FREAK ENTERTAINMENTS.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9400, 22 March 1909, Page 7

FREAK ENTERTAINMENTS.

Two of the weird entertainments which occur occasionally in America, and seldom else'where, took place in New York recently. The hotstesa, a well-known theatrical lady, with a millionaire husband, had arranged the details of the; first freak affair with such conspicuous success that the important daily papers dare not dismiss thejevent under a one column description. She called vit an “International Sunday Breakfast,” but it;was held on a Sunday night in a most, fashionable cafe, and coffee was the rarest of the many liquids served. Leading opera'singers, actors, actresses, and first-nighters were the invited gnests, and they all came in thhe most fantastic garb imaginable. The hostess was attired as an Indian Princess in a green and gold gown, and her husband appeared, as a rajah. Half a dozen Salomes were ' present, and every eccentric character yvitfa which the theatre and opera have ■ made New Yorkers 1 familiar recently was also represented. Two men acted the role of drunken sailors 1 with dramatic fidelity. Fantastic characters of all ■ nations were representeo. Thera was • hardly'a woman present who had not ' ’ sought to look as girlish as possible by wearing short skirts. High jinks \ were first initiated when winsome Odette Valery, premiere danseuse of the Manhattan Opera House, danced - a sort of Salome “turn” with Mr Wilson Miznner, once known co fame ; as the husband of Mrs Yerkes. This soldier of fortune was garbed . partly in evening clothes and partly in straw. Others present were just as quaintly dressed. The “sapper breakfast,” as it was called, was served shortly before midnight. The second freak entertainment has secured less publicity, but it was an even more conspicuous success. It was a Tammany affair, and was attended by “Big Tim” and “Little Tim” Sullivan, the “statesman” who largely boss New York’s municipality. The Rathekeller, in which the “£3OOO beefsteak dinner” was served, was icicle-lined for the occasion, and the whole place was transformed into what looked like a wholesale butcher’s refrigerating plant, with imitation ammonia pipes, frosted ceiling, papier maohe steaks, painted tin outlets, and all so natural that “Big Tim” Sulilvan’a teeth chattered as he shook hands with “Diamond Jim” Brady. The ’ favours were £lO silver mugs, and the guests, who sat on wooden benches, ate off tables which were imitation oakea.of ice. Beefsteak was the least expensive of the viands served to the 300 guests. Having discarded their furs and locked np their jewels in the safe, the diners put on aprons, the men wearing ones just like an ordinary retail butcher’s, and the women donning an attire of long aprons and straw hats that gave them the appearance of rural milkmaids. These two freak entertainments are hailed by the press as straws indicating that the American metropolis has recovered from the recent commercial depression.