The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-09
PlNK INK IN
[ HELL'S KITCHEN.
A Butter-in In Bohemia Who Tried
the Back Yard Table
d'Hote Business.

were concerned " had everything PoSsiOl0
to live for and when it came to advice-wen,
there were some 20 rude a. to say In loud
and unseemly tones that advice was what
the Butter-in died Of, that is, aside from
the tin cans.
1t must be understood to begin with that
the Butter-in was outside OF the real ooun-
diaries Of Bohemia, being In the immediate
vicinity OF Hell's Kitchen. That location
was the personal choice Of the proprietor.
lie was a college graduate, a tall and rather
fetching lad In whom 1t was easy to become
Interested, \ lad whose swinging gait and
lordly manner carried with 1t from the
first subtle suggestion Of Counts in disguise
or purse proud table d'hote proprietors.
lie chose both the name and the location.
Some liked the name as indicating genuine
BolIemianism, but others shook f~oreboding
heads upon It's u~tterance.
ITS enough to queer a table d'hote In q
fashionable neighborhood," they said, but
by Hell's Kitohen!'
At any rate Bohemian artists, swarming
from all points Of the Bohemian compass,
FASTENED to draw pictures for this summer
garden which was soon to become the
a in their Bohemia. One drew a sign
exhibiting a billy goat that according to tho
n~eighbors queered the neighborhood, which
from all ~ccounts was queer enough TO
start with. 1t was a large and wooden
sign and it hung out midway between the
| two tall windows on the first floor until the
neighbors SHE'D things at it, whereupon It
was taken in OF nights and hung In q back
room.
But, TO begin at the beginning, the col-
lege graduate, having, against all history
and precedent, taken q furnished house in
this strange neighborhood, proceeded with
| the assistance Of his unoocupied friends
! Of Bohemian persuasion to paint the back
yard, not red, but green, to arrange a can
vas for its covering and to run green zigzag
steps from the back parlor windows down.
| Why zigzag, it was impossible to say, since
in Bohemia steps take strange and freaky
notions of their own accord.
But in regard to the canvas, IL the canvas,
they said at the wake, had extended the
entire length OF that back yard and il wire
netting had covered the canvas, and il, in
addition, there had been placed securely
above the whole a strong steel roof which
was entirely tin can poof, the Butter-in
might have fourished greenly to his day
and left no ostensible reason for the writing
Of this story.
No such precautions were taken however,
for it was a fad Of the proprietor TO dine his
guests out under the stars. He simply spread
the oanvas half way across the yard and
entirely omitted the protection Of the net
ting, likewise of the roof Of steel.
People have dined out under the stars
in many New York neighborhoods: they
are doing so perhaps at the very time OF this
writing. but in the immediate vicinity Of
Hell's Kitchen-no.
At first the neighbors looked ON from a
hundred windows down upon the feeding
guests and that was all. The guests in the
intervals of feeding returned their gaze
and saw strange sights.
They saw ~silhouettes Of kimonos, OF girls
getting ready to go out to work, ballet girls
and such, Of husbands and wives pouting
silently in separate windows, OF connubial
fRhts and connubial kisses. All the while
the college graduate circulated cOurteously
among his guests asking their advice.
"Why," he asked one evening, with a COM
prehensive glance at the scarcity Of diners
and the broad expanse Of white ~unoccupied
tables, why do people come and compli-
ment your dinner and eat it with good
appetite apparently, then go away and
never, never, never come again."
Il think replied one Bohemian, 1T is
perhaps because the wine is not strong
1T seems to me- another vouchsafed,
shat IL you added a course or two to your
bill Of fare they would come again"
in other words, give US something 10 eat, :
piteously begged a third.
The lordly proprietor smiled at them and
lighted another lantern and went his way.
arrL- -s-~ l.. -1raa than 10 NO hafOR~ .
thex said the night after, q as for the
dinncrl' Here they became quite inco-
herent.
Still the problem was unsolved.
what shall we do TO make this place go1'
they asked, and putting their elbows on the
tables they thought it over.
They finally decided upon a plan. Each
week a noted Bo~hemian-noted no matter
for what-would send out post cards to his
friends or hers and beg them to join in a
special dinner on a certain evening In his or
her honor-the guests to pay, Of course. for
their dinner, the price being on the card.
The plan seemed to promise success.
Very well. A queen Of Bohemia who was
selected to be honored first proceeded to
write fifty post cards to her most tried and
trusted friends and sent them out,
The summer garden was then well lighted
with lanterns Of the Japanese variety, which
gave IL a very decided Bohemian aspect.
Well, at half past 7 by the clock the friends
Of the Bohemian queen began to arrive.
They filed the summer garden. They par
took Of the dinner, they drank Of the pink
ink. And then began the music and the
r~ecitations.
To give Hell's Kitchen it's due; it was
not until the first act on the programme
wa ended that the n~eighbOrs began to
assert the mselves. Evidently they were
willing to permit an ordinary 20 cent pink
ink table d'hote gathering TO go on without
molestation directly under their eyes, but
they drew the line at special dinners.
As they said at the wake, II only the
proprietor had thought to stretch the can
vas over the whole backyard and put wire
netting and a steel roof over that it might
have been different. He thought Of It PER-
haps, but he had a will OF his own. He did
what he pleased, and that sort OF thing
failed to go in the immediate vicinity Of
Hell's Kitchen.
At any rate, when the dinner had come
to a successful endl and the negro waiter