak for his little adopted daugh- ter so that she could go to school. This girl was the child of one of his old ser wants and Harry promised to take care of her, and he says he never broke his word in his life or went back on a pledge, and he Is not going to begin now.
 Like P T. Barnum, he was always on the lookout for attractions for his con cert hall, and when anything struck his fancy he bought 1t, no matter what it happened to be. One day he was going down to the ferry on his way home and he saw a clown ringing a bell. The clown was dressed in the usual cap and varie- gated pantaloons, the only novel thing about him being watch which, Hill
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