Omaha daily bee., 1883-02-03
The Masked Opera Ball and Its
Thousands Of Loud At
teadantS.
The Extravaganza in Dress
Reaches the Verge of
Lunacy.
Tho Mors sen,ib,e PIople G 'adu-
ally Retiriug fro Society.
Getting Ready to Bounce a Liberal
Clergyman.

season, which always p~recedes the
solemnities e Lent, is now at its
height. The worst of it Is over-that
is, the worst of the balls. The French
ball Is generally consid cred the g,y
and feslive one Of the season, out
there was one given at the Madison
Square Garden that out F,enched the
French ball. 1t was called the Opera
Ball, but what connection 1t had with
the opera it would be diff suit to say
There is o ball of a similar name given
in Paris, and l fancy, from what l
have heard of that, that this one was
not 10 very unlike 1t. There was
about %, COD people during the even
ing q. this Opera Ball, most OF them
men. The women present could
hardly be called ladies, If you can
Judge of q lady by her conduct. Of
course they were all masked, that is,
their faces were covered. The fun
did not begin till late in the evening,
out when 1t did begin it began in
earnest. Captain Wilkins and his
merry men we're on hand, and 1t was
1st as we'll that they we're. for they
we're probably the busiest people at
the ball. The principal amusement Ct
the other men contested In passing
some Of the most lightly clad women
from the floor Of the ball room up ia.
to the boxes. They would pick up
enc of these airy maskers and hand
her up to the next box. II the men
up there thought they would like to
become better acquainted they would
pull her In; If they did not they would
let her 60. 1 heard Of one woman
Who was passed around the entire
room before she was pulled in,
and then it was by Captain Williams.
The arrests were namerous, but no
more than were necessary to preserve
order, and even then 1t was not pre-
served. l could say more about this
ball; but this being a family paper !
think | had batter not. By compari
son the French ball, which took ite
place a few nights later, might have
oeen q Sunday school picnic. The
charity bail, which took place OF
thursday night, is the ''swell" ball O
the season. There are no such going,
on at this as at the masked balls; il
fact there are no goings on at all. 1,
is in every way q most respectable ant
decent affair; rather slow, some PEG
pie think, but for those who like dauc
ing and a good supper, and who lik'
to show their good clothes, it is al
that could be desired, While 18th,
charity Is still the most { ,shionabl,
ball given In New York i
i, not what is used to be
There was a time when q oma VIII
i, did not attend the charity ball though
: she had not fulfilled her obligation
=, to society nor done justice /, her so
cial position. Ambitious mammat
saved up for this great event, and the
dressing used to be something extraor
binary. 1t IL still handsome, becaus,
Nav York women are great dresserf
but there are 80 many private ball,
during the winter nowadays that they
have other opportunities for showing
8 what they can 40. Even at afternoon
receptions the dressing is absurdl,
e%xtravsgsnt. At a reception the othe,
day the hostess and her two daughter
B wore gowns that must have cost then
e at least $500 apiece. To me thi
seems like very bad taste. If the
women want to dress In the evening
let them; but In the afternoon / shout,
think hat an ordinary handsome dres
would be all that WAS necessary. o
course, when q hostess wears q five
hundred. dollar dress her guests ar
bound to come as near that fl cure II
a their dressing as posi- Die, and thi
keeps out of society a great many pee
pie who would adorn 1t more than tn
majority of those who are Its repre-
y s~entatives now. / heard avecy wealth
o and charming lady say the other ds
's she thought something of establishiu
J. q salon In New York, as much for til
purpose of not dressing extravaganza
and showing other people dress WI
was not the only essential thing, b,
cause she f,lt, by doing this, she wa
: more likely to have interesting poop
= attend her receptions than If DIRE
were made the main feature. MADAM
- Adam, whose salon Is the most famol
in Paris, dresses with extreme plaii
~ ness, 30 she gathers about her NJ
J. interesting people, who csnuo sffoi
a to dress e~xtravagantly, but interes,ir
- people who don't care to bother wit
" dress.
- 1t is considered an exciting e,
49, cial event that Lady Msnd'
vile is spending the winter
z New York, Lady Vaudeville was Mi
Yznaga, aud married a son tf tt
Duke of Manchester. Up to the pr
= sent time she has been living in En-,
y, land, where she has made a great in
preston by her American attraction
The gossip is that Lord Vaudeville
r heavily in debt, and that his fathe
in.law told him il he would come ov,
here for q year or 10 he would 81,
him enough money to pay all his ILL
>, Another event ~agitating the bosom
society Is the marriage of Mrs. Viii
to George Lorillard. Mrs. White Is
sister, l believe, of Mr.. John !
. Fargo, the artist, and she was recen
in. ly divorced from Mr.. White to mar
). Mr.. Lorlllsrd. Up to the presel
time Mr.. White has been employs
~ by DIR. Lorillard, but / fancy tn,
u" now he seeks employment elsewher
The marriage of a wealthy your
CO, lady by the name of Hollsn'
Dis a near relative of the late DR..
re-. G. Holland, is also being muc
!, talked about. Miss Holland has ju
married a Cuban quite old enough
= be her father, who was both bald ar
lame. He has one daughter just h,
age and two son some years olde
He takes his bride to Cuba, whe
TX they will settle. Another weddir
entirely out cf the social circle W