14
a thing that looked like a wooden mace but was intended
to puddle punch. The day was sunny, chill and dusty but
very exhilarating and we were all in high spirits. Arrived at
the stairs, after much chaffing the driver as to the breach of con-
tract implied in his not making the horse draw us up, we
mounted, lugging up baskets, bottles and demi-johns. Gaining
the top, not without drinks by the way, we rambled amid
the rocks and trees, presently finding a capital spot for our
pic-nic. It was rather precipitous in front, pretty well wood-
ed in the rear, and three or four monstrous boulders of rock
formed a natural chimney, where we soon had a huge fire
crackling, leaping and roaring. Everybody went gathering
fuel of which there was plenty for half an hour, then got
to eating sandwiches and promiscuous loafing till Cahill came
with no news of Bellew. Jumping matches followed, and
by, I suppose, about 1 o clock we all went to dinner. There
was enough and to spare. O Brien had bidden his landlord cater
for him, and the man had put up the roast fowls, the major
part of a ham, pickles, bread, condiments, a gallon of cold-
whiskey punch as strong as raw spirit and a bottle of brandy.
We I and Haney brought a leg of lamp, pies, cheese, apples
&c and a half-gallon of Edwards gin. Arnold produced sand-
wiches, pickes and Monogahela whiskey. There was no beer or
liquor one might partake of without danger of speedy intoxication
hence the disasterous results which ensued. We had just
commenced the attack on the edibles when Sol Eytinge appeared,
and was, of course, greeted with uproarious cheers. Well; all
fell to. I think Haney was one of the first who showed symptoms of
inebriety. His face flushed, his eyes sparkled, and he talked
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Nine: page twenty-three |
| Description: | Describes a picnic at Hoboken with other New York artists and journalists. |
| Date: | 1857-11-03 |
| Subject: | Arnold, George; Bellew, Frank; Bohemians; Cahill, Frank; Drunkenness; Eytinge, Solomon; Food; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Haney, Jesse; O'Brien, Fitz James |
| Coverage (City/State): | [Hoboken, New Jersey] |
| Scan Date: | 2011-02-02 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Nine |
| Description: | Includes descriptions of boardinghouse living, a picnic at Hoboken with other New York artists and journalists, his drawing and writing work in New York, attending a lecture by Lola Montez, visits to James Parton and Fanny Fern and the Edwards family, a controversy over Fitz James O'Brien's story ''The Diamond Lens,'' artist Sol Eytinge's relationship with writer Allie Vernon, the suicide of writer Henry William Herbert, antics of the New York Bohemians, the interest of people living in his boarding house in spiritualism, a visit to his friend George Bolton's farm in Canada, a visit to Niagara Falls, and a scandal involving Harbormaster Willis Patten, who lives in his boarding house. |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Bohemians; Farms; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Publishers and publishing; Suicide; Travel; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; Rochester, New York; Elmira, New York; Paris, Ontario, Canada |
| Note: | Thomas Butler Gunn was born February 15, 1826, in Banbury, England, and came to New York in 1849. During the Civil War he worked as a correspondent for the New York Tribune and the New York Evening Post. He returned to England in 1863, and died in Birmingham in April 1903. The collection includes twenty-one volumes of his diaries, including newspaper clippings, letters, photographs, sketches, and various other items inserted by Gunn. Diary entries date from July 7, 1849, to April 7, 1863, and include his experiences with the New York publishing and literary world, his descriptions of boarding houses, his travels throughout the United States, and his experiences traveling with the Federal army as a Civil War correspondent. |
| Publisher: | Missouri History Museum |
| Rights: | Copyright 2011 Missouri History Museum. |
| Source: | Page images, transcriptions, and metadata of the Thomas Butler Gunn diaries have been provided by the Missouri History Museum. |
