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OldWaldorf Bar Days
the restaurants, a bottle of the brand he represented
must stand upon it until he made his entrance into the
room. It meant advertisement. From these propagan–
dists for sparkling vintages, certain waiter-captains at
the old Waldorf drew revenue, receiving a commis–
sion on every bottle sold, which ran, in some cases, to
twenty-five per cent of the retail selling price, and even
higher. The captains commandeered the corks, and upon
presentation of the same to Chappelle or one of his
rivals, would collect on the stoppers.
A tall, handsome man, with a large black beard, who
wore at times a flat-topped black derby, but was also
to be noted frequently in a silk hat, was Colonel T.
J.
O'Brien, who had been a local Dock Commissioner and
who subsequently became United States Minister to
Uruguay. A short, stout man buying for a group at a
nearby table might be William
J.
Arkell, a paper bag
manufacturer, who later went into the provision busi–
ness, with very profitable results.
"Big Bill" Edwards, famous Princeton football
player, was frequently pointed out to "tourists," as was
Frank
J.
Walker, for many years starter for the Grand
Circuit races. A bigger football hero of the time than
Big Bill, if not bulkier>, perhaps; was "King" Kelly, other–
wise Addison Wiley Kelly, who was frequently seen
in the Bar. Kelly was another of Princeton's great
knights of the pigskin. The man drinking next you
might be "Billie" Smith, former room clerk at the old
Hoffman House, who had gone into real estate years
before and found it profitable even in those days when
many families still had homes in New York. " Billie"
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