Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-01

/
New Yorkers have the habit OF maxi
ing a sort of Roman festival Of New
Years eve. Unless all signs fail the
celebration this year will be a wonder
something, in fact. for the old town
to remember for many a day. The
great white way is making prepare
tion for the biggest blowout New York
has ever known.
New York does more eating and
drinking In six hours between 10 y. IN.
New Years eve and 4 a. m. New
Years day than in any other six hours
OF the year. and far bigger crowds
gather in Broadway than are attracted
| by any other celebration. On election
night there Is a multitude out. and
there is noise and jollihcation; but on
| New Years eve old Father KniCker-
booker turns himself loose for fair.
1t is estimated that $4,000 persons will
sup in these white way hotels and res
taurant5 New Years eve. They will
eat enough to feed an army and they
will drink enough champagne to float
a battleship. OF course the set price
of the supper Is only part of the
cost of a blowout of this sort 1t is
when the celebrators get warmed up
that the extra bottles begin to come
into action.
While there will be high jtnks in
some of the big gathering places, the
gayest froliCs and the most noise viii
be in the street or in the resorts off
Broadway.
There Is a growing disposition TO
take the bride off" on New Years
eve, and IRON present indications this
Will be done to a greater extent this
year than eve: before. There is only
one thing that is likely TO prevent it
and that is rain.
Hotel and restaurant men in the dis
trict between Twenty-third and Forty
eighth streets say there never was such
rush to reserve tables for New
Years eve as they have had this
year. Within the last week many a
man has gone into Martins, Rector's
or the knickerbocker to reserve a table
only to be informed that in none of
these places has there been a table left
for a fortnight. Prospective hosts
many of them men of fortune-have
begged and have tried to bribe head
walters, but without avail. Many of
these men have made up parties for
their friends and invited them out for
the night, but the best they can hope
for is that some of the persons who
have made reservations will not avail
themselves of their opportunities, in
which event they have chance to get
in.
At the Big Restaurants
The man with little money to spend
would do well to keep away from the
big restaurants and hotels that night
In fact, he will have to. for the pro-
prietors practically have put a ban
on him in establishing a fixed bill of
fare for the night with a fixed price
for it. The maximum for New Years
iS nd int
The establishing of a fiat price does
not mean that a man or woman who
partakes of the meal will not get his
or her full moneys worth. On the con-
trary, for either of these sums they
will be offered a menu that few per-
sons would care to go through in itsl
entirety. This fixed tariff is estab
lished simply for the reason that the
hotels and restaurants wish to accom-
modate their patrons in comfort. for
the reservation of a table at such fig
ureS means that the management can
save it for patron at profit to them
selves and with the assurance to the
patron that he can spend his evening
in comfort, and be neither crowded
nor hurried over his feast.
The Hotel Astor looks forward to ac-
commodating between 1900 and 2000 per-
sons at table on this greatest gas
tronomic night of the year. That is
the regular seating capacity of the reg
ular rooms set apart for eating. The
overflow will be taken care of on the
eighth floor. Every table in the regu-
lar restaurants and dining rooms has
been engaged 1t is the custom of
this house not to reserve a table with
out an order of a meal being given,
and thus far the average cost per plate
of these orders is $5. with an extra
allowance of SO a plate for wine"
The management is preparing a sur
prise for it's patrons in the way of an
elaborate electrical transformation to
announce the birth of the new year.
In the Flower Room
Next to this hosiery the Knicker-
booker will have the greatest number
of places at table, and the manage
ment there has been at work for weeks
preparing for the night of nights.
set price has been fixed for meals
served in the main dining room, the
flower room and in the rooms on the
first floor upstairs of S. plate. with
out wine. in the rathskeller the tariff
is SO a plate, and in no case will any
one who has a. place in one of these
rooms be crowded in any way, for
there is a rule in all of these restau-