The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-05-21
OLD CITY HOTEL.

1EN IohN ID tHe ICdtiV' VI
M unnumbered visions. From
i the time when the fur traders
landed every pathway OF the
island has been trodden by the feet Of
men who saw In their minds the city
Of the future. Not the least impor-
tant Of these makers Of the city Of
to-day were the men who are remem-
bered only for some quaint personal
, habit or some single change they made
in the ways o. their time. II they
could mingle to-day with the living
millions 1t would he found that every
, block. every rod OF pavement. has a
story to tell.
Take at random '..e block where
the old City Hotel stood. on Broadway
between Thames and Cedar stree.e.
Fol- a quarter Of a century that hotel
wal the world Of one man and the
career Of another. II was run by two
partners. Jennings 4 Willard. Jen-
nings bought the supplies and man
aged the outside business; willard
Vas never day or night beyond the
call Of any Of his hundreds OF patrons.
all Of whose names. faces and affairs
dwelt in his unerrinR memory.
When he was invited "a be present
at the opening of Niblo's Garden the
friends who called for him were kept
waiting while he searched with in
creasing embarrassment in various
hooks and closets n he finally owned
up that he had not had a hat for over
twenty years: there was one some
where about which he a intended
TO wear or this occasion but 1t had
been mislaid. The most famous halter
Of the period, Charles ST. John. was
just across the way, however. So that
Q new hat could he bought and "A
Willard would greet a man who had
stayed over night at the City Hotel
I'VE years before. his first and only
visit. with the genial query, "How do
you do, Mr.. Brown? hope your wife
recovered from that illness about
. which you were so worried" He set
the pace for all the hotel clerks with
encyclopedias in their heads who have
lived in all the cities OF America since
his day.
In this hotel the old sea captains
Of the transatlantic packets made their
headquarters: here the 3 o'clock din
ner made its debut in America when
most people dined at noon: here. be-
fore the building of the old Aston
House, business men from New Eng
land and the Southern me Middle
States got new and illuminating ideas
Of a hotel as distinct from a tavern.
Opposite the City Hotel vas Guer-
an's, which was a fo~reshadowing Of the
delicatessen store before such a thing
had been heard Of in New York. Fran
coils Guerin was a Frenchman o
temporary with Delmonico, whose win
dows were an epitome Of all that
French c~leverness could show in
cooked meats. pastries and desserts.
He made no attempt at keeping a res
taurant. although there were a few
tables in the rear where ice cream was
served. The building which housed
him vas demolished in 1880.
When the treaty Of peace was signed
at Client on December "a. 1914, prep
arations were at once made to send
the nov with all speed to Washington.
Henry Carroll. one OF the secretaries
OF tho American ENJOYS. started on De-
cember 2S. and on February 10. 1915,
reached New York on the ship Fa-
vorite Of Plymouth. Landing al the
Battery at 8 o'clock in the evening.
Ahe went to the City Hotel. and within
! twenty minutes thereafter all lower
, Broadway was illuminated with can
dies carried in the hands OF men
shouting the news. At noon the next
day he left by post chaise for Wash
inston.
This same City Hotel was the frs,
building In New York to bc rooted
with states. and as early as 1903 II
housed Caritat's circulating library
and bookstore. The Masons met in this
hotel then; II sometimes served rs
concert hall-America mad nothing in
the shape Of an opera house until T.
generation later. II was IN the City
Hotel hat Henry Russell in the mid
d1s Of the nineteenth century sang
sWoodman. Spare That Tree" and al.
but MORALLY offended the author on
one occasion by adding a verse OF par
ohy by Ma-ryat, the novelist. who hap
psned TO he present. 1t began, Lad,
STARE that tea II ended with Ian
e0age more forcible than polite.
c1 very rare occasions the ladies'
dining room Of the hotel was used for
dancing and dining, bat in the palmy
!, days OF the old City Hotel It was not
considered exactly the thing for a lady
to dine In a public restaurant unless
she was travelling and the thing was
necessary. Formal dinners were given
In private houses. The hotel nigh,
be the home Of bachelors and widow.
ers. but lever OF ladies. II filed. IN
short, the place Of the modern club.
hsVee. Peace to it, memory-its walls