Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-03-01

| the SHOES on her feeC- the Snam JcmSAJ
that is thick about the sham BAR on
her head, are borrowed; and tomorrow
will fit some other beauty as neatly as
they fit her tonight. The young. tel-
low leading her into the dance Is
shoemaker by trade-how elegant ne
looksI His swallow-tail, his breeches,
and his crush hat-do you suppose they
are his ownP The lining of each Is
stamped with the name of a Bowery
costumer, on whose shelves they will
be packed In lavender within twenty
four hours. Scarcely one of the per-
sons present owns stitch of the cloth
that covers him. Fine birds they
look IN their feathers, to be
sure; but to morrow they will be
plucked and threadbare, too exhausted
to work, and berated by their employ
ers for their sluggishness. Their brief
dream of pleasure will be blotted out
by the oppressive reality of underpaid
and uncongenial toll Vanity is at the
root of it, sir-vanity, vanity, vanity ]"
The detective sighed, and nodded famll-
iarly to some of the roisterers, who
were abashed at his recognition, and
barely appreciated it. Would we re-
mainP He had little matter in hand
"a raid ON a gambling den, In fact
and must bid us good night We left
the casino and the noisy dancers to-
gether, and at the door of police head
quarters we parted from our guide,
morahzing over the strange thing he
had told us.
The verifcation of his statements
was not difficult task. From the east
side of the city, chiefly in the Bowery,
Third avenue, Allen and Forsyth streets,
the costume depots are found almost IN
every block. Commonly they are over
stores, and are approached from side
door leading to fight of dark stairs.
In one of the windows you find a trans
parency exhibiting a grotesquely cos
tuned figure, lighted at night from
within; and the more pretentious are
indicated by large and CANDY signs.
The interior resembles a paVnbroker's
or an old clothes store There is an in
describable and all-pervading odor of
musk, lavender, camphor. The walls
are hidden by high wardrobes filled with
dresses, chests of drawers also filed
with dresses, and you cannot move about
without brushing your head with the
pettieoats and TUNES that hang Imply
from the ceiling and from every posi-
bic projection. Several girls are busy at
sewingmachines, making, repairing and
altering costumes. The proprietor, a
stout German woman of severe man
ners, demands our business the mo-
ment we enter Do we want n costume?
All she has are fancy, but of those
there is a matchless assortment. The
rent of the cheapest is two dollars for
twenty-four hours, and a deposit of
ten dollars. We look at some of these.
The suit comprises a suit of glazed
pink calico trowsers, spangled; long
robe of some yellow material, SPAN
gled; sash of green colt, ribbon, and
a white calico turban. An Eastern
chieftain's this, very effective, and
very popular since-the visit of the Shah
to England. She can give us an "Uncle
Sam" costume at four dollars night,
twelve dollars deposit, a pretty combi-
nation-white trousers with red stripe,
blue coat with gilt buttons, and
yellow beaver hiatt Or, if we
had lady in our party, We had bet
ter look at. the Columbus, costumes
which rent at from four to thirty-four
dollars a night, the cheapest being
made from calicoes and the best from
satins. Very rich and tasteful the lat
ter; worth about two hundred and fifty
dollars; was made for the last Lieder-
kranz ball, and sold to the costumer by
the original purchaser, ga young lady
In high life, well beknown In Fifth av-
enue." Only a few of the costumes
rent for more than ten dollars night,
and the merry-makers hiring them are
of humble station. But 1t occasionally
happens that the customer is visited
by some august young man or woman
of the better class, who is unwilling or
unable to buy outright dress that Will
not be wanted twice. For their conve-
nience a few expensive costumes are on
hand and loaned at extravagant rates.
When the fnery is returned, it is care
fully examined, and, if the slightest
stain is discovered upon it, a deduction
is made from the deposit. But it is the
O'Flanagan Coterie, the McBrickbat
fraternity, and such social companies,
that are most indebted to this good
German woman and her admirable sys-
tenn. Without her aid, where would be
the splendors of their annual fancy
dress balls? Without her, faith! It's
but a sorry time they'd be having.
At this establishment, as we have
said, there are only masquerade cos
TUNES; but over the way there is a tai
lor's and gentleman's Quitting store,
with sign In front, announcing that
evening dresses may be hired within.
About thirty dress-coats are put aside
for this purpose, an equal number of
opera hats, and few pairs of trousers.
The coats are borrowed Oftener than
other articles, the trousers only seldom.
But there are nights when all the pro-
prietor's loaning stock is exhausted,
and taken out for an airing by hemeek
clerks and apprentices, who are crazy
to hide their timorous little selves in
the lions skin. Yet it is not n very
fine article, after all. The coats could
be bought for SIS, and the cloth they
are made Of is poor indeed. 1t catches
some lustre In the ballroom, however,
and the silly creatures who see it on
my brave Tompkins' back think him a
very magnificent fellow, and not Temp
kins at all, but n lion. Sensible OBJ
servers can perceive the little chaps
ears, withal and know too well
what a wretched and beggarly
impostor he is. For the loan
of his coat he pays So a night,
and for his trousers and vest 81. 1t is
not improbable that the girl who ac-
companies him is as great fraud rs
he in the matter Of dress. In fact,
women are the more extensive and nu-
merous of borrowers of the kind. A
man may dress himself for an evening
at an expense of five or six dollars, but
the loan of a woman's ballroom trap
pings cost as much as the purchase of
a good ordinary dress. She may
choose a toilet worth three or four hun
dred dollars from the stock of fash
able customer, provided she produces
sufficient security, and the dress Will
be altered and fitted to her as neatly as
if it were her own. In some of the
larger establishments the stock always
includes several very rich garments of