The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-09-25
DINNER SEASON IS NOW NEAR AT HAND Voice of the Speaker Will Soon
 be Heard WAL DORF STILL POPULAR sherry's and DeImonleo's Also Have Large FollowIng-Attorney Jer
 ome Says New York Po-
 lice Not Competent.
WALDORF STILL POPULAR
BY JOHN MARTHoL.

New York; Sept 23.-The voice of the after-dinner speaker will soon be heard from the Battery to the Bronx, off and the big hotels and res- taurants are preparing the state din- ing rooms for the purpose. No city on the continent can compare with New York in the number and variety of the dinners given during the season which usually begins in October and continues without abatement until the commence ment of Lent. The feature of many or ganizations in New York Is the annual dinner and the members make 1t lead ing topic of conversation for months be- fore 1t comes. Aside from the local or ganizations there are many organizations made up of the residents of other states temporarily abiding in New York that feel that at least once year 1t Is well to gather round festal board and hear good speakers tell what a good part of the world they left behind them when they came to New York. Every social organization looks upon an annual din- ner as a necessity.
 Many of the organizations have come to regard the Waldorf-Astoria as their home on account of the number of din- ners they have given there while others would not feel at home anywhere else than in the ballroom at Cherrys. Del monico's did not seem as popular last season as in former years, but some or ganizations would feel that their dissou- ton was near If their annual dinner was held within other walls than those of Delmonico's. Tho St. Denis, The Marl- borough. The Arena.t and Stanley's have a following that is as certain as that of the more expensive places and within their portals some cf the brightest after dinner speeches of the season are to ve heard. The St. Denis has a strong fol- lowing among the clubs affiliated with churches and the teachers organizations would not be satisfied elsewhere, It Is likewise favorite resort for veterans organization and many a story of war time interest has had revival in the Colonial Room of that hotel The din- ners at the St. Denis are not so expensive as those at the Waldorf and Cherry's, but after all the GInner Is often but an introduction to a feast oL reason and flow of soul that follows
 One of the hardest worked men in New York Is the popular after-dinner speaker, for he Is always in demand and lis speeches must var and the same jokes will not stand repeating too often in season, as the press has acquired the habit of giving no small space to the din- ners where the best speakers are likely to be on the list. The formal dinner has come to play an important part in the settlement of public questions for many public officials say things In an after-din- ner speech that the most persistent re- porter could not draw out at an other time. Police CommissionerMeAdoo Is one of the best after-dinner speakers In New York, and he rarely makes speech that does not contain something that the public wants to hear and 1t Is gen. orally in line with some policy in the ad- ministration of his very important office. His predecessor. General Green, also made some important announcements as to his policy while appearing as an after dinner speaker. Since Senator Depew has spent so much of his time in Wash ington and for the past two years only appeared occasionlly at New York din- ners, no speaker has been given so much space as Simeon Ford and no speaker of this class has been so universally in de- mand Ford is always funny and he seems to enjoy his fun as much as any of his hearers. Job Hedges is another speaker often heard nt dinners and the public does not tire of him for he has the faculty of saying something new every time he speaks and he Is as yer satile as he is amusing.
 With the opening of the Hotel Astor and the St. Regis 1t is possible that some of the organizations attracted by the glamor and freshness of the new may hold their annual reunions at one or the other of these pIaces, but 1t Is safe to assume that the mere presence of the ever busy Oscar will of Itself be suffi- cient cause for many to continue pat ron.zing the Waldorf and there is no doubt that 1t will require a magic hand to replace him in the hearts of the New Yorker who has sampled the fruits of hta