The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1897-02-11

2
and women crowded the streets around
the hotel but the police kept them
moving, and no conflicts or excitement
of any kind resulted. Detectives
swarmed in and 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
lavishly beyond the dream of the orig
inals were the men and women who
appeared last night as ladies and gen
tlemen Of the olden periods Adjectives
fail to express the beauty Of the scene.
1t looked as if the treasure trove Of
ages had been combined with the in
genuity of today in a wealth of gilt
tering jewels, rare old laces, silks and
Yelvets.
At midnight the great ball was at its
height. All society was there gathered
to portray the regal splendor of past
centuries The great ballroom of the
Waldorf, beautifed with a wealth Of
roses and fragrant flowers, was the
scene of grandeur never before equal
led in this country. Courtiers of old,
of every cline, mingled with grand
danes and ladies, kings and queens,
princes and princesses, but here and
there the old spirit Of loyalty had man
ifested itself in The presence Of colonial
men and women of the old and quaint
days in America.
For lavish expenditure, for artistic
decorations and surroundings, for re-
Election of the most picturesque epi-
sodes in old world history and a gath
ering of the fairest and richest in the
new world life the BAH marked an
epoch. 1t was more than mile post
in New York's social history. 1t was
the event Of a decade.
Victor Herbert, with so men Of the
I've ty-second ReSiment band, were
pr4cAed in the west end of the balcony
of the large ballroom. A Hungarian
band Of p, in powdered wigs and
quaint uniforms, were in the east end.
AS each guest was ushered into the
room In which Mrs Martin received
a lackey announced his or her name
and the character from the 10th, 18th
or 18th centuries which he or she rep
resented.
The Bradley-Martin ball VIII go down
in history classed with the Schermer-
horn fancy dress ball of nearly half a
century ago, the Prince of Wales ball
and the Vanderbilt ball. But 1t eclips-
ed all Of these. 1t is the crowning
glory of the social life of New York
of this century. 1t may not be sur
passed in another hundred years. 1t
was a gorgeous, superb and wonder
full spectacle. It cost a fortune, and
the workers who benefited by it will
say that the money was well expended.
The results of most Of the preparation
and the outlay Of hundreds Of thous-
ands Of dollars was exhausted in nvo
hours.
The guests were received by Mrs.
Martin in the small ballroom as they
descended from the upper floor. In
this room Mrs. Bradley Martin stood
on the dais, slightly raised under a
canopy Of rare tapestries. The scheme
of decorations in this room was that OF
the time of Louis XIV, and before the
dais passed the counterfeit present.
ments Of all the prominent people OF
that time, to mingle in picturesque
confusion with characters of other
days.
After being received by the hostess
the guests passed through a flower
lined corridor directly into the large
ballroom. In the early portion of the
evening udHclA6 IN the main ballroom
on the first floor was general, but II
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 bal
was declared formally opened
In the small gallery were the mem
bers of the Twenty second Regiment
band and the Hungarian band. The
music suddenly stopped for just mo.
ment, to be broken by a flourish Of
trumpets as Mrs. Bradley Martin and
her escort, Mr.. John Jacob Astor, en-
tered the room. A moment later they
had taken their places at the head OF
the room, when there was another
| flourish Of the trumDets, which told
that the quadrllle d'honeur, arranged
by Mrs William Astor, was about to
open.
The forming for the first figure, "thC
salute" was like the turning Of pages
of history. There was Mrs. Bradley
Martin wearing Marie Stuart cos
tune, Mr.. John Jacob Astor in Loui!
VI court costume, Mr.. ]. Townsend
Martin as q cavalier of the court oi
Louis XIII and Mr. Henry Lohr ii
Louis XIV court costume.
From another section of the room