Morning journal and courier., 1883-02-10

l tOALa <1AObhCA GAAA
 it was small fancy bal
 at private house q have in my minds ey
 one in particular. given by one of the wealth fest Senators) where the costumes wer
 marked by display of wealth so great ant
 so lavish as to recall the stage costumes worl
 by the queens of society drama, who mak
 dress the most effective card in their hands
 Indeed the dresses of those young societ,
 bellies were described by the papers in sucl
 detail as to betray collision between dress | maker and reporter to an extent that mus
 have bren at least winked at by wearers Between these two extremes the range of so
 eiety gatherings is beyon all power of mint I to describe or endurance of yours to read I In quantity it has been sufficient to render
 the careful grooming of the bellies mat ter of as much care and importance as tha of the belles and beaux of the turf. Last I winter one of the daily papers gave an ac count of the treatment one prominent mem | Der of ''high society," underwent at the hands of two maids every night or morning rather, when she reached home. It said she was carefully sponged with alcohol and rubbed vigorously from head to foot, then | given little bouillon and afterwards rubbed l quietly and gently until her muscles became | quite relaxed, her nerves steadied down to 6 l normal condition and she sank into quie! sleep which was not disturbed until she \ awoke naturally. Doesn't 1t sound luxurious l That this course of treatment has been fol 1 lowed by others there is little doubt, and l cannot wonder that, when young lady in- dulges in society to an extent rendering it
 necessary to enable her to stand the drain on her constitution, she must be thankful in- deed for the Lenten rest.
 The climax of the gay season was reached yesterday-Shrove Tuesday. Attorney Gen. eral Brewster's and ex-Secretary of State Blaine's daughters were married the latter to Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Coppinger, U. s. A., at noon, the former to MT. Rooms, of Philadelphia, in the evening at Epiphany church. From all accounts the first wedding must have been characteristically quiet and unostentatious and the second characteristic cally showy, for the Attorney General. from dress and personal adornment to every pub- lie actSa,ad dee5s ig aothi,gssf ctee=zciess ous. I should like to have seen the church. It must have looked superb. There was such @ mass of flowers, and in such novel shapes too. never before heard of the bridal par ty passing under floral arch at the end of the aisle between gates of white flowers that were swung open to let them pass. I am told that MT. and Mrs Rooms wedding break fast was given at o'clock this morning. I rather think that performance leaves little cake, in fact hardly crumb, for the next as- pirant for novel sensations. The young lady from whom the item comes, and who was ex- pected to attend, asserted positively that dancing was to begin at that hour. Did you ever hear of anything more ridiculous? I can hardly believe it, for though many of the elite know well enough what it is to stay up until that hour in the pursuit of pleasure, few of them can be so daft as to get up at such an uneanny hour to trip the light fan tastic, while those who have been up all night can't have any dance left in them.
 The grand finale of the pre-Lenten season was the reception given by President Arthur to the Diplomatic corps and the officers of the Army and Navy at the White House last evening. It was fit ending of an unusually brilliant season. young officer who was there speaks Of it as Q regular daisy" The President, who had attended both of the
 weddings above mentioned met with slight
 mishaps both in going to and returning from
 Miss Brewster's wedding, his carriage giving
 way and compelling him and his young daughter to walk quite a distance in the rain. I think my friend must be quite correct in his description for certainly there can be but few affairs of the kind, and certainly none in any ether city than Washington,
 where so much gold and silver and in such a variety of forms will be seen. The Presi- dent was assisted by certain ladies, principal ly the wives of Cabinet officers and others from the tip top of the social heap. I had seriously thought that these ladies, some of whom appear regularly as assistants at all
 the presidential receptions, public and pri- vate really assisted in the matter of enter taining the Presidents guests Not bit of it Officially they serve as Q brilliant back ground to set off the Executive, but if you don't know them already, it's little they Il do to add to your comfort or pleasure. Private ly they do a great deal, as understand that the fact of having met them there lays one under an obligation to call upon them in their own homes.
 The exclusiveness of the White House and the strong efforts being made to stratify so-
 -s- 1EaI a0k n1f gether fayorably, by the people of Washing ton. And one indignant newspaper core spondant asks the rather pertinent question, Are we becoming nation of snobs ?''- apropos of the rules enforced at White House receptions of giving Army and Navy offic CTS in full uniform precedence over civilian off, cers of government, and on such an occasion as last night excluding the latter altogether, while the poor public are thrown sop about twice year, when the Presidential mansi on is lighted up for few hours for their benefit and they are permitted to walk in, turn around and walk out, like the King of Fran ce and his four thousand men, who marched up the hill and then marched back again-only the King stays at the top and calmly gazes down on the struggles of the people to reach him. On New Years day, for example, the time was carefully allotted and to the ''great commonality" accorded just two hours in which to pay their respects, one half of the allowance to the officers of eacn Dfancn or
 ''the service" I must say don't like the custom and know there are many like me who will not give way to an Admiral or Major General, simply because he wears 0 superabupdance of gold lace, and much less to 8 young midshipman or second lieutenant. Flaming notions of ''aristocracy of the sers vice" have taken possession of the minds of some of the older officers and many of the younger ones, and knowing that their com missions give them longer lease of life than any civilian appointment they are disposed to patronize and even try to snub 'the people. /" It is great mistake, though, and can only react on themselves, for sooner or later they try to crush the wrong man, and then up rises 8 strong support for bill to cut down the Army and Navy and all the officers howl at the injustice of depriving them of the nope of promotion and increased income when they have given their lives to the countrys servicei
 hear that decidedly new departure mas been made in German favors this winter ]; one that robs that pleasant feature or dancing parties of every atom Of simplicity and makes the question of success or failure one of length of purse. It is the custom that has been revived, with great additions Of having only favors of considerable intrinsic
 value. hear of one occasion where they ranged from three to five dollars, consisting mainly of bangle bracelets, gold searr- pms and the like Fancy the effect of the gen eral adoption of such custom. 1T stron9 hand, backed by authority, did not nave tne custody of the "favor" box and 0strlpute it's contents with absolute importantly WnaL
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