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Faculty and Proctors
during one watch. The big trade usually began to reach
its climax 'about
4:30
in the afternoon, when the cock–
tail crowd was now streaming into the hotel from all
parts-not only of Manhattan but the United States
at large-and at six o'clock trade was at the peak.
Among the barmen were John O'Connor, who was
an old-timer; Mike O'Connor; Paddie Hafey, sometimes
called "Patsy"; Frank MacAloon; Billie Lahiff, who
now owns a big restaurant; Johnnie Solon, and "Dan, the
Barboy." Of the last tw.o, more will be told further on.
Each of the
bartender~
had his own "specialties." Or,
there were certain drinks he had the reputation, with
a certain group, for composing perfectly; so that each
had his own customers, apart from the trade that came
in and patronized the "barkeep" at whose station the
smallest queue was waiting to be served.
Some of the early barmen, becoming expert, were
seized with an ambition to go back to Ireland and wean
the Celtic pala te away from the home-m ade drinks that
had been drunk down throµ,gh the ages, but whose orig–
inal Gaelic names had been adopted by. perfidious Brit–
ons and transmogrified. Why, even then, when they
wanted tha t "water of life," of which poets had sung
as
Uisgebeatha,
and kings and long and growing lines
of descendants had popularized- even then thirsty Irish–
men were calling for "whiskey" though "Ould Irish"
was usually uttered.
Edward F. Flynn, one of the ablest of American jour–
nalists who ever served as correspondent in foreign coun–
tries, long correspondent of the N ew York
A merican
in
London, and later editor of the London
Daily Mirror,
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