The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-05-19
- ,DLEY-MARTINs' FAREWELL.
o...ription of the Gorgeous Dinner
at the WaldOrf-AstOria.


rgat last:
pawn began the $4,000 dinner, or
.t1er the preparation for it, Half the
u.snhouses in the vicinity were being
,saeked for their choicest blooms. Mrs.
o-,5Iev-Nlartin had decided on the color
/ self 1t was to be all pink and white;
.f,sr that Mr.. Boldt proprietor of the no.
ri was to have carte blanche.
THE table had to be made especially. 1t
| vqs twenty feet broad and seventy-six
/ fsat long-a huge oval that nearly filled
/ the EXQUISITE Aston gallery on the draw
ms. room floor where the dinner was laid.
/ Table linen of enormous size was procured
and laid on the great table. Then came
the decorating, which took an army of
florists all day long.
What the chosen few beheld when they
| entered the dining hall at p. m. was like
f,irv land Chiefest of all was the won
j lrous table, set with the WaldOrf-As torias
| frest service Of silver and glass-not just
plain cut glass and silver plate, but glass
/ an gold and prisms and solid silver of the
/ choicest design.
/ Mrs Bradley-Martin had supervised it
all herself. She was on hand early in the
morning running down from her rooms
IN the hotel. Again at $50 p m. she ap-
reared clad in afternoon gown of royal
purple cloth. What she saw evidently did
moi suit for she called sharply to Mr.
Pradley-Martin, who was giving SUCCESS
tions TO the florists and called him over
10 corner. Then she spied Mr. Boldt
VINO had brought in a party to see the
beauUlu- room.
what do these persons mean?" erie
Mrs BradleyMartn. Am / not payir g
for This room? Send these persons out ,at
once
So everybody was ordered out and half
dozen hunkies were put on guard. They
eHec-uany kept out all the inquisitive no.
I'll guests who wanted a peep. The only
way 10 get in was TO get Mrs. Bradley
Martins say-so, and she refused it to
everybody alike.
il was a late dinner. The guests were
bidden for p. m, but it was half after the
hour before the last of,them arrived. First
10 appear were Mr.. and Mrs 1. Townsend
Burden, last was Miss Gerry, much flus-
tered for fear she was late.
Mrs Bradley-Martin and Mr. Bradley
Martin were ready to receive the first of
the arrivals All the carriages were or
dered TO drive up to The side entrance on
Thrty-fourth street, where two f1unkies
guarded the private door which led to the
Astor gallery and the reception room,
which had been cut off from the rest of
the hotel
Half a dozen more, in immaculate uni
forms, bowed the guests up the red-car
pe ted stairs, where wraps and coats were
laid aside and where as many more of the
immaculate ones bowed the guests along
to The east room. There the host and
hostess received their guests, and from
there they passed along into the myrtle
room. which opens into the Astor gallery.
In that medium sized room, just as the
clock tinklad The half hour, stood a com
pany of eighty-six persons, whose total
wealth was more than most men can
grasp There were dozen men who have
II 100000 or more, and twice as many
Win 100000. OF the forty odd men, not
half a dozen we're not millionaires.
There were gowns that spoke of Paris
ransacked There were diamonds enough
for an Emperor's ransom and to spare.
4 There were enough diamond crowns to fit
out all the crowned heads of Europe and
have some over for Asia and Africa.
There We're necklaces worth $780, 900 apiece
on several white threats. 1t was a de-
1irum of wealth and an idyl of luxury and
maenihcence.
Among the last TO hurry in was Senator
Chauncey NJ Depew. When her eye
caught sight of him, Mrs. Bradley-Martin
. let a little sigh of relief escape her. Then
she was all smiles. Oscar, the Waldorf
Astorias majordomo and master of cere-
4 monies, stood in the hallway without. He
whispered something to a waiter, the
lights were turned on, the great ivory
white doors thrown open and the banquet
hall displayed. Behind a bank of palms
hidden orchestra of strings and flutes
struck up softly The Coronation March"
Mrs Bradley Martin turned to Senator
Depew.
Senator" said she, "shal we go in to
dinner?"
Senator Depew held out his arm In gall
liant STYLE and, with Mrs. Bradley Martin
leaning lightly on Ill led the way into the
great room, shimmering softly. in the glow
OF 1000 tiny candles The rest of the
guests-to each woman an escort had been
assigned-sauntered in as they pleased,
and MIR. Bradley Martin, with Mrs. James
p Kernochan on his arm, brought up the
rear
There was a card at each plate; 1t was
not hard for the guests TO md their duly
appointed seats Mrs. Bradley-Martin and
Senator Depew sat directly in the middle
u1 one side of the oval and Mr. Bradley
Martin and Mrs Kernochan on the other
side, facing them Host and hostess thus
upset an old convention thai they should
sit at the head and foot of the table.
1t was like fairyland then In a twink
ling half a hundred silent-footed walters
were busy-the clans appeared as Il by
magic and the $4,000 dinner was on.
Never did diners see tables decorated
win more SDlendOr. Ihere nave Deen
costlier decorations in the dead of winter,
Il when roses cost 81 apiece but none more
elaborate than this. The great broad oval,
stretching from one end of the room to The
other, was simply bank of flowers
Sweet peas and white lFacs; that was the
scheme Of decoration. Great round masses
Of the pink sweet peas were set in front
of each plate. making a pink oval within
the white one Flanking them were great
punches Of white lilacs, set in glass vases
truly a combination of color and odor
That spoke of spring-tim There was
more, TOO, that told Of budding green and
woods thick with blossoms-the dogwood
housAs
All the corners of the room and all the
spaces between the windows and doors
Were heavily set with palms, but the beau
VIA sprays of white dogwood blooms
masked them in turn. The room Cooked
lie a fairy arbor.
hdl the flowers were not all. There were
tne candles hundreds Of them, rising tier