about 9 o'clock
And the head waiter and the house manager had a rough-and-tumble scrap right in plain sight of everybody and some perfectly awful language was used . Also the striking waiters marched out in a body and shouted things at the manager as they went . So Auntie had to put on her things and call a taxi and drive eight blocks before she could finish her dinner . Then about 9 o'clock , as she was settling down for a quiet evening in her rooms , New York pulled another playful little stunt on her . Nothing unusual . A leaky gas main and a poorly insulated electric light cable made connection with the well-known results . For half a mile up and down the avenue that Auntie 's apartment faced on the manhole covers were blown off .