Wilmington journal., 1875-07-23
Saratoga aud Its stependemce on
Southern Bellies.

Sar .togt Letter to the New Yo,k Times
The season at Saratoga never did
begin i'll earnest till the 1st of July.
There is fashion in watering places,
as there is in hats and coats, and til"
question arises naturally in ones mind
whether the dullness perceptibie IL
Saratoga ut the present time may n It
be owing to a preference on the part
of society for soma other pace. Those
who have known Saratoga for gener-
alton say that it is not what il once
was, that it is not frequented by the
same class, and that there is a manifest
falling off in the gayety OF its reunions
aud its hops. This Is perhaps true,
but mono of these things result from
auy loss of popularity. Saratoga still
holds its high pre-eminence among tht
summer resorts of America. and as
long as its wonderful waters flow. will
continue to be the central point
While its intrinsic value remains what
it was to those who drink the waters,
it must be owned that Saratoga is not
the place of high fashion that it used
to be before the war. No other resort
has gained what Saratoga has lost.
The fact is that as matrimonial mart,
as a marriage exchange, it has gone
down because the South has gore
down. So long as Northern ewes
''looked light" into the dark Souther::
orbs of telles from Louisiana, South
Carolina, and the rest. it was fashiona-
BILE for all the world To get engaged At
Saratoga. Like breeds like, and no
example Is so quick and generally fol-
lowed as "spoonery." Saratoga vas
the neutral ground where Northerners
and Southerners met to fight the bat
ties that precede the lightning of the
torch of HymeA, aud as there was ever
a rivalry between the bellies of the two
sections, the dressing was magnificent,
the prOfuslon extreme, the display
prOdlgiOus. With the distress and
poverty at the South, things changed.
and the shoddy;tes who swarmed at
Saratoga drove away the better classes
of the North that came here habitual-
ly.
Now the reign of the shoddyites is
over and the better classes are begin
ming to return; bnt to get them in the
same numbers as before we want the
great families from the South, as in
the old days before the war [ have
great hopes that we shall soon
have then once more with Us. / have
noticed with unspeakable pleasure that
there are several South Carolinians
moving in the different crews who take
part N the reg eta. The frenzy of
friendship with which the Southern
militia was received ut Boston has con-
vinced the State below Mason and
Dixon's line tnat we hunger for their
affection, and desire above all things
that they should believe in our good
will. [ cannot doubt that the effect of
this will be visible sooner or later in
Saratoga, and that the dark-eyed bellies
of the Sonth will capture the golden
haired. blue-eyed men of the North IN
the old style when Saratoga was ia
nous for It's firtations. This will re-
store to Saratoga the prestige 1t once
had of being the great place for pro-
noting marriages., that one spot on
earth where the l)alte3' .Tan1i{ias, bless
ed with many daughters, could dispose
of them all. For, after all, people do
not come to Saratoga to drink the Wa
ters. Bibs and Alderman Cutie and
their friends may haye no other object
than to drink Congress water of a
morning, and Washington all day long,
but Miss Nellie, Miss Abbie, Miss Car
I1c, MISS L CGSsS W SAC VllNI va
the chapter, have other views. They
are here to tind some one with whom
they may fall in love aud who may fall
in love with them, who may be dccep
table to ma and be considered eligible
by pa, and who may lead them to the
nuptlal altar sometime next spring;
and the more engagements are made
in Saratoga the more justly is it to
70 lo tof
whereas, if the engagements are few
and the firtations unsatlsfactO. y, then
the feeling is generally that Saratoga
is falling off.
Now, unless the Southern matrimo-
NAL element is thrown into the scale,
the number of engagements consum-
mated here must naturally be scanty,
for while a wealthy New York mer-
.hant might be most willing to receive
into his intimacy gallant young men
from the South with historic names,
belonging to families whose records
are indissolubly connected with tne
history of the Union, he might not be
so willing to cultivate the acquaint-
ance OF stranges whose names, pursuits
and standing were blank to him.
Hence the sociability which used to
pS1 NdllS GIC LCiL N1aL chtoSh doICIS
ist no more. Even now, when there
are SO few, there is no mutual inter
change of courtesies and little acts OF
kindness. We are all divided into lit
tie sets, ont of which we cannot be
forced. We are like substances which
may be mixed but will not mingle.
The Southern element had the power
to commingIe all these sets and form
n%~ 1akvy I HI.
coming again, but it has not yet come.
Hence it is that few engagements are
made here. Many a lady sees a gen
tleman whom she would like to know,
but being In different sets, an intro
duction is almost impossible without
making advances, from which every
people who go to Saratoga ''spoon"
much. They become engaged during
the winter or the spring to those whom
they haYe known for long time, and
the romance of love and matrimony
The rose tints are taken
from the Saratoga drawing rooms, and
nothing is left save that nominal good |
time which ever extends robust health |
in a crowd; but alas alas ! for the |
dreams of the young d5titante at Sara
togo for the first time.
TAKE away the petty Federal cor
ganizers," says Charles Nordhoff in his
asst letter to the New York Herald, |
and the negro, left face TO face with
;he white man, no longer marched up
n column to the central poll of the
county, but voting il his proper pre-
,inct; argue d with; heating both sides
or the first time; knowing by expert
,nce, as he. presently viii, that the
Democrat is not a monster, and that
Democratic victory does not mean
lis reinstatement, will lose much of
lis interest in elections. They won't
'ote unless they have white organ z
rs ,, une fha iln1uarSnl fnStir1altnu of |