St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-05-04
Washington society Gossip.
HOW 1T Is MANUFACTURED AND SPREAD
BROADCAST.


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small spitefulnesses against public and
private men. To do the women CORE
spondents justice, they are not the
most blameworthy. They are, it is
true, responsible for good deal of lit
erary small beer in the form of what is
known as society news, but there is not
much that is malicious in it. 1t is, as
a rule, gOOd-natured and well-inten-
toned gossip about men and women in
most of whom the country is interest
ed. If a good many of the details are
| trivial and rather nauseating, it must
be set down to the credit of those who
write and those who print, that they
are filling the demand made upon them
by large public, not all of whom are
entirely empty headed. There are
harsh critics here as elsewhere of per
sonal items in the society columns of
newspapers, but, as a matter of fact,
very few people get into print who
want to take the trouble to keep out
There are any number of families in
Washington, and some of them are in
public position, who are never read of
in the newspapers. 1t is only necessa-
ry to offend the society correspondents.
for If there Is one thing that they firm
ly believe, it is that all mankind is
aching to read their names in the col
umns of their newspapers. The inside
of the mind of society gOssiper would
be curious thing to investigate. 1t be
gins the season by being divided into
little theoretical pigeon-holes, each
pigeOn-hOle filled with the affairs of IL
family, OF of a man or woman. Some
ap., 70 hn ffaI
to be mentioned cOldly and distantly,
others are TO be punished for past neg
lects by being left severely alone, while
still others are not to be written about.
but are to be talked about until some
one else punctures them. At the end
of a brilliant season this arrangement
Is all In confusion, and the affairs of
one family are SO mixed with the af-
fairs of others that IA vacation for re-
arranging matters is blessed boon.
But to cry down the whole business
of society items is to cry down human
nature. The world likes personal Cos
sip, and the newspaper only takes the
place of the old ladies' tea-table. 1t is
a fact that all gossip is bad, and often
results in trouble, but it will not be
stopped by preaching, and the society
newspaper is not only no worse. but is
often not so bad as the people who rant
against it. The trouble with the whole
unworthy business is well illustrated
here in Washington. | call it un-
worthy, because it seems most undig-
nitied business for men and women to
run about chronicling the things that
people do when they are ut leisure, and
which do not concern the public or il
lustrate i'll any way the character of the
subjects written about. The line be
tween propriety and impropriety is
hard to draw. When IA man takes of
fetal place he becomes, in IA large
measure, public property The coun-
try is properly interested in knowing
his character and capacity, and il good
deal of light is thrown on both by
what is done in moments of relaxation
and when the man is wholly natural.
Beyond propriety, however, is q field
of life that ought never to be shown
to the public, for it is not the public's
business to know about it. tisn't I'M
moral, for example, for il newspaper re-
| porter to write that certain public
| functiOnary gave Il dinner party on Il
certain evening, and that the following
charming, or distinguished, OF delight
full company was present, naming the
victims of the public appetite for gos-
sip. 1t may seem rather unfortunate
| that il human being with capacity
enough to write anything, even her
name, should be obliged to grub out
such items of had almost said infor-
nation but there is nothing shameful
about it. Neither is it annoying tn
most of those about whom such para
| graphs are written. 1t would surprise
IA good many people if they were to be
tOld who ask for the printing of such
pieces of news. Although the above
simple announcement is harmless
enough, it is wrong to print that this
public functionary who gave the din
ner, paid marked attention to the
charming Mrs. - or the lovely Miss
--, until his own wife, becoming jeal-
Gus, hurled a china cup, or IL bitter
! glance, at the enraptured pair.
This leads me to the beings who are
engaged in the industry of which
spoke at the opening of this letter
! They write paragraphs very much like
the last | have imagined, even though
they have not the slightest suspicion oi
a fact for a basis. Some of them are
women and some of them are men.
once know young man who came here
as a newspaper correspondent, fresl
from the most rural of country colleges
He knew nothing of sOcietI anywhere
and especially was he ignorant of soci-
ETY. here. But he had imbibed a move
notion of the frivOlities of fashionable
life, and, not unlike other people, he
liked to believe everything to be vul-
gar that was closed to him he had
heard the aspiring and unrecognized
sneering at the seltishness and the po-
litical intrigues that are found in the
polite world of the capital. Therefore
on dry day, he sat down to draw q
picture of society here, and his crude
little sketch was printed i'll his paper
1t was untrue from beginning to end
it represented society precisely as it i,
not it called names and charged peo-
pie with unworthy motives becaus,
they had given entertainments. Their,
was no reason for the poor falsehooC
except that the inventor had not beer
hidden to these entertainments. III,
will probably be hidden to no other
except by the gossiping managers o
strawberry festivals and the politician
who give stag dinners, where the sole
cism of eating with ones knife-edg,
toward the mOuth-passes unnOticed
A recent illustration is afforded by
letter in the Sunday edition of "A New
York daily newspaper. This time tn
writer Is woman, and she writes