The sun., 1909-02-28
LIVELY AMEN CORNER NIGHT
ROOT. GUEST or HON0R, CONES
N FOR NUCH CHATTING.
Thomas F. Ryan Seems 10 Enjoy tho Fun
Poked at Him Hughes Butt OF Many
Jokes-A Nock inauguration and
Dance for the Governors Head.

Dance for the Governors Head
quantity Of frisky young jokes. luggee
them up to the Waldorf-Astoria last night
and turned the gibelets loose in the grand
ballroom Whereupon the little Joke,
got very busy and stung a number OF i'm:
portant people who were the guests Of the
Descons and Brethren Of the Corner, but
the important people laughed very heart
lily and olapped each other on the back
and said it was very funny and seemed tc
enjoy the circus hugely which no doubt
they did.
Nobody is ever safe at an Amen Corner
dinner You may be busy surrounding
portion Of asparagus with hollandaise
hot, feeling quite secure, when along
comes a haymaker all Of sudden that
does your business beautifully. Ii was
that way last night at perhaps the liveli-
est dinner the Corner ever gave.
From his high seat at the end Of the ball
room Harold VI. Anderson, the president
u the Corner, evoked a queer crew Of
Presidents aud Governors. Senators,
Kings and Emperors, Greek philosophers
sly secret service men, yelping newsboys,
sharp tongued citizens who joshed Sem
stor-elect Root, the guest OF honor; SEN
stor Depew. Leader Murphy Of Tammany.
Senator Pat McCarren. Thomas F. Ryan.
Frank II. Hitchcock and scores Of folk
who have a finger In politics, finance or
letters,
W. A. BRADY cHIEf STAGE DIRECTOR.
With Brother Bill Brady as stage mana
ger and doubling up in all the important
ports, tho ninth annual dinner went of
slick as a whistle, Brady, when he wasn't
stage manager ordering an army corps
Of Swiss walters TO Jock alive or he'd
step on EN- and shooting from place
to pace among the banqueters with fren-
7ied enthusiasm. was acting all over the
shop. Brother Brady appeared As the
Mikado OF japan. in coal black mustache
and goatee and a uniform giittering with
medals. and was seep at least once again
in the character of Hard Face with Billy
Leary playing opposite him in the part
Of Predacious Poor. Mr.. Brady stopped
moving just once. when Jack Mcdonald
handed him a free wheeze. why does the
Governor like the new Senator'' An
swer: His whisk ers took Root. Laugh
teri
The Amen Corner took good many
liberties with the President, but the
Brethren got laugh over every time.
good sized chunk OF their Jokes was
flung in the direction of Thomas f. Ryan,
who seemed to be enjoying himself thor
oughly. as did Mr.. Root himself. Gov.
Hughes was not able 10 attend the dinner,
but his absence didn't make the slightest
difference in the qualityor quantity Of the !
tests that had u do with him and his re-
forms.
AT THE WALDORF THIS YEAR
The Deacons and the Brethren of the |
amen Corner have held nine annual din |
rers for the purpose of tickling them
selves and joshing good humoredly the |
great and the little men who bob up in |
public life Eight of these dinners we're |
celebrated in the old Fifth Avenue Hotel,
where the very hall porters and the cock
tail mixers, grave. elderly men, whose
friendship and opinions we're not given
lightly to the first conner. used to take a
dignified pride in the yearly gatherings.
But the Fifth Avenue Hotel has been
levelled to make way for big, square
shouldered office building. and the Amen
ers were forced to move uptown for thar
ninth feast.
The same crowd of Statesmen and near
statesmen, OF legislators and lawyers.
United States Senators and stout, com
Portable brewers, public speakers who
know how 10 toot their own horns while
sounding trumpets for others, Repub-
lcan politicians, Tammany Sachems, vote
hlstlers from Plattsburg TO Nontauk
Font, newspaper men. merchants with {
= liking for well spiced tomfoolery, pro-
fessional men rela king BIZ Of their stiff
nees--all dined with the Ameners at the
Waldorf last night as they used TO do at
the old Fifth Avenue. where the Amen
Corner first had its being
GO AT THE DINNER.
There were 600 of them at long white
tables, which running from end to end
OF the great red ballroom, gave the place
the appearance OF a gridiron At the
south end Of the ballroom was an elevated
dais. approached by a steep flight Of steps,
on which the president Of the Amen Cor
ner Harold VI, Anderson, sat and bossed |
lie show From time 10 time he changed :
a cowbe whose unlovely Jangle was the
e slgpal for a succession Of burlesoues s
iraSesties, Oriental dances. monologlIes
solos and choruees, one act skits. which $
lad been very carefully rehearsed and a
hodgepodge Of limitations which charac- S
terized absurdly the performances of
some OF our best known statesmen and
politicians >,
The president was aided and abetted
by willing performers who started up 7
here and there in various parts Of the big c
room, seemingly At random but in reality I
carrying out the details Of carefully '
programme. There was Bill .
Brady, the Snowman; Tom McGill. who i
-iraxs pictures Louis SeiOod, Tom Smith "a
he secretary Of Tammany Hall Billy c
cary, or Mr.. William Leary, Esq. the '
super intendent Of Elections, as some | {
Iolks know him; } =. Gi Troy. John Nc
Donald and others who popped up TO make q
uu whi.e the crowd fed. a
SOME WHO WE'RE THERF. a
LooS ing the crowd over. you saw at I
Table eader Murphy Of Tammany, I
ecreiary Tom Smith, Daniel +. CohaIan,
John Murphy, Frank j. Goodwin. u
aTence j. Shearn, Thomas f. Byrnes T..
md Phi ip +. Donohue-amost a sold y
!aIntns Iammany Ss table except for shearn; n
vith Caleb NJ Van Hamm, Oak !
eigh Thorne. David Graham Phillips, IL
lanes Spcycr, George Rando ph Chester,
sheriff Tom Foley, b + Yoaxum, Will q
lam r Sheehan and james Butler At /,
Table were Thomas T. Ryan. ex-Judge
'har.es :. Whitman, Senator Grady and a y,
iozen Supreme Court Justices, including u
-rancis VI. Scott, Victor j Dowlng, d.
terncn VI. Davis, John Ford, NJ. Marley >;
'latzoS, James A Blanchard James A "
JGorman, Henry Bischnfi. Mitchell Err
anger. David leveptritt and Peter A, M