Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-01-13
NEW YORK NOTES.
GOTHAM APING THE WAYS OF
THE HUB"


the newest is s'The Nineteenth Century Club"
This is the result of an effort to introduce the
intellectual element into the entertainments
of society. As is well known, the clubs Of
New York, even the best of them, usually have
no higher object in view than to provide a place
where men who have retired from the active
pursuits of life, and men about town who have
nothing in particular to do, may spend their
ldle hours with an element also of men who are
still useful, to give them proper character and
tone, and make it possible to give big dinner
now and then to some distinguished visitor
with some eclat. IL is not surprising
to see the intellectual element attempt to form
into society distinct in itself New York
differs from Boston in the essential particular
that literary people here do not attain the
same relative position in the social scale.
New York does not put premium on brains.
III wOrships money, and does not seek to dis
gulse the TACT. No matter what position
man may attain in literature-shOrt of the
very highest-it does not give him an entree
into the highest social circles. Our best men
of letters smart under this decree of fashion.
but are forced to bow to it. A young man of
fortune, whose father may have made
it for him by selling gin, if his in
come be large enough to support him
as a man of leisure. is received
in the best society and is made a member of
one of the swell clubs without solicitation.
The way is thrown open to him to crafty the
highest social ambition he may have. But
the poet or novelist, who NAV be read from
one end of the country to the other, is barred
out completely. So now and then we have
literary people forming society among them
selves Ostensibly to discuss weightv problems
of science and philosophy but in reality that
they may have the sympathy of each other
The leading spirit of ''The Nineteenth Cen
tury Club" is Courtlandt Palmer, who is a man
of a great deal of energy and a small philoso-
pher of the agnostic school. Other members
are Julia Ward Howe, Parke Goodwin, and the
Rev. DR.. Rylance, pastor of old St. Marks
Church. | fancy that the atmosphere of the
club will soon become too liberal for the Rev.
DR.. Rylance to remain in it. SOrosis is also
literary club. Jennie June Crolv is at the
head of it. There is very little of Jennie June
physically, but who is there that has not heard
of her. The members of the Sorosis are for the
most part women who have dabhled in litera-
ture of some class, and who entertain advanced
views on social science and philosophy. They
are variOusly regarded. Some look upon them
as entitled to respect for their energy and the
philosophical nature of their discussions
others sneer at them as if they were lot of
cacklng hens. What the new club of literati
will do cannot be predicted. But if the mem
bers are able to cOndOle with each other 80
much will be accomplished by it.
VitriOl throwing is still method of revenge
An unsuccessful lover attempted to avenge
his fanced wrongs on young girl the other
day by breaking vial of vitriOl in her face
while she was walking by the side of his rival.
| The story is rather romantic one. The
! vitriol thrower some time ago became
! enamored with young girl of a sylDh-like
| form and cherry lips who reciprocated his
| affection. He was in great favor with the
| grandmother of his sweetheart, who
thought so much of him in fact
! that she was quite eager to say,
! 'SI}less you, my children" But the Young girl
! after time transferred her affections to an
! other, whereupOn the young man became NOR
| bid and threatened to revenge himself in true
heavy villain style. He warned her that un-
| less she abandoned his rival and restored him
| to favor that he would mar the beauty of her
! blooming cheeks on the last day of the old
! year. He kept his wOrd-that is as far as to
| make the attempt. The case is now in the
| courts. VitriOl throwing, like other forms of
! crime, now and then becomes a mania,
| and this attempt will doubtless be
| followed by others of q similar character
| One of the most curious phenomenon of this
| kind happened some months ago in this city.
] A man who was disappointed in the object
of his devotion in New England village be-
| came as cynical as the renowned Jdcques of
| the Forest of Alden. He became so much of q
| woman -hater that he swOre eternal enmity to
| all. He came to this city and threw vitriol
| around at women lndiscriminately to revenge
| himself upon the sex, as he said. There is no
| woman but has great horror of vitriol. Why
| should she not? What has a woman left if
you mar her beauty?
