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Old Waldorf Bar Days
things that struck the sightseers, overheard by members
of the staff, were one night the subject of conversation
at a dinner of heads of departments, presided over by
no less a person than George
C.
Boldt himself, pro–
prietor of the hotel.
When anecdote after anecdote had been told, up
spoke Boldt. "I can match any of those yarns and mine
is fresher than most of them," he said, in effect. Boldt
later on conquered much of the accent then character–
istic of his speech. "You all know Mr. Barclay War–
burton, who is about to marry Miss Wanamaker, of
Philadelphia. They came over here today to select quar–
ters for their honeymoon. Naturally, I myself undertook
to help them make a selection, and first I showed them
the State Apartment.
"It so happened that at the same time what was ap–
parently a party of schoolgirls was being guided through
the building by this O'Reilly. You know the beautiful
Fran~ois
I bed is in that suite. Well, O'Reilly and his
party were in the bedroom when Mr. Warburton, Miss
Wanamaker and I reached the drawing-room. The por–
tieres were not closed, so that everything that happened
in the other room could be heard where we were. I be–
came aware that O'Reilly was describing the bed as
made of solid gold. •And then, while I was gasping, I
heard him add: 'Yes, young ladies, I was thinking what
a wonderful nuptial chamber this would make.'
"You can guess the
eff~ct
upon us who overheard.
Mr. Warburton, of course, laughed outright, but Miss
Wanamaker was very much embarrassed. I thought I
should sink through the floor."
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