More on "Beefsteak John" (1895) (Sunny side up; in the dark)

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Originally in the NY Times, June 5, 1895. I don't have NY Times access, of
course.
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1 July 1895, Galveston (TX) Daily News, pg. 4, col. 6:
_ONE "BEEFSTEAK JOHN" DEAD_
_He Coined Some of the Cheap Restaurant_
_Slang._
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New York Times.
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One of the "Beefsteak johns" is dead. His name was Frank Ehrler. He was not
the original "Beefsteak John," but his direct successor. The name of the
original "Beefsteak John" was Rudolph Haeller. He kept a famous restaurant on  the
Bowery, at Stanton street. He had a big drum stove in the center of a large
room, and he served nothing but beefsteak and potatoes. Many of the great men
of  the time used to sit around the drum stove, eating hot beefsteak and
drinking  beer. Gradually Haeller (Haefler?--ed.) grew to be known as "Beefsteak
John."
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Haeller is still alive. Opening his place in 1869 he accumulated a
competence, and nine years ago he returned to his native land, where he now  lives in
elegance on the profits of his beefsteaks.
...
In 1871 Haefler's wife's two brothers and her sister, Frank and Dominick  and
Louisa Ehrler, came from Switzerland to New York. Frank Ehrler at first
followed the trade of a cigar-maker and then he drifted into the restaurant
business. Twelve years ago he bought one of the Haefler restaurants. Next Ehrler
stated another "Beefsteak John" restaurant on Sixth avenue. His brother
Dominick  opened as "Beefsteak John" on Chatham square, and his brother-in-law,
"Billy"  Roeber, opened as "Beefsteak John" on Eighth avenue. Roeber, who is a
brother of  Earnest Roeber, the wrestler, started also as "Beefsteak John" on
lower Fulton  street, in Brooklyn, and on Coney Island, but gave up both
restaurants. There  are now four "Beefsteak John" restaurants in this city.
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Frank Ehrler's body was buried yesterday in the Lutheran cemetery,  Brooklyn.
He was a stout man and succumbed to heat. He had not been well for  some
time. His widow will keep up his two restaurants.
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Frank Ehrler was always a good natured, witty man, and he and his  brother
Dominick practically originated the peculiar slang abbreviations  for food now
so generally used by the waiters in the chop and eating  places.
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"Sunny side up" was his message to the cook when eggs were ordered fried on
one side only.
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"In the dark" was his brief and expressive way of ordering coffee without
milk.
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30 June 1895, Omaha (Neb.) Morning World-Herald, part 3, pg. 22:
_MOSE WHO RUN WID DE HOSE_
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_In His Day "Beefsteak John's"_
_Was One of the_
_Sights._
...
_It Was Located on the Bowery and_
_the Last Owner of the Title_
_Is Dead._
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_Julius Heffenan, Who originated the Name,_
_Is Still Alive in Germany---Its_
_Glories Are Gone._
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(New York World.)
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The man known to the modern generation as "Beefsteak John" died during the
week. His name was Frank Ehrler. He was not the original "Beefsteak John,"
albeit the legitimate successor to the title and the extensive business
conducted under that name. Nor is the original "Beefsteak john" dead. He went,  ten
years ago, to Germany to spend his declining years amid childhood scenes,  and
to enjoy the comfortable fortune he had accumulated on the Bowery and in the
four branches of his unique restaurant business distributed over the city.
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Ehrler, the "beefsteak John" who died last week, was a son-in-law of the
original, whose name was Julius Heffermann. (sic?) Before Ehrler took charge of
the business another son-in-law, John Arnold, bore the title of "Beefsteak
John"  and reaped its emoluments. But he died after a short reign. Then the five
restaurants were divided among the relatives of old John, Ehrler receiving
the  parent house on the Bowery, near Prince street.
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It is about this establishment that the memories cling. Over forty years
ago, in the days of "Moses woh run wid de hose," and his girl "Lize," and of the
long since extinct Bowery boy, the quaint sign "Beefsteak John keeps this
place;  this place keeps Beefsteak John," was considered a clever bon mot by the
loungers on that ever picturesque but then very animated thoroughfare.
