Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-03-17
THE COMING DRESS BALL OF
THE VANDERBILTS.
Society Agog for the Great Event
The Five Cent Fare Veto-The Latest
Police Outrage - Edwin Booths
Daughter = The Blight of Young
Life-AIiye Yet Dead.

| follce outrage - Edwin Booths
Daughter = The Blight of YOUNG
Life-Alive Yet Dead.
NEW YORK, March l6.-The Vanderbilt fan.
cy dress ball will be the greatest affair of the
kind OF private nature that has ever been
given in this country. 1t takes place on the
26th OF this month, and the superb double
mansions OF the Nanderbilts will be thrown
open together for the first time. The most
elaborate costumes have been designed, many
OF them costing thousands of dollars. and the
scene undoubtedly will be very brilliant. Mrs.
Vanderbilt has been most generous in issuing
her invitations, and several thousands are ex-
pected to attend. People are coming from
| Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington Ros-
ton, Buffalo and Albany in large parties.
That the costumes in the citv NAV
not conflict, the leaders of the different social
sets IN New York have taken the young peo-
| pie under their charge. and the result is that
many large parties will go in special cos :
! TUNES. For instance, Mrs. Fernando YznaRa
whose daughter married Lord Mandeviile,
viii ehaperon party which will be known as
the opera Boate Quadrille: 1t consists of Mrs.
! Ogden Goelet, Miss Leroy, Miss Minnie Smith
| and Miss fznaga, Mr.. +. b. Cutting, Mr.:
| Beach, Mir. Pryor and Mr.. .-Fales. The girls
| will all be dressed in the leading characters
in the operas of lie Jole de Parfemerise, p
! "Le Belle Helene "Girohe- -Girofa"
and lie Fills de Regiment" Another
party ehaperoaed by Mrs. Laur-
| a Mother fNOASa
4 cotilion. The Misses Perkins, Miss Emmett
! Miss ThorOn, Miss May Duncan Miss Marga,
/ ret Blake and Miss Parsons will take the nrIn-
! cipal parts. They all have elaborate costumes
| OF the Mother Goose order, and, as they have
been practicing for three months, it is hoped
| that they will be able TO give a number of
clever pictures of these fairies of all good chill
| dren. They are TO he accompanied by Little
! Boy Blues, Simple Simons, Jacks and Gills.
etc., who are to be persOnated By eminent So
ciety young men. The Dresden China qua
twill as-fll hrer "a H.. H
| nler, Miss Henrietta Strong, Miss Swan, Miss
| Hilda OelFichs and four pairs of brothers
the Rutherfords. Pierreponts, iFearings
| and Mortimers. This quadrille embraces the
names of the very best people In New York
society, and will undoubtedly be the star
quadrille of the occasion. All of the partici-
pants have been elaborately cOstumed by a
| theatrical costumer, brought over from Lon
| don especially for the purpose. They will
represent jugs, vases, etc, Of Dresden china.
| The costumes, which are white satin and bro
cade hand painted. and built out with wires
and all that sort of thing, fare uncommOnly
rich and expensive. Many of them are trim
med at various points with diamonds artst-
cally inserted in the drapery SO as to catch
the light and heighten the effect. The
| Vanderbilts have been conspicuous
heretofore because they have kept out of the
/ social whlrl. The family represents 5000 OO0-
coo and lives in the finest house on the Ameri-
! can continent, and is naturally invited every
! where. The talk about the social ostracism
| of the Fanderbilts is all rot. There are one or
I
| blood and make it point to slight the Van
| derbilts whenever it is possible, but they have
| been the ones most eager in fishing for invita-
! tlOns TO this affair. When the Nanderbilts do
| thing they do it up brown, no matter what
| u Is, and it is 4 great feather in the cap of
! William H. v. that the first fancy bah given
| by his family will rank as social event of
unrivalled Importance during the greatest of
| New York social seasons. The only thing that
remains for Vanderbilt now to do is to build
| yacht. The Car built q yacht which was
magnificent. or fXV0 lima 10
faults; James Gordon Bennett built a yacht
which corrected those faults and was even
more magnificent; now day Gould is buildings
yacht whlch not only has not any fault, but has
a number of Improvements over those of the
Cars and Mr. Bennetts, and is simply su-
perb. II Is now in order for Mr.. Vanderbilt
TO build yacht which will exhaust
all the adjectyes in the English dictionary
and send Alexander of Russia, Bennett of the
/ Heratd and Jay Goald of the Stock Exchange,
so chagrlned with envy that they will 90 to
sea in their several yachts, and never dare to
show their faces in civilized countries again.
! This is all that rem. ins for Mr.. Vanderbilt as
he has everything else on earth. except, let me
add, good health.
