The Washington herald., 1912-01-01
''COME ON, FOLKS" F"
SAYS YOUNG 1912
Continued from PAGE One.


per and watch night party. Many other
members Of foreign legations sought as
| fitting places OF celebration the rooms
of the big restaurants.
FIsE and FrivoIIty.
And this represented the triumph of
chefs, OF musicians, and OF, head walters
innumerable. Not a cafe In the down
town district OF fizE. frivolity and fun, but
extended itself like a turbine engine in q
storm at sea to break precedent in mat
ters astronomical and achieve the Lu-
cullan perfection OF viands and wine.
Decorations OF all kinds were to be
found In every hOstlery. There were
wreaths intertw!ned with the mystic
figures 1911 and 1912 In the Cafe Re
publique there was a huge electric sign
so arranged that at midnight 1t would
instantaneOusly change from 1911 to 1872.
Printed calendars, so decorated with ac-
tive imps as TO make a perfectly respect
able man long for a higher life; caldrons,
beneath which was a FIRE Of red tissue
paper; brooms, and a dozen other types
Of souvenir were TO be found in the diff
ferent hotels. Symbolically they carried
out the idea OF destroying the past. The
broom was for sweeping away the past.
The caldron. a boiling pot wherein bad
habits -.-- - simmer to nothingness
EgH G.auHr-.y disappear.
Nys4v pi MerrymRkers-
s7gr 90 she throng Of msr-
-T.asEE Dr. abs, touring cars, and
stree. - ran from the upper
.sas...- - au. lI at northwest resIden-
tial section, came by the thousands into
the heart OF the city and Joined the New
Year procession that moved unendihgly
beneath the brilliant lights Of the dining
district. Horns. megaphones and rattles
not obtrusive. of course. but neverthe-
less omnipresent-aided in the illusion
OF marii gras, the Fourth Of July. and
half a dozen other holidays combined.
Reservations, made weeks before. filled
the Ebbitt House to its fullest capacity
Dining and grill room were thronged with
diners who sang and proposed toasts
while the hours OF the evening slipped
away. II Is estimated that more than
thousand celebrated there during the
evening.
In tho Willard Hotel seats for go had
been reserved before the eve OF evenings
even arrived. There were gathered So
ciety bellies, diplomats. Europeans OF half
the nations on the Continent, Orientals-
curious and smiling-lobbyists. and
Washington society In the abstract.
Farewell to 1911.
Slipping their wine, they listened to the
orchestra, as II played Tostrs famous
chant-it is more OF a chant than aught
else-of Tennyson's:
Ring out. Wild bells To the Wild sky.
The hyinz cloud. the frosty light:
The year is diving in the night.
Ring out Wild bells and let him die.
Half OF those present knew the air. All
understood from its weird, plaintive cry
that II was a masters good-by TO that
which has passed for time eternal.
And while this orchestra played, there
was the gathering at Harvey's, where
every private dining-room had been TAX
en- weeks ahead OF time-and only by
signing away years income at that.
Scions OF washington's Oldest families
foregathered in honor of the passing
year. Here was the plaintive Aud Lang
Syne'' mingled with the "reminiscences
Of other days and the aroma Of steam
ed oysters.
There was many a true German and
many who are not exactly Germans who
ioined In the old-fashioned celebration at
Fritz Reuters. The old grandfather's
clock, which stands in the hallway, was
the official guardian of time, and when
its soft notes sounded the hour OF u,
a gong. resounding through the dining
room. announced TO all patrons that the
Ne" was at AhNAN "NAN
toasts, final good-by, and the world
wide wish:
"a Happy New Year"
At Big Hotels.
Then there was the Shoreham, the Ar
Iington, and the Raleigh Unnumbered
supper parties were the order OF the
evening at the first named. In the mag
nifcent new dining-room Of the Raleigh
the Hungarian orchestra, led by Rigo.
the vIoIinist. went from mazurka TO ga
Vote, and thence to the Viennese waltz,
while the hum OF conversation, the clat-
ter of dishes. and the silent sobs OF
man whose reserved table had cost him
the price OF a new overeoat were dis
tinctly audible.
And there was a gathering at the Ar
lington, listening 10 the music that
came from the far end Of the dining
room and lingering, waiting for the ar
rival of the mystic hour.
At the Fredonia, the Losekam, and
Sautter's. diners swept in and out in
cession. The cabs carried away those
weaker soldiers who had prepared to
battle but had begun too early.
Washington suffered not a whit. albeit
its pocketbooks waved riotously dur
ing the hours preceding the beginning
Of another year. Washington went TO
bed happy In the consciousness that II
had done Its duty by 1872 and II the
infant year does not accomplish much
It win have only itself to blame.
Germans Make Merry.
The majority OF the German societies
celebfated New Years Eve by combining
IL with the Christmas festivities. The
German Orphan Asylum observed the two