THE HISTORY OF COFFEE. 37 



there stood from the year 1812 to 1830 the Bank Coffee-House, 

 kept by William Niblo. Adjoining it on the rear was a garden, 

 and the building formerly occupied by the Bank of New York, 

 the first banking institution established in this city. Pine 

 street was then lined with the residences of prominent lawyers 

 and merchants. The houses were nearly all built of brick, with 

 sunken areas in front. Mr. Niblo was then a young, active man, 

 taking great pride in the reputation of his cafe, and soon made 

 it famous for its sappers given by Benedicts taking leave of 

 their bachelor friends. In 1830 the Bank Coffee-House passed 

 into other hands and was torn down, Niblo going to Broadway 

 and Prince street, where he opened the gardens which bore 

 his name. 



The cheerful name of coffee-house has somewhat lost its sig- 

 nificance in New York with the establishment of the more pre- 

 tentious hotels, and in them the coffee-rooms are shorn of many 

 pleasant associations. Within a few years a desire has been 

 shown to establish richly appointed and well-ordered cafes, 

 managed by chefs from sunny France. Those who early em- 

 barked in the business have enlarged their establishments, and 

 new ones are constantly springing up in nearly every sec- 

 tion of the metropolis, especially on the fashionable thorough- 

 fares, and young New Yorkers have not been long in adopting 

 the Parisian ideas and conveniences of the cafe, as a pleasant 

 place to stroll in after the opera or theatre. 



To judge of the estimate in which coffee is held in the United 

 States, it is only necessary to refer to the table showing the 

 annual average consumption to see that we are by far the 

 largest coffee-consumers in the world ; six-fold more than some 

 of the States of Europe. Germany and France stand next to 

 ourselves in the rank of great coffee-drinkers. 



