Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-05
NEW YORK'S NEW YEAR
Large Sums Spent at FASH
ionabIe Cafes to Welcome 1t.
EVIDENCE OF PROSPERITY
Church Collections Abate Not and
New Churches Building.
RELIGION NOT ON THE DECLINE
Many Christmas Presents Bought
and Cash Remittances Sent
Abroad-Facts Financial.
RELIGION NOT ON THE DECLINE

| By WILLIAM F.. CURTIS.
! Special Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
NEW YORK. January ., 1909.
No one who witnessed the advent of
| the new year in New York or read the
| newspaper reviews of events in 1905
would imagine that this city had just
emerged from a financial panic and ter
rible commercial and industrial depres-
| SION Never was so much money spent
| for hospitality and hlarity as on New
Year eve. The whole population seemed
| to be in the streets. the theaters, the res
| taurants and cafes. rejoicing. Four thou
| sand people sat at the supper tables in
| the Waldorf Astoria: two thousand at the
| Knickerbocker Hotel: fifteen hundred at
| the Astor and a corresponding number
at other fashionable dining places, max
| ing total of thirty-five thousand at the
! twenty-five first-class eating places along
9Th avenue and Broadway.
What the Feasting Cost.
Estimating that these pleasure seekers
spent average of five dollars each, 1t
is clear that nearly two hundred thou
on supper checks that evening at twenty
| five restaurants, and really that Is very
| low estimate At some of the fashionable
places, like Sherry's, the ST. Regis, Mar
| tins, Delmonicos and Rector's, tables
were not reserved for less than four per-
! sons or supper orders for less than TWEEN
ty dollars, but no such limit was imposed
upon the patrons of the larger hotels.
Any respectable person who applied at
the Waldorf-Astoria in time was given a
number for a table until seats. for three
thousand persons had been assigned. and
for the first time in the history of the
hotel the crowd spread upstairs into the
banquet hall and the adjoining ballroom.
More than four hundred extra walters
were employed for that evening, and the
receipts were larger than ever before in
the history of the establishment
L am referring simply to the supper.
which began about 10 o'clock and lasted
until the old year was dead and the ad-
vent of the new year had been announced
by the chimes in the church steeples and
the shrieks of the whistles of the factories
and the ferryboats. Thousands of other
people and, in many cases theNsame per-
sons. took their dinners at the same
places.
Bought as Much, But Spent Less.
The holiday shopping in New York was
as active as ever before and quite as
much money was spent as in 1905, which
was the banner year. At two or three of
the largest establishments where l made
inquiries i was told that the purchases
were not so costly as in that year; that
quite as large number of articles were
sold, but the average expenditure would
undoubtedly he considerably less. In
other words, there was no display Of ex-
| travagance: as one of the managers said:
The spenders' did not blow themselves
off as they did two years ago at this
time"
The general feeling in manufacturing
and mercantile circles is that of cheerful
confidence that the new period of prosper
ity will continue indefinitely. and while
the volume of business during the last
ninety days has been only about three
fourths as large as for the corresponding
period two years ago it was 81 per cent
greater than in 1907.
Prosperity Back to Stay.
Every body who is competent to judge
will tA you that prosperity has come
back again and is going to stay. This is
illustrated in a most striking mrnner in
real estate circles. where every one says
that confidence is greater than ever and
that New York city real estate has not
lost one iot or title of value despite the
general devastation of the last fourteen
| months. On the contrary it has taken on
increased value through the utilization Of
much property for which there was no
use a year ago, and which will be covered
with costly buildings before the expira-
ton of the new year.
During 1905 permits We're issued for
1I.Wo buildings, at a cost of 500. 600 900.
That was a banner year in the history
of NV York. During 1907 there were
1900 permitr for buildings to cost $780,
100000. and during 1908 there were per-
nit mits ST. for 1900 buildings to cost $780,
00OO Aleady provision has been made
for the construction during 1909 of
$35. 100000 worth of office buildings alone,
and nearly all of them will be sky
scrapers. Five of these buildings will
be erected H. the downtown district be-
low the city hall; ten are to be erected
between Chambers street and 14th street.
stree
During the last year n9o6) there were
32,GtO transfers of real estate i'm Man
haitian and the Bronx: in 1907 there were
81 900 and in 1908 there were 1900
During 1906 the value of mortgages
recorded in Manhattan and the Bronx
was S55s.OO0O0: in 1907 the total was
S37S, 100000. and in 1908 it was 1910. coo
The year 1909 is expected to be a rec
ord-breaker in building.
Churches Retain Their Hold.
One of the most interesting features of
the building in New York is the number
of churches that are being erected in diff
d
the ctker day who told me that the peo-
pie of New York and other cities were
abandoning their religion: that the
churches had lost their hold upon the
community; that the pews were empty;
that the interest in spiritual affairs was
dying. and that tidal wave Of rational
ISM was sweeping over this part of the
county She asserted that the people
az New York were giving themselves
e,i''ieiy CI to pleasure like the popula-
ton CT Babylon, and. as evidence. point
en- TO ne number of new theaters that
werA beirg erected
Inquiry at the building department
proves that the contrary is the case. The
records show that there is no ground for
such pessimistic opinions. During the year
1908 building permits were issued for
fourteen new churches and for only three
new theaters. The average cost of the
churches was greater than for any pre-
vious year since the records have been
kept. with the exception of 1895, when a
permit was granted for the erection of the
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