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OldWaldorf Bar Days
near getting him, but Tammany needed him too much."
The Waldorf, however, was not Jimmie Walker's fa_
vorite place of refreshment when he affected Fifth
Ave–
nue. When he discovered Sherry's for himself, with its
quieter and more exclusive atmosphere, his close friends,
who had been told he was not to be found at any of
the political hangouts, might chance upon him there,
during one of his runs down from the State Capital.
As a matter of fact, one recalls first making his acquaint–
ance at Sherry's bar.
The other figure was seldom seen at any time in the
Bar. But it
was
seen there. More apt to be found, it
was, .however, in the Men's Cafe, when Boss Croker and
Charlie Murphy were "receiving" at one of its tables.
He was a good-looking young man, smooth-faced, quick–
eyed, though his most prominent feature, perhaps, was
a nose of the build that expresses determination. He
didn't seem to be in the habit of saying much when in
the Waldorf in those days, but he did appear to be
doing a good deal of listening-and observing.
Ex-Governor Smith, if he reads this book, will prob–
ably learn for the first time of one prediction made
about him years ago. It was one Tuesday night in
1916
-the month one does not recall. The bi-weekly dinner
dance, a formal occasion at which George Boldt himself
always presided as
hos~t
to a party of his favorite patrons
and a few other friends, was to take place that evening
in the South Cafe, adjoining the Bar. Boldt stopped me
in the corridor as I was
goi~g
home to dress.
"Will you preside at my table tonight?" he asked.
"There is
som~thing
going on upstairs that I wouldn't
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