Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-01-02
LID PR|EO OFF IN
NEW YORK CITY
1898 Advent Is Marked BY Rec
ord Amount Of Noise and
Merriment

New York, Jan. Father Knicker-
booker and his numerous family began
prying UP the lid" late last night and had
it entirely removed by the time chimes.
whistles, bells and horns gave riotous
greeting at midnight to the advent Of
1919.
strike of union walters, called almost
literally at the eleventh hour, and the
excessive cost of high living cast no L
camper on the determination to cele-
brate properly. They blithely pawned the
family jewels or mortgaged the old home
stead that they might be prepared for
emergencies.
The oldest inha hitant5 Of Broadway
and adjacent streets in the boarding
forties" admitted unanimously that for
merriment and noise it was the most sue
cessful New Years Eve they could re-
member They attributed the whole soul
edness of the celebration to two factors.
one was that war no longer cast a CHASTITY
shadow over the spirits of mankind. and
the other was the prospect that when
1870 appears upon the scene toasts will
be drunk in nothing more enlvening
than chaste tea or foaminG ginger ale
By special dspensation of Mayor
Hylan. permits We're issued to 100 of the
more popular hotels and cafes to con-
tnue the festivities for an hour and n
half after the usual closing time at 100
q. M. and all availed themselves of tho
privilege to the last moment
Early in the evening, Broadway began
to be choked with an endless procession oil
automobiles bearing dinner parties to the
places they had elected for the celebra-
ton and great crowds. not TO be hndered
by drizzlng rain, hoisted umbrellas and
milled along the white way.
The overseas fleet. lying in the Hudson.
was brilliantly illuminated and search
lights from the men-of-war crossed their
shafts of light over the merrymak ars.
Every place Of amusement in the city
reported capacity crowds and the hotels
and cafes. despite the walters strike, an
nounced that the celebration was proceed
Ing as smoothly as in past Years
The Hotel Mems association, sntcpat-
ing the extension OF the steike, which has
beer IN progress in several hotels fol- |
some weeks. had modified more than
1,5o) relief walters and these We're rushed /
in automobiles 70 places where the watt
ers walked out
The RitZ-Carlton. one of the hotelyI
affected by the strike met the situationI
by throwing a detachment Of uniformed |
soldiers into the places va"ated by thai
walters, and, as 1t was n Victory New
Years Eve" anyway, the lighters wersy
warmly received and reaped harvest otI
tips,
Among the ho.els affected By tho strike |
which, according to union leaders gainedI
8 $40 supporters during the day, were thu
Biitmore, Manhattan, Gotham, Savoy,
Ansonia, Belleclaire, Lafayette and Brc-
WORT, Restaurants affected included the
Fifth Avenue, Savarln, Nosin, Elysee andI
Avignon.
In cases where the strike resulted in n
slowing up Of service. the crowds acsl
cepted the situation philosopher ally and
refused 10 let the delay interfere withI
their pleasure
In the merry making crowds wersy
thousands of soldiers and sailors head
ed for the scores of places where the
slogan of the day was "Your uniform
is your pass" and where every form Of
entertainment from "' T." dancing
and theatricals was offe.od
Armed attachments of military DO
lice cruised the streets 20 make SURG
that hosptable New Workers did not
lure the uniformed men into excuses
\ feature of the celebration was the
comparative solitude of the vicinity Of |
old Trinity in lower Broadway, which
~ f"St 4''N icstl . 'NtS mas pttH ono
of the favored gathering spots of cele-
orators, When Trinitys chimes rang
out at midnight in sacred and patriotic
airs there were few ears to hear Th5y
crowds were up town.
For persons to whom the advent a |
the new year meant more than an oc-
casion for dancing, dining and wininS
watch services" were held in many
churches throughout the city and in
many homes watch services" of auict
rejoicing were held for the new year
which marks the beginning of new
era of peace.