The sun., 1908-04-05
The End Of the FIFTH Avenue.

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The End Of the Fifth Avenue.
Fine and impressive are the lists Of
the great and famous men who have put
their names on the register OF the Fifth
Avenue Hotel. Half a century Of his
tory is written in those battered books,
Two wars, a great one and little one,
might be reconstructed from their pages
Every political campaign from the first
Lincoln canvass 70 the deadlock be-
tween Oddities and Parsonites last week
left its impress on this odd inn. This
IL an awesome thought,
Moreover, there was never a cash
register behind the bar Of the Fifth Ave-
nue. Hotel. When it opened such en-
gines for the promotion Of honesty were
not known. When the last drink was paid
for they had never been introduced.
Their virtues, the necessity Of using them,
the gain through the adoption Of 'mod-
ern business methods were explained
at length TO the proprietors Of the estab-
lishment, but to the end the Fifth Avenue
bar was one to which a man could go,
order his drink, pay PAT, or jim, or
JOHNNIE for it, and get his change with
out hearing a bell ring or walking over
to a cashiers desk. And the change
was not put down in the wet spot on the
bar either.
In the main corridor was the Amen
Corner. 1t was interesting to know that
many important persons had sat in it,
More 10 the point was the fact that
interesting men continued to 81 in it.,
BARNEY BIGLIN told there Of the rebuke
CHESTER A. ARTHUR administered to
him. They went together from a meet
ing Of the county committee 10 the Gilsey
House. Mr.. ARTHUR asked what Mr..
BIOLIN would drink. Mr., BIGLIN gave
his order. They drank. win you have
another drink?' said Mr.. BIGLIN TO Mr..
Arthur. BARNEY, said Mr., ARTHUR,
never ask a gentleman II he will have
another drink. Ask him only if he will
have drink Old? Perhaps Mr. Arthur
started the story on its travels
What was the atmospheric peculiarity
Of the long corridor that drove the un-
initiated ont Of the Amen Corner? Many
Of them invaded IT, to none Of them
was impOlteness shown; yet soon the
stranger found himself in another seat
and the Ameners we're by themselves,
A curious assortment; the needy and the
well to do, the generous and the mserly,
the stupid and the witty the important
and the completely inconsequential.
Once the hotel proprietors put in their
restaurant besides the portions Of bread
where will such pulled bread be got
noW?-crullers of the kind and texture
every country bred man believes he ate
in his boyhood. Delicious they were,
and they we're furnished for a time with
out cost. Then the supply ceased. No
regular needed TO ask why. There was
one who regularly ordered only cup of
coffee and ate with il crullers in such
quantities as to threaten the house with
bankruptcy This was a subject Of con-
versation, surmise and bitter regret in
the corridors for months,
It is said--the report is hard TO believe
that a barber in the hotel shop, the
shop that was mostly art gallery and
picture salesroom. once addressed to q
customer an unsolicited and unnecessary
remark. The customer never returned
The report spread and caused great
scandal. Such a thing had never been
heard of before. Many substantial
citizens denounced it as baseless, and
asserted that jim GRAY could have
explained the causes that led up TO its
circulation il that most discreet Of mer
could be got 10 talk. OF course jim had
nothing TO say. Tom GAY, who went &c
| Colorado to avoid SEEING the house close
always held that the story was baseless
! Il may have been true. The man who
! told IL is e respectable person, and soor
after the date OF the alleged incident q
number of manicure girls were hired by
Mr.. SCHREIBER. Soon af.erward thu
Republican State committee moved
away.
Mr., Villas apologized personally Il
most Of the guests Of the hotel when th'
increased cost OF meats made it neces
sary to raise the prices on the bill Of fare
That was soon after two guests haC
bought new hats, worn them from thu
shop with the white price tags still il
sight, and fined every man who calleC