The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-07-12

orchestra could play the most soul-stirring
music. these well-meaning but thoughtless
scribes and illustrators went forth with
joyous hearts loudly chronicling their dis
covery to the world.
CABS AND AUTOS WAIT.
And NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. and automo-
biles are to be seen waiting outside Little
Hungary's" doors, while the people who
came in them-men with well-fIled purses
and women in handsome and expensive
toilets-sit down at the tables inside to
pay $1.50 each for the table d'hote and SASS
a bottle for the champagne, while imagin-
ing that they are experiencing a rare bit
of Bohemianism. The orchestra plays
"Hiawatha' and other classics of the day
as far removed from the weirdly sweet
melodies of Hungary as Chicago is from
heaven; the jolly good-fellowship Of the old
days is but a memory and in It's place
reigns a spirit of forced unconventionality
that is often as boresome as it is unnatural.
Trust the Americans with the roll of bank
bills to spoil good fun!
Journeying uptown, and avoiding the
many fashionable restaurants where peo-
pie go to see each others clothes and be
seen themselves, the couple in search of a
good dinner amid interesting surroundings.
will find it worth while to pay a visit to
Monquin's. on Sixth avenue between Twen-
ty-seventh and Twenty-eighth streets. Mon
quin's cafe is in the old "Knickerbocker
Cottage" as it was once known, a quaint
wooden structure in the shadow of the
elevated railway. Once wholly French and
Italian, this eating house is now depend
ent almost entirely upon American patron
age, but the wine lists are still typically
Latin, little attention being given to beer,
while such dishes as frog-legs and spaghetti
always form important features of the
menu. A crowd of artists and newspaper
men is usually to be found at Monquin's in
the evening, and a jolly good crowd it is.
too.
There are many French and italian table
d'hotes in the vicinity of Monouin's. some
of them good. while others are pretty poor
limitations of the real thing" Most of
them occupy the first floor of old-fashioned
houses with high stoops and many of the
buildings are covered with ivy vines. In
the liveliest of these places you are likely
TO witness many fr~ee-and-easy scenes, for
oftentimes the young fellow who is treat
ing his girl to a fi~ve-course dinner with
claret becomes wildly sentimental. under
the influence of the music and the wine,
and makes love to the maiden of his heart
regardless of the amused side-glances Of
numerous onlookers.
The most f-ree-and-easy cafe of all is
Maria's. in East Forty-first street, an in
of the most fashionable and high-priced
rocta,tronfS ~ Nou, vorI~ A. l.--.-
hour you will find an orderly, respectable
enough looking company assembled there,
but from 10 o'clock on until well after mid
night the place takes on a different aspect.
Not that 1t becomes Objectionable from a
standpoint of public decency. but it is given
over to a general good time in which every
body present is nothing loath to Join.
Maria's, after the theater. is always
crowded with actors. musical folk, writer's
and men and women who care more for
comfort than appearance. Foreign-looking
people drop in. nod Familiarity to Madame
Maria, the buxom French woman who
acts as hostess. seat themselves at the
tables and sip their wine OF cordials while
they encourage any singer that may be
present to burst into song. 1t is quite the
thing to display your accomplishments at
Maria's. If you have any. If you can draw
good pictures. write bright verses on the
table cloths or sing a song worth hearing,
you may count yourself a member of the
jolly fraternity and be pretty sure of a
hearty welcome when you com again.
FAIR PATRONS SMOKE.
Maria's is one of the few better class
though not high-class. of course-eating
places in Gotham where the feminine guests
are allowed TO smoke, and at night after
the theater you will see many OF the fair
patrons of the place indulging in fragrant
cigarettes-not in a boisterous or otherwise
offensive spirit. but quite as a matter Of
course. as IL TO the manner born. The talk
is mostly of the stage and its environs, for
Maria's Is nowadays a ~favorite assembly
room for the people OF the Rialto. In the
old days Maria played her part Of hostess
In a little restaurant down town In the
vicinity OF Washington Square. Most of
her patrons then were writer's and artists
and many an interesting story is told of the
speeches that were made, the toasts that
were drank andsthe good times that were
had In the quaint old cafe. The new place
did not promise well at first. but when it
was found that. despite it's cheapness-the
table d'hote costs only half a dollar, and
you can get a really excellent claret for