Evening star., 1918-01-13
COMPLETE story of

a COMPLETE story ol tuo
N hotel. that were in operation
~ I'm old washington-and by
q y "old Washington ono really
means the city in Its youth-presents
good many difficulties. and some OF
these difficulties the Rambler never
hopes to overcome. Most OF the ad-
vertisements and announcements reiat-
ing to the hotels OF the olden time do
not give the location of the hotels. 1t
was not necessary. Everybody IN town
knew where every hotel was. To print
that a public meeting would be held at
Smiths Hotel, at the southwest corner
OF r. and Zero streets. or at Jones
Tavern the south side Of x street be-
tween and q. would have been the
merest surplusage. 1t would be as II one
should now give the number and street
Of Union station or the Capitol
Yet, after the lapse Of two or three
generations, or four or five. one cannot
always determine where Smiths Hotel
perpleacity, Jones had hung sign IN
front Of his tavern on which was paint
ed the legend, ''Merryfeast Hotel. and
some persons called it by that name
Most persons, however, ignored the fan
c1fui name and called it Jones Tavern.
or merely Jones'. Then. perhaps. the
sheriff or the marshal for the District
of Columbia sold Jones out and Johnson
bought the fixtures and good will OF the
Merryfeast Hotel and changed its name
TO the Good Cheer House. while Jones
moved farther up or down the Avenue.
turned up 11th street or down 18th
street or migrated to Capitol Hill and
opened hotel which he called the Pop
ping Cork, but which the patrons in
sisted on calling Jones' Tavern.
Next. perhaps Johnson retired from
af% fho
late the Merryfeast, for about six months.
and Taylor. who had been the proprietor
of the Taylor House, somewhere in the
city. took over the Good Cheer Hotel and
changed its name to the Triple House
though by the general run of the people
of Washington it was called "Taylors."
Taylor died and his widow married Rob-
inson. and Taylor's Triple House soon
Robinson House or plain Robinsons.
though he had changed the name from
the Tipple House to the Golden Rye Inn.
Bourbon Hotel or the Sour Mash Tavern.
x*
When Prof. Jean Francois Piruette
came from Paris to Washington Ito in
Federal city in the pleasantsome pastime,
genteel art and indispensable accomplish
nent of tripping the light fantastic toe
pefore tne SnTiHe Oh 1eTpSiCnOTe anu W
''devote himself to giving instructions in
the very latest dances, such as the min
uet, the lancers. the quadrille, the waltz,
the schottishe and the polka he an
nounced in the National Intelligencer, or
the Impartial Observer and Washington
Advertiser, or the Sentinel of Liberty.
that he would hold his soiree and cotil-
Ion at Robinson's assembly room. which.
Of course. was the dining room of Robin
sons Golden Rye Inn. late Taylor's Tfpple
House. late the Good Cheer House, late
the Merryfeast Hotel, and which also for
some reason not to be explained had at
one time been affectionately called by
many citizens the Toddy Tavern. 1t
should also be borne in mind that Smith,
Jones. Johnson. Taylor or Robinson did
not own the land on which this hotel of
many names stood, and no help is to be
had from the land records in straishten-