The Newtown bee., 1880-02-04
New York Letter.

and not few of the men who should be
 old enough to know better, to convince
 the world in general, and their friends in
 particular that they have no character at
 all. Take walk down Broadway, or
 any of the great Avenues, of an afternoon
 and among the many thousands who pass
 you, it is only here and there that you
 meet a man who you would be willing to swear was an American. Go to Paris,
 you might safely make an affidavit that seven at least, out of every ten men you
 meet, are Frenchmen. If you are in Der
 lin, you can pick the Germans out every
 time. In Edinburg or Glasgow you can
 always tell Scotchman, and in Belfast
 or Dublin you could recognize Paddy among a million--but it is not so in New
 York. Every other man you meet might
 be anything, or come from anywhere - as well as from any portion of the United
 States, and yet the majority of them are
 Americans, and except when they are
 abroad one would think they were ashamed of their nationality. The death
 of Genio c. Scott, a short time since,
 whose literary estate was put under the
 hammersthis week, reminds me of the great change which has. taken place In our fashiors. Scott, you remember, used to publish those admirable fashion plates, which were the delight of every talIor's heart for the last forty years-and what fo ohi I,Io hNv Tn n landscape, surrounded by trees and flow CTS and waterfalls, you could see Daniel
 Webster, in blue swallOw-tail and buff st--and HenIy Clay done up in a nice frock coat and pants, that fitted him, looking just like the orator that he was a man for people to admire. How would he look now, in one of those horrible states prison ulsters, with striped pants and speckled vest, a red hectic and Derby hat with a rim about half an inch wide, which makes a mans head look like an ill made pudding that had burst the bag. Inever walk down Broad way of an afternoon but l think of that magnificent chorus in Pinafore. "for he is an Englishman. It is greatly to his credit that he is an Englishman." All of our youth appear to think so, at least, for nine out of ten of them look as If they might have been born within the sound of Bow Bells. The present style of dress is simply abominable it has neither taste nor beauty, nor anything else. ex- cept convenience, to recommend 1t, and if that be the standard of dress, we might as well go back to the original sack, with a hole cut in one end, or an apron of fig leaves would be quite as eff fective, and much more ornamental.
 In everything that pertains to luxury we are advancing; the genius which de-
 votes itself to the creation of beautiful things, seems almost universal. I don't know if it is traceable to the frequently recurring Worlds Fair or not, but not withstanding the abominable taste of our men in dress, there never was time in our national existence, when we were surrounded with as many beautiful things as we have now; whether it be In the styles of woven goods, in Ksramics, in bronzes, in furniture, and in fact, in al most everything that makes up our ev-
 ery-day life, the last ten years have made marked and startling innovation,
 and now the question is forced upon us,
 If this style of thing has added anything
 to our National character. It costs as
 much to keep up the house of respecta-
 ble mechanic in New York to-day as sup ported a man of liberal fortune fifty years ago. That puts me in mind that a man of liberal fortune at that time, in any of the New Eng land or Western States, was worth from twenty to thirty thousand dollars, and that paltry sum would not make him & respectable de- faulter In the year of our Lord 1880. If any one doubts whether we are improv- ing, however he would only have to look over the criminal calendar of last week to have his doubts removed. One morn- ing six criminals were brought up for se- rious offences in the Police Court; the youngest was eight and the oldest only twelve. and yet. as far as sin was con- cerncd, they might have been one hun dred and fifty. Their ordinary conYersa- tion was,in patiot of the street, called Flash, which in England is the distinc- tive language of the thieves; they smok- ed and chewed, and swore like older ruff | fans, and were equipped with knife and pistol which they were not afraid to use upon occasion. Two of these young will lion .EC crowded street, and robbed her of her purse, containing fifty cents, having first taken in the situation and weighed all the chances of escape. When they were old iron pistol was found upon the youngz CT highwaymen, who declared that N" he only used them to frighten people, he didn't mean to kill 'em" notwithstand- ing this pacific declaration, the pistol contained half ounce sing that would have given the coupe de grace to the keep- CT of Dutch grocery store, or settled the accounts of an imprudsnt bank cashier, and sent him to that land where stock operations never imperil the characters ol tho PoPulatloii, anu SudNlH2 Hole9 duu thieving discounts are unknown. Anoth- CT heavy william, aged nine, in company with an ~old companion Ill crime, aged seven, was picked up by the sexton while trying to rob d church, and when search ed in the police office was found in the possession of @ kit of burglars tools, which would have cracked bank vault or a safe deposit. The crop looks ex- ceedingly promising, and if we only suc- ceed in this as well as we do in other business lines, we will be under no ne-