THE HISTORY OF COFFEE. 35 



of the old merchants of that day, and repeat the stories they 

 laughed over in the Coffee-House on i opening night ? ' 



" At length the Merchants' Exchange moved further up Wall 

 street, and sales of merchandise were not so frequent within the 

 old house, but the long stoop on the Wall street front was still 

 used, an 1 the advertisements of the day read, ' At X o'clock, in 

 front of T. C., will be sold ' - ." 



It was designed to provide a central location for the mercan- 

 tile community. The merchants had long felt the need of some 

 place where they could assemble and discuss the probable re- 

 sults of trade and the various questions of the time, and during 

 their leisure indulge in a cup of prime old coffee without walk- 

 ing to their distant homes in State street, Bowling Green, and 

 the lower part of Greenwich street. The property was pur- 

 chased by five merchants, and held by them under the provi- 

 sions of the Tontine Association as the first board of directors. 



"In 1826 and 1827 the Tontine Coffee-House was in the 

 hands of John Morse, who had formerly kept the old Stage- 

 House at the corner of Church and Crown streets, !N"ew Haven. 

 He turned the entire house into a tavern, and it so remained for 

 several years. The first floor was in one room, running the full 

 length of the house, and fronting Wall street. At the back of 

 the room, extending nearly its whole length, was the old-fash- 

 ioned bar. Jutting out from the counter were curious arms of 

 brass, supporting the thick, round, and mast-like timber on which 

 the heavy dealers leaned while ordering refreshments. About 

 the room were numerous small tables, and after supper, in fair 

 weather, around the tables could be seen many of the wealthy 

 city men, diminishing the contents of their pewter mugs, or 

 planning, amid the curling smoke in the room, their operations 

 for the next day. Morse was not successful in the Tontine, and 

 was finally sold out for the benefit of * whom it might concern.' 



" In 1832 it was kept as a hotel by Lovejoy & Belcher, and 



