New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-07-13
SOCIAL SILHOUETTES.'
BEING THE IMPRESSIONS OF MR. MARX MAN
HAITIAN
THE YOUNG GENTLEMAN WHO ASPIRES.
".

continuous en- iuEc. IL - lNo NtlAb h'N'i'P'''"'
from tho homQgen ,ous TO the heterogeneous OF
which we are so ably told in Speuceriau philosophy.
Certain portions are in an mceSSant state of di,in-
tcrration it is tru, wrought by all kinds ot clrcum
stantial causes, from departure abroad 10 a hnan
cial feiony-lrom com nsrcid disaster 20 the great
dwelling i'll Of death Itself Bat Those adverse
forces. affecting the whole system dcStractiVelN.
only confirm the justice of my eSolutlonal parallel
As fast as Fashion dies fast Is It born again. As
fast as it fades. fast does 1t bud. Newly gotten
wealth aud newly acquired ambition feed 1t with
an unfalng current. 1t always has It's people VINO
are beginning to get about 1t does not Know
the solid debt which II owes to TINS auXHiaIy
power But suppose its perennial ingrdtitnde Is
only part of the entire wise and beautiful plan.
AS individuals We rarely east a thought upon the
wholesome fuel of air which we breathe into our
Iungs-how many times out OF every twcnty-fod
hours | am not physiOOgist enough To record. Ana
no Doubt ArStocTIcy would be darkIy shocked II IL
were once called upon to realize It's truly vital Rim
shin with Plebeianism. Perhaps its dainty nerves
merit better treatment than even vague aluSiOn
II this frigd fact. 1 here is something 80 actually
grisly for the loyal scion of caste, in being re-
minded that such loud. rude thorOughfareS as the
Bowery and Third-gve. and Aycnue-A contain not a
few living ancestors of exquisite future bal-gvors
and ball-goers | confess that the contemplation
of so austere truth must be horrifying to any we'll
ordered patrican mind And yet ]. who like TO
face all social truths. cannot help feeling 1t ex-
tremelv probable that my grandchildren may one
day ntermarry land perhaps somewhat triumph
antly at that with the grandchildren of the man
who shoyels snow from my smart doorstep IN win
TER for 30 conts orr of the shabbier fellow citizen
who dumps my aur0ral ashes into his cart-for no
wage whatevor.
When Mr.. Lysander Dingley first swan into my
tI,nrh r1 tIQ
fins were not of a most humble inherited fibre But
/ afterward discovered that this yOnug gentleman
had followed more gradual impulse of progress
and that instead of sprnging directly from the
people" he had been saved the calamity of this di
rect contact by having had q single generation
kindly intervene.
The senior Dngley had male q neat fortune rs
retail furrer, and quite destitute OF proud
aspirations | mover saw him, bat l can picture
him as phlosOphically settling down among the
soft accommodations of his minkskins, ermines and
sables ignore those rigorous exposures which for
a man who would scale late in life the bleak ram
parts of arstocracy sometimes little less than
arctic. But his son. Lysander. had no such placid
wisdom LySander had been festally inclined from
the age of one-and twenty. The facts which ! am
about to narrate concerning his career were secured
some time after my first acquaintance with him;
but like a faithful bIographer who would nothing
extenuate nor set down aught in malice, shall
give them their early and due place in his written
history.
Resembling so many of our New-YorL youths
Lvsander had entered Columbia College vt the alb
surdly immature age of sixteen. He quick and
clever at his studies and rapidly took high place
in his class. He was very ambitious, too, of all
sorts of distinction There some sorts of dis
tinction regarding which he had only the most in
definite views At the same time he had the gen
orally definite view that he wished to excel
wherever excellence possible. Early in his
freshm IN year Lysandcr made distressing discov
cry. He had joined the wrong sc ret society. In
Columbia this has most piercing significance. AT
his especial period there two dominant and CO.
regent sccst societies in the college, whose mem
bcrs were mostly chosen for claims of lofty and in
fuontial parentage. The young men belonging to
these two organizations Whose private deeds or
misdeeds were wrapped in severe darkuess) wore
little gold ehameled pins on che lappets of their
wastc0ats bearing two or three Greek letters OF
most enrolling Importance Members Of the other
less honorcd bands wore little pins rs well, hut be-
tween their sacred insignia and those OF the truly
elect dwelt chasms of difference. 1t was like com
pairing the Garter and the Golden Fleece with GER
tain obscure European orders. Lysander Dingley
soon felt that he was emphatcally one of those who
had neither been called chosen. But it was too
late for rebellion or restitution He had taken his
weird VOWS of eternal allegiance 10 the Sigma
Omega. and Sigma Omega he must remain TIL
Doom s-day-or at least Commencement Day-2nd
even after He rapidly perceived that ho had but
one consolat0ry course left. He must be stoutly
loyal to the Sigma OmcgaS ald yet seek outside
afhatou and intimacy with the sleek, dAppcr,
dandicd young Onicr0n Pss ard Beta Alphas
But in this nice scheme he utterly failed. IL
gradually recognized the bitter and galns fact Of
his stiSmatiled position. Harry Van Corlear and
JOHNNY Wcehawken were not to bs pToptiatcd. He
murmurcl to them ~ the elias, room the required
second -aorst which saved them from recational
disgrace he whispered 10 them with adrot heneyo
lence while standing al a contiguous blackboard,
The magic open sesame " 10 some stubborn enigma
IN Legcndrc But his good Offices were of no avail.
Harry and johnny always accepted such fayors
with easy ,uayity. They scarcely ever had time to
study: they were immensely fashionable, in Their
bcardless. adocsceHt way; they had repeatedly
been to some affair the night before, and would
sometimes drop into the college grounds with a
rather stale AMI limp looking rosebud for bOU0H-
Mere as if they had selected IT from number Of
others procured in the German recently danced
They thought Lysaudcr wholly interested in his
courtcscs (which he indeed was and 30 chose to
value them accordingly. Harry was an Omcron
Psi and johnny WAS Beta Alpha. and they were
both uncomfortable young snobs after that re-
norselcss and rcasonlcss manner in which only very
young persons. Of whatever SEX dare to be snohs.
Lysandcr Dinglcy used to find himself wishing
that ne had been where those wilted rosebud' had
,een IL night before. and wishing II with forco
hat gradually took an almost monomanlcai form
Most metropolitan colleges are of slight academic
worth. They are colleges which are in reality mere
high-schools rs often has been said The esprit dc
,orpy among their disciples Is shadow, and the pro-
iessoral inhucuce. discipline. supervision becomes !
,f necessity "a nominal form. L}sandcr might have
left Dartmouth or Rutgers sensible fellow. lie
L. L II. -. INN Il rLLLL-