Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1883-12-29
Alexauilrla OasGtte.
-
PCEiISiiED DAILY AND TRI-WEEkf.f BY
EDGAR SNOW DEN,
at the Gazette Hoilding, Nos. 70 & 70 Prince st.
EERLG
HIGH LIFE IN NEW YORK.
lFrom the New York Wurd.l

! From the New York Worldl
! Few Of The guests who attended the large
I reception at Mrs G's last week know of
that lady struggles to keep up anpearan-
ces aud Tie devices she resorted 10 at the en-
teltqi"mem,. But Miss ti. must absolutely
make her dcbu, this season, and so that very
enterprising woman, her mother, resolved to
give n fine reception.
/ Tie dresses, coming directly from the
| fashionable mo,lislcs did not have TO be
! paid for at once Those settled for, the col
! I;,ton was the next subject OF anxiety, and
this was managed III no great expense, al
, though il had to come from one Of the most
famous caterers. Fonr hundred invitations
had been issued it was safe TO assume that
2Oo would be likely to attend, and refresh
ments were ordered for 100. On such occa-
Suns the caterer of course must make liber
al calculations on the subject of appetites.
| What the caterer felt on the subject will
never he known, but perhaps long custom
| had habiualed him 10 such tricks, for they
are bv no meaus confined to the poorer of
! society people.
| An out of-town wedding took place in the
! fall. at which the bride was the only daugh
ter Of wealthy banker, and the crowd
which assembled at both church and house
was composed Of the elite Of New York. 1t
numbered some 400, all Of whom partook Of
the sumptuous collation. which had been
ordered for 300 Afterwards the caterer
wrote to the lady who had given the order
! saving that az refreshments had been served
| Ia 100 more people than the estimate had
! been rivcu for he thought it il only fair that
/ 100 should be paid for. This, however, by
no means suited the ideas of the banker :
| wife, who positively refused to pay for more
! than the 800
Carpet, dry goods and china dealers also
suilrr 1T the hand; Of these socially amh-
tiouS people. Last week il lady entered the
store ol IL large china and glass importer
aU,! selected II handsome set Of desert plates.
10 be sent home on appreciation She want
! ed she said. to see them on the table by
gasl;ght. They were each ornamentcd with
! II different hand painting and were valued
at $luO per dozen.
That evening dinner party was given ut
the ludy'S 9th avenue residence, aud the
| quests looked admiringly at the dainty por
celan which held their grapes, but the next
| hay the plates were returned to the store.
They did not suit the boy was told who
called iur them. and, strange to say, on the
brown stone steps he met II boy from an"Ih-
e. china establishment who had just had II
large pyramid and 4 set Of highly ornament
ed caude!abra returned TO him.
That afternoon when the aggrievcd man
met his friend The wcl-known carpet-deaI-
"r. whose establishment is but n few blocks
distant. and recountcd his experience of the
fraud prac;iced upon him, the carpet man
laughed and declared that he had had innu
mrra hle tricks Of The kind played On him.
why. only last month" he said, "AS
many as eight Of my finest Oriental rugs
several OF which were worth thousand
dollars or more, figured at u fashionable re-
ceplion. In the morninga lady drove up TO
the store and entering made q choice OF ali
these beautiful carpets, which she thought
would Just about suit her rooms. They
were to be sent ut once and the following
dav | could ascertain il they all suited
Well, the next day they were all returned,
but that evening they were very much ad-
mired by the guests, more than one Of whom
felt no little envy for the owner of such
| treasures.
"Once sent 4 number of fine porticres to
a house TO see which best suited the parlor
ami dining room furniture. Those, too,
were returned after the reception. SO you
see your experience is quite Il common one"
Dealers in brouzes and other works of art
are sometimes similarly vctimized, but per-
haps the dry goods men have the worst
time Of ALL Often have rich imported cos
TUNES been sent to the house and worn be-
fore being returned and in the case OF bon
nets and fine lace shawlS this is no uncom-
mon occurrence. Many are the perfect
loves Of bonnes" which are worn to after
noon receptions or teas, and afterwards re-
turned One woman who dealt at a down
town store used to have suits for her boys
sent home, as well as coaks and bonnets for
herself Finally q clerk had his suspicious
aroused by the fact that one OF the boys
suits was very slightly soiled. The case was
reported and the woman was made TO pay
for the clothes, and no more things were
sent "on appreciation" to her house.
This, however, was perhaps an extreme
case, and she did not hold the same exalted
social position OF the other ladies referred TO-.
Mrs r., who lives in 10th street, near
Fifth avenue, greatly admired q two-hun-
dred-and fifty dollar imported wrap she saw
at large dry goods establishment. She
could not afford TO buy it, but had it sent to
her home, the boy receiving Instructions to
wait until she made up her mind about it.
While he amused himself making faces in
the hall looking glass, she cut a paper patten
of the cloak, then sent it down. She bought
some material very much the same, and her
imported" garment attracted more than
slight attention.
An old lady was heard to say the other
day that on her return from each of her nu'
merous European tours she had brought
home enough little ornaments to ill all the
tables and stands of her drawing rooom,
but gradually they disappeared, the pie
ces taken showing that the thief had been
some person Of educated taste.
| From the Philadelphia CALI
The morning after the Vanderbilt ball, a
gentleman entered prominent jewelers.
establishment on Broadway and said, 81
would like to look at some diamonds. "