Heffermann himself was a character. He came to America when a boy and grew up in
New York. He was of powerful build and a lively man with his hands. A man going
 into the restaurant or dram shop business on the Bowery in those days of
"Mose"  and his "Lize" needed to be handy with his dukes. "Mose" was not a
dead-beat. He  refused to pay for a drink or a meal because such refusal was an
invitation to  fight, which was sure to be accepted. If Mose got the worst of it
he shook hands  with the victor, paid his score and treated besides. If he won
the battle he  would swagger to the door and remark: "Say, you fellow, if my
dog come along  this way, why, give him the beat you have in the house;
understand?"
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In those days "Beefsteak John" stood his own night watch. There was more
action in the Bowery after dark. One by one the toughs, roughs, and plug-uglies
called upon "Beefsteak John" and sought battle by the simple process of eating
 and then telling him to put it on ice. One by one they fell before his
might,  until his reputation was made. Thenceforth he had trouble only with
strangers,  who regretted that they had not become acquainted before.
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>From the very outset of the business a rule was enforced that the
impecunious patron must leave a deposit or security for the meal. This generally
consisted of an article of wearing apparel. There was little of that kind of
business, however, in the earlier years of the place. "Beefsteak John's" was  then a
famous night resort. The night life of New York was principally on the
Bowery. Actors, gamblers, rounders (there were no men-about-town in those days),
sporting men, bohemians, newspaper writers, sea captains and army officers
congregated at "Beefsteak John's." The proprietor was the chief cook and head
waiter. He was famous for the manner in which he could cook a beefsteak. The
visitor being shown around the town was taken to "Beefsteak John's" to eat a
steak, as an essential feature of his cursory view of metropolitan life. As well
 go back home without having drunk all in certain old cobweb halls, or having
 failed to visit Central park, as not to have taken in "Beefsteak John's."
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It was in the flush days during and succeeding the war that Heffenann  fairly
coined money. Soldiers waited their turn to be served. The name caught  them,
after years of army grub.
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As the city grew "Beefsteak John" opened branches. They were all of the  same
unpretentious fittings. No attempt at elaborate table service was made. The
tables were covered with oilcloth in lieu of linen. The knives were of steel
with bone handles, and the forks glistening and deadly looking instruments
with  three tines. They are to this day. The bill of fare was pained on a board
outside and on the walls inside. Quantity and quality were the rule of the
house.
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The "tough waiter" who has recently made his appearance on the stage  reached
his highest development at "Beefsteak John's." He was original, and much  of
the slang which he coined is alive today, having been handed down from waiter
to waiter. "A bowl and a roll for a marquis; lock up the butter," was a
favorite  cry of his when the customer began to put on airs. It was here that a cup
of  coffee without milk was first called "one in the dark." Doughnuts were
here  christened "sinkers" and "life preservers." For thirty years pork and
beans have  been known as "stars and stripes," and "ham and" and "beef and" were
intelligible to the Bowery boy of forty years ago. "White wings with sunny
side  up" meant eggs fried on one side.
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Nearly all the good stories in which cheap restaurant figured were located
by the narrators for many years at one or the other of "Beefsteak John's"
places. It was here that the tramp looked with fear and trembling down the  barrel
of a glistening revolver, but recovered his equanimity when he learned  that
it was only a pistol and not a stomach pump. It was "Beefsteak John" who
first agreed to take "stamps" in payment for a "roll and a bowl," and did not
lose his temper when the tramp solemnly "stamped" three times on the floor and
fled.
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But the glories of the "Beefsteak John" places have departed. There are a
hundred places on Park Row and the Bowery as good or as cheap or as dingy as the
 one near Prince street.
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The upper Sixth avenue place, a great resort for the night owl during the
palmy days of the Tenderloin, is now principally patronized by negroes, and
restaurants with nothing distinguishing them from a hundred others but the old
trade mark name of "Beefsteak John's."



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