The herald., 1897-02-11
THE pRADlEY.MARI|N BALL..
Was Beautiful Beyond Repor.
tOriaI Words
ALL THE BITTER CRITICISM
Is Forgotten in the Artistic and Social
Success
In Beauty and In Expenditure New York
Multi rliIIionaires Have a New
Record to surpass
Associated Press Special Wire

Associated Press Special Wire
NEW YORK, Feb. 10.-Beautiful be-
yond description was the bal masque of
Mrs. Bradley Martin tonight. Columns
have been written about the affair and
pictures drawn, but the fancy Of the re-
porter and the artist Gid not picture
scenes one-haf as lovely as were pre-
sented in the Waldorf
For weeks Mrs. Martin has worked in
the preparation of the sumptuous affair.
Her efforts were richly rewarded The
bitter criticisms hurled at her were for
gotten and the hundreds who were pres
ent Wed in making her the happiest wo-
man in America.
The decorations throughout the Wal
dorf were exquisite. American Beau
| ties, lilies and the rarest of imported
blossoms, with vines and palms, were
intertwined in a marvelously beautiful
! scheme.
Never in New York has a greater
floral display been made at a ball. Tiny
| electric lights and mirrors were used in
a bewildering and artistic manner, all
| combining to transform the already
beautiful hotel to an enchanting fairy
house. The arrangements for the ball
were tested to their fullest, but with
excellent good fortune they were equal
| to every emergency. Thousands of men
and women crowded the streets around
the hotel, but the police kept them NOV
| ing, and no conflicts or excitement of any
| kind resulted. Detectives sWarmed in
ana around the house to prevent trouble,
| but their presence was not needed.
The costumes were exquisite. All the
great men and women of the last three
| centuries were represented. Arrayed in
raiment costly beyond the dream of the
originals, were the men and women who
| appeared tonight as ladies and gentle
men Of the olden periods.
| At midnight the great ball was at its
height. All society was there gath
cred to portray the regal splendor of
past centuries. The great ball room of
! the Waldorf, beautiful with wealth of
roses and fragrant flowers, was then a
scene of grandeur never before equaled
| in this country Courtiers Of old, from
every cline, mingled with grand danes
and ladies, kings and queens, princes
and princesses, but here and there the
| old spirit of loyalty mad manifested it.
self in the presence of colonial men and
women of old and quaint ways in Amer
| lea.
| Great social functions Of the past in
| this city were eclipsed, even the me-
morable Vanderbilt ball of 1883, with
| which since then all other affairs have
| seemed to suffer In comparison. For
| lavish expenditure, for artistic decora-
tions and surroundings, for reflection
| of the most picturesque periods in old
world history and as gathering of the
Iairest and richest in the new-world
| life, the ball tonight marked an epoch.
It was more than mile post in New
Yorl's history; it was the event of a
decade.
| Months of preparation and the outlay
| of hundreds of thousands Of dollars were
| exhausted in five hours. 1t was very
fashionable. Men and women travelled
across the continent for the honor of
! being present
AS many as fifty dinners preceded
Every coterie that makes. up swelldom
| had a dinner. Those who were going
| to the ball appeared in their fancy gowns
| that cost hundreds Of thousands ofdol-
| lars and which they win wear but once
and in their Jewels. After the dinner
their friends were invited in to admire.
| After the friends came the photographer,
| in order that the beauty and the gor-
| geousness of it all should not be lost
in future generations.
| Arrangements for receiving the guests
| as they arrived were as nearly perfect
| as could be, The guests alighted from
their carriages at 13 West ThirtythIrd
StIcel which Is Tie private TcSlueHCe OIL
| Manager Bolat, of the hotel, and went
| directly to the second floor of the hotel,
| where sixty apartments had been set
aside as dressing rooms. The guests
| were received by Mrs. Martin in the
small ball room.
| The scheme of decorations in this room
| was that of the time of Louis XIV, and
| before the daiS passed the counterfeit
presentments of all the prominent peo-
pie of that time to mingle in picturesque
| confusion In scenes of other days. After
being received by the hostess, who stood
upon raised dais under a canopy of
rare tapestry, the guests passed. through
a fiower-lined corridor directly into the
| large ball rOOm In the early portion of
the evening dancing in the main ball
| room on the first floor was general, but
E, it was not until all the guests had paid
| their respects to Mrs Bradley Martin
and she had been escorted to the ball
room proper that the fancy dress ball was
! formally opened
| In the small gallery were members
of the Twenty regiment band and
| the Hungarian band The music sudden
! ly stopped, for just moment, to be
| broken by flourish of trumpets as Mrs.
Bradley-Martir and her escort, Mr..
John Jacob Astor, entered the room.
| A moment later they had taken their
| places at the head of the room and thera
! told that the ouadrille dhonneur, ar.
ranged by Mrs. William Astor, was about
to open. The forming for the first fig
ure. The Salute. was like the turning
of pages of history. The characters
| gathered from all sections of the room
| There was Mrs. Bradley-Martin wear
ing a Marie Stuart costume, copied from
an old plate of that queens time: Mrs.
| John Jacob Astor in a Louis VI court
costume; Mr. Townsend Martin as a
cavalier of the court of Louis XIII and
Mrs. Henry Lohr in Louis XIV court
| costume.
From another section of the room
came Mrs. Orme Wilson. looking pic
turesque in Louis XIV court dress
| Of white and silver brocade. which fol-
| lowed the elaborate designs of the pc
| riod, and Mrs Whitney Warren wearing
, a costume of pale blue brocade and silk,
after the style of the time of Louis XIV
! Mr.. Lispenard Steward closely followd
| his partner, Mrs. Whitney Warren,
dressed as q cavalier of the court of
Louis XIII. The others of the sixteen
who took their places in this quadrille
| were: Mrs. Lee Taylor, Mrs. Craig
| Wadsworth, Mrs. Gerry, Mrs. Hitch