The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-08-23
ANOVEL DIRECTORY.
How the Elite Of New York city are
known.
New York Letter to Hartford Times.

New York Letter to Hartford Times.
Gothams first families have direc.
tory all TO them,eIves 1t Is called the
Elite Directory, and it contains about
$4,000 names. Each name IN the Elite
Directory is supposed to represent
householder OF good social standing.
From the an Gent Knlckerbocker dowr
to the modern ShoddyIte, all the GOtha-
mites OF note are included. Most OF the
elite live in brown stone houses, and
nearly all have their homes above Four
teentn street and west of Third avenue
The $4,000 householders represent proba
bly, $4,000 OF the population; so Startling
as the act may appear, though the whole
elite element took notion TO evaporate,
or emigrate. or vanish in any other way,
New York would still be city OF mil
lion souls. 1t had million and sixty
thousands two wears ago, and 1t certainly
mas gained At least 10000 since. But,
after all, without the elite it would not
be much of metropolis. This class
forms what is called society. In the
ranks are found the principal merchants,
bankers, lawyers, doctors and mNcelIane-
Gus tradesmen 1.-THE city. The fashion,
able churches are mainly supported by
il. ana all the brilliant social events re-
c-ive their ,u-tre from 1t. the old .amI-
lies with large estates belong ID
IL, ~ also | must say, do some new tamI-
lies with no estates 70 speak Of. A good
many OF the elite have had TO come down
IN the world IN the past three years
There, ~ elsewhere, tue financial pres
sure has been ielt, and with 1t the aDso-
lutte need OF retrenchment If member
snip in the elite depended upon wealth
alone, am sure the ranks could not be
near so full now Us they were when Jay
Cooke & Co., gave the signal Tor the
yreat panic. And do not think they
are quite so tull, either.
The object for which the Elite Dlrec-
tory Is published is trlhe peculiar. 1t Is
MAINLY TO enable trades men To send out
cards and circulars, or at least 10 furnish
the address OF persons to whom to send
them. All who belong to the elite are
supposed 10 be desirable persons - cult
vste in the way OF business, so this direc-
tory Is published to put bus!Ce men III
the way of cultivatlng them. Almost
every retail dealer of any pretenslon to
rcspectaDilty supplies himself with one
and makes use OF IT 10 solicit the custom
of the elite Occasionally the elite proves
o. be bad pay, and the retail dealer feels
uhe dlnging ms directory into the stove
cut ~ rule the directory Is useful and
the result OF employing II Is satisfactory.
1.-the doctor gets one customer tor every
100 circulars ne sends out. he does pretty
we'll, and ! think there are very few who
10 not get per cent. at least. The di
rectory is sometimes consulted by society
people who want TO be sure about the
standing o: their acquaintance. When
Mrs. Brown Is getting up reception
and preparing the invitations, it Is OF con-
.iderable Importance to her To know
whether the Joneses, whom she mad
thought of asking, were OF the
proper social stamp. If the
Joneses are among the favor
tie $4,000 OF the elite, the matter 10 set.
tied ut once. If their name is not there,
possibly the invitation will not 90. The
directory il also useful TO the habItual
'QArlLN- mOuGtTS, WIN H4aNc u P''SN
good living by going about soliciting
subscriptions for this institution or that
one, or begging aid tor n possible apocry-
phsl poor family. LISTS OF names are
made up from it, and the chsrity-mongers
70 on their rounds, with the lists in their
pockets, and pick up many odd dollar.
II l. a. much their business as it Is the
business of n Wall street broker,
to buy or sell stocks, and
like the broker, the charity cauvasser
or collector, Whatever the name
may be must have ms or her
commission. But, as | have said, the
Elite Directory is chiefly useful in ena-
bling s,orekeepers and others trades peo-
ple to solicit the custom of those VINO
have money to spend. 1t serves svery
good purpose in this way, Mt all events,
even though the publication OF 1t does
look u trihe like snobbery.