The Governor has been overwhelmed with
abuse since his veto of the five cent fare
bill. His course, however was manly and
fearless. 1t was clearly unconstitutional as
passed, and nothing was left for him to do but
to kill ii, which he did. Most of the better
class OF citizens are glad that the bill did not
succeed. because they are afraid it would ruin
the present security and safety of the elevated
roads, They are run now in the most perfect
manner, with plenty Of guards conductors
ana gatemen. and all the accommodations are
hrst-class. The cars are heated and the en-
plOyes are so well drilled that Objectionable
characters find it difficult if not impossible to
get on the trains. Hence all we'll to do citi-
zens reel perfectly secure when their wives
travel on the elevated railroads. They are
very willing to pay ten cents for the security
ana eXcluslveness which the women enjoy
there. Besides this the vast majority of men
never feel the effect of the ten cent fare di-
rectly. as they go down town and come back
during commission hours, when the fare is
only hVe cents. The road is certainly great
convenience. and the perfect system under
which it is managed reduces the chance Of an
accident to minimum.
1t is certainly an outrage that the police of
New FORK should have such power over citi-
zens. The last case which has come before
the public is particularly aggravating, as a
woman Is the victim of it, and she is dragged
INTO the public prints in a way that would
bring suspicion on her name for long time
The case is that of a Mrs. Wehrmenn, who
had rented one of a row of houses in a street
which was filled with disorderlv characters
In fact all OF the houses were disreputable in
the row which Mrs. Wehrmenn rented her
house in, and the former occupant had been
under police surveillance for some months.
Then Mrs. Wehrmenn moved in and when the
hrst day of the month came
around az 1Eo an an agent OF the police Captain
must pay the usual tribute to the Captain of
the district. II she wishedto be let alone. At
hrst she dld not understand the man, but
when 1t was explained to her, she became in
dlgnant and said she had no one but respecta-
Bile tenants and bOarders, and would not be
bled so by the police. The police persisted in
saying that she kent disQrderly house lust
like the rest of the tenants in the block, and
threatened to arrest her If she did not cOmnlE
with their demands. She again refused, and
made a complaint to the Superintendent of
Police. The matter was brought before the
Police Commissioners and an investigation or
dered; The Police Captain then, so as to keep
himself on the right side If possible, entered
proceedngsagalnst the poor woman for keep
ing disOrderly house. From the testi-
mony It seemed that she is perfectly re-
spectacle woman, and the people in her house
are certainly above suspicion. Yet through
influence, the action of the Captain was sus-
tanned, and she was roughly dealt with Sew
eral wealthy men who also have grievances
against the police, have interested themselves
in her behalf, and the probabilities are we
will hear more Of the case In the future
Things have come to a bad state when a wo-
man has to pay tribute to a captain of the
precinct so as to keep up reputation for re-
spectabilty.
Probably in all fiction there Is no sadder
story than the facts in the case OF Miss EdWina
Booth. the daughter of the great tragedian.
She was engaged to young man who was in
every way an eligible match. He was bright
vivacious, handsome and welI-to-do. The
young people were very fond of each other.
They had been engaged some time, and the
first love had grown into well founded and
enduring affection, When Miss Booth left 10
she was obliged to bid her lover good d-bye. but
he agreed to go over TO Germany and meet
her a month after they sailed, as
he needed some time to ar
range his business affairs. She was
gone two weeks, when one night her lover
was asphyxiated with coal gas. lie soon re-
covered consciousness, and eminent physi- |
clans said he would be all right in the course
OF a few days. He appeared 10 regain his !
bodily health, but not his usual spirits, and !
after week or two telegram was received
from Mr.. Booth asking him to come over and |
see them, as continental trip might do him |
discovered that his mind was affected. He /
was not insane, as his actions were rational in |
everything he did. and he was gentle and do l
ellie; but it was discovered that the faepity'6f |
not remember the smallest details, and would I
forget the faces Of his friends half an hour /
after they had left him, and nothing could I
recall them to his mind. He would forget the /
number OF his house, the name OF the street,
his own name, and could not remember |
whether he had eaten his meals or not and /
lost all interest in his family and prospects,
His sister and another brother took him in
charge, and they all went over to Europe
together. When he got there and was Gshered |
into the presence of his betrothed, he looked
at her indiferently, and turned his face and
gazed out of the window. She was almost
heartbroken, but he did not remember her
a complete stranger. When they told him
who Mr.. Booth was, he shook hands with him
calmly and began to talk about some foreign
topic. and nothing could recall their former
relations to his mind. Miss Booths misery
was complete. The poor girl remained. with
him several weeks and tried by every means
IN her power to recall to his mind some mem
Ory of their former relations, but she was
obliged finally to give it up. lie was totally
sulting the most eTninentof European jsfysi-
clans they were obliged t0 pronounce his