| John Kelly, is still a big man in his Way He
| holds court every day at his Office in Park
| Row, and is almost as inaccessible as a veri-
| table prince. If you wish to speak with him,
| you are forced to wait for hours in an ante
| chamber, and then you may be turned away at
| last without being afforded an opportunity to
| see him. Those who throng the ante-cham-
that which the Tammany chief
| has attracted to himself and which
| gives him his political power. They belong
! to the species of humanity in New York known
| as heeler. If you are familiar with life in the
| metropolis you are able to recognize the heeler
| just as you know the actors who are found in
| Union Square. He usually has Irish features,
! is broad shOuldered and has stout legs His
/ mnSenl9I lOnmpnf : pd or hxrf ba
fact that before he got into politics he engaged
| in portering or in some equally lah0Fious oc-
! cupatiOn. Now that he is in politics he at
! tempts to look like gentleman. He wears
! flash clothes, bright necktie, shiny tall hat,
! carries cane, keeps his face well shaven and
! looks after his boots. They pick up their liv-
| ing by getting jobs in the municipal depart
ments through political influence exerted in
| their favor in return for the services they rem
| dered during the campaign. The heeler has
| become permanent clement of society In
| his own opinion he is big mana very big
! man.
Dancing is the most popular amusement of
! the day. There Is not class of young people
| in the city that Is not industriOusly engaged
| in trying to acquire the art, If you take a
| ride on the elevated road, you frequently
! catch glimpses of heads hpbhing up and down
| at second and third floor windows. If the
heels and toes corresponding to these heads
were brought into view you would discover
that they were going through the meas
Mres OF the German n, or skipping through
| ter of the city where there is
not n dancing school. You find them down
town in neighborhoods almost wholly given up
| to business, in the populated quarters of the
| east side, among the great tenements and in
| the fashionable centres up town. The dancing
master OF schools OF the lower sort is an inter-
| esting study. He wears a dress coat white
neck-tie and patent leather slippers, and pos
sesses the Obsequi9us manners of Delmonico
waiter. tie may exclfe your admiration until
you get a close view Of his face or hear him
! l. An hot 10 l.na- -
and culture, for the dancing master who has
shop girls, factory girls and small tradesmen
for his pupils usually begins life as q barkeeper
He serves some other dancing master IN fbis
capacity (fOr there is a bar in the dancing
schools of this Order) until he has acquired q
knowledge of the art and assurance enough to
set up school ON his own account. Some of
these schools, as you may imagine, are most
pernicious in their influence. One man. in
deed, boasts of the number of Young girls he
| supplies to disreputa6le dance houses. The
distinction oI class, which ls becoming more
marked IN THIS city every year,
may be noted in these schools
The girls who work in factories acknowledge
the superiority of shop girls, who are better
dressed and have better manners, The daugb-
ter of Q retail merchant, Of q tradesman or
small manufacturers Whd does not earn her
own living stands a degree higher, and is
proud of her superiority. There is ALWAYS a
struggle among the young men for permission
to dance with the young women who are so
arlstocratte that they do not have to work
AZ sCHOOls Ol Il HiSncF grduc the daughters of
physicians, politicians of sorne nr6niinence
and of wholesale merchants all rank about the
the same. The most fashionable school is in
Fifth avenue, near the Windsor Hotel The
children OF the rich are sent to this school TO
receive an essential part Of their education
Some Of theIA are as young as four wears nj
age, Without doubt the people of fortune i'm
New York devote themselves a great deal to
their ehil ldren-as far, at least, as their educa-
tion and accomplishments are concerned
They send them to gymnasiums for muscular
developments, to dancing schocll to riding
schools, nave them taught tp~F9W and skate
there u any talent f0rit, and sometimes where
there is not.
There is no place in the world where
economy is more appreciated than it is in New
ork, where it takes larger income 30 live in
moderate comfort than m any CITY i'm the
world. Fer this reason the theatres where
moderate prices are charged have become
more popular than those of any other class.
The success OF those that were established
some years ago has led several others to he
opened, and several more are in contempla.
tiOn. At the Grand Opera House. under the
management OF MT Abbey, popular prices have
been charged for several Years and the last
season OF the theatre made q great fortune
there. The best seats are about one half Che
price of those in the average theatre. and tha
entertainments include the performances of
the best known stars in the country, Niblo;s
garden has had popular prices for some time
Dut as II Is so iar down town, il Is now ~, fbe
Wane. John A. Stevens IL uow ,,yd, a the IN
windsor Theatre. wh,ca is in the BoServ. 1Vc
49, scale of prices, and is meeting
:. -tn a falr degree of success. nat withstand
theatre Is lacatsd. The elegant Lea
ter Wai1aek, the finical lawrence
Barrett and other well known stars do
no, NOT hesitate TO play an engagement at this
great deal of money starring i'm his border
dramas, Is going to build 2 nel. tbaafre of this