Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1883-03-31
THE "DUDE."
A New Name for Type Common in the
World.
Brooklyn Eagk.]

World
Brooklyn Eagle.]
A new word has been coined. 1t
is dude or d-o-o-d. The spelling
does not seem to be distinctly settled
yet, but custom will soon regulate it.
Just where the word came from no.
body knows, bnt it has sprung into
popularity within the last two weeks,
so that now everybody is using it. 1t
means a masher, and yet it means
something more than masher. For
instance, a masher may be young or
old, he may mash by virtue of his po-
likeness, of his accomplishments, of
his wealth, beauty, eyes, nose or fame;
he may be man or mature years, an
old man, young man, or boy. In
speaking of Washers one is never sure
exactly what sort of a man is meant.
There is class Of Washers in New
York who will now have definite
place IN the language of the town as
dudes. A dude cannot be old; he
must be young, and to be properly
termed dude he should be one of
certain class who affect the nmtropol-
itan theaters. The dude is from 10
to 70 years Of age, wears trousers of
extreme tightness, is hollow-chested,
etfeminate in his ways, apes the Eng
fish, and distinguishes himself among
his fellow men as lover of actresses.
The badge Of his Office is the paper
cigarette, and his bell crown English
opera hat is his choicest joy They
are seen in large numbers at the thea
ters, where they form one of the most
interesting features of the evening
entertainments. They are offensive
because they blow cigarette-smoke in
ladies' faces, and monopolize the bar
between the acts. AS rule they are
rich mems sons, and very proud of
the unlimited cash at they command.
They call all actresses by their first
names, and affect extreme familiarity
with all things pertaining to the stage
but in reality they know very little
PERSONAL of the men and women Ct
the dramatic profession. Still the
dude always poses as particular ia
vorite of the reigning theatrical cc-
lebrity. They are harmless lot of
men in one way, for they are too shall
low pated and weak to accomplish
any harm, but they are sometimes Of
fensive. No dude is real dude who
does not talk to fellow dude in
loud voice during the play; also, no
dude who respects himself ever takes
a lady to the theater. They run in
pairs and compare notes between the
acts. The most eminent dude in New
York is the son of Wall street
broker of considerable wealth. This
dude is the pet apostle of the order.
lie has been in more scrapes with
actresses than any other man in town,
and his name has been muddled up
with half dozen dirty scandals. Re
Gently he married a girl who was sing
ing here in an English opera troupe
while his intellect was somewhat mud
died through cigarette smoke or some
thing of that sort, and her father had
to pay her some thousands of d liars
to get her to agree to a separation
from the prospective young million
aire. 1t was accomplished after some
difficulty, and she left the English OPP
era troupe, went to England, and the
last time | heard of her she had mar
ried wealthy barrister in Manches-
ter. The steamer had scarcely left
the dock when the dude became in
volved in another row, which resulted
in his father sending him off to Cali
fornia under the care of a friendly |
lawyer for six weeks tip. The old |
man would give ANYTHING to have his
son show little more discretion in the
matter of public scandal, but he can
not give him advice with much grace,
because the father himself was in his
younger days, a wonder of the most
malignant type. So, whenever he
charges his son, the son looks at him
and smiles softly and asks him about
the days of yore. The word dude is
a valuable addition to the slang Of
the dav.