New-York tribune., 1884-11-30
SOCIAL sILHoUETTEs.
BErSo THE IMPRESSIONS uP Mr.. MARX NAN
HAITIAN.
THE LADY WITH A SON-IN-LAw.

hD'ut lpuf buiuiitfs ago. Wuiio 4 "h' ihan'uS "
rather extended tour Of tine Cst,kills stopped for
several DAYS at a popuous country boarding house
quIts in the heart OF these charming hills. found
myself nearly ths sole transient" guest; all the
Others were people who hat resolved upon n perm a
nent stay. They were about twenty iw all. and a
great amount OF intimacy existed between them.
with tine usual revelation OF aDiIpathy and enmty
well. They were mostly New-Yorkers. and yet.
as il happenei had never met any Of them lie ore.
even beard their names. Many of the ladies' were
very refined and even hgh-bred, and not few OF
the men La not only excellent manners but werc
Thoroughly gossi fellows well. Ii struck me that
most of them must have been possessed of limited
incomes or they wonld never have chosen an ign OF
soiourn whore, notwithstanding cloud. .shadowed
slopes lovely alterations of mist and sunbeim de-
hghtful enchantment Of purple afternoons and
gorgeous twghts, a relentless monotony existed IN
the -way of doughy bread. sanguinary beefsteak,
apocryphal coffee. and scandslOus butter sup
pose I would not have thought of Their worldly
wealth if had not also though OF their unknown
social places and told nv self what farce It meant
when we needed the question, here in America. Of
who was or who was not - in society" The whole
absurd scheme of Transatlantic aristocracy had
never met me in snch candid coors ~ it dM there at
this obscure Catskil boarding house. There was
Miss IIowson who had face of dainty freshness
and dressed in cool modsh muslns there was
Miss Thompson, who pa nted leaves and bowcrs
pretty and sang sweet silvery songs Of an evening
about killarneys lakes and fes. and the lass who
married her own love. her own love. and-wel, 1
forget the graceful refrain Of the song more shame
to me there was Miss Pansy Irott. who was clever
and had been graduated nj Vassar. and thought
that althou Ia the great modern thinkers men
of granl intellect their lack of q sound spiritual
faith WAS gravey to be deplOred; there was
ethereal slim-handed Miss Clingley, who could have
kept the classic suitOrs waiting mnch longer. am
su-e than Penelope did. with her marvellous needle
work effects in every tint AMI des yn II remember
once Offending her by asking her whether she didn't
think 4he could do the 3a cony Seen from Romeo
and juliet" with n moon of white sewing-silk and
balcony of brown braid there was airy. piqranse
Miss Tinkle vino coud say s,ucy things with such
winsome pout and dirt m corners Of pialzas with
such 10 nun lane innocense there was. In short. u
beyy Of nice girls who differed only from the nice
prls whom hal met whore fashion and snobbery
teiqned aud tyrannled by no discovsrablc trait
oxcnpt their frcclon from certain silly anh irr-
tating excln,yonoas Eyory ono or them hnh the
.nno right 20 call herssf swell" and good FORM"
and in tho proper sct." which tho Misses Spuytcn.
Jnyvl and Amsterdam and IIackensick possess.
since 10 ID ob vons enough that tho sghtrst patrcian
claim. not founded upon mere vulgar wealth. Ia
mean and cheap IN u country whose very bnwark
and safeguard should DO An avoidance Of European
imitation. Aud yet These young ladies pat for
ward no such right anl were all ti C more charm p
ing because they did not often think that IL is
ln.t such girls ~ These who make our country an
durable for 4 mln of mind and sincerity. Ii all our
yonng women wero like the naughty and yet hare
Drained minxes whom one is 80 apt to meet In New
York ball ll-rooms. Heaven knows how many sensible
American bachelors would make a deserInined stand
against matrimony!
The men were less engaging. as body, but some
Of them found most coDDAnionable and attractive
They were rarely verse l-the younger ones, mean
in those mighty mysteries of tho toilet when
make it a crime to wear tall hat with sack-coat
or to don low one with double-breastet frocS
coat lou't believe that any of them knew when
10 WIS dark crime to appear in gloves and when IL
vas a shining act Of probity to be without gloves
A minority of them engrossed i'll matters more
trivial like the search for botanical specimens or
the dosire to study geological form atoms. or the
ann to spend q vacation from less congenial pursuits
in solid aud profitable reading. One of them was q
pale slender fellow of about six-and-twenty. who
had made rather fair literary success, considering
his age. by ser e5 of articles in a we'll known New
York journal His name Reuben Rodd. and he
aimed to be "A novelist. think he would have been
a good one if he had lived; but even then be was
consumptive and | saw his death the following
year recorded in the very newspaper which was at
this tim publishing his bright. able sketches.
But Reuben Rodd was fearfuly sensitive to the
mosquito-stings of that multitudinous land oil
scribblers which we call the critics" zen then.
as have said he was i'll. AMI don't doabt that
these vicious man insects hatchcd by the sun
shine OF his brief success bit and harassed him INTO
his death. They hill weak life. sometimes; it
is only the man of good health who can iatten them
into extinction with few lusty saps OF his palm.
Poor Reuben when we first got TO know each other.
was suffering from the assault of one OF those New
York comic journals which are always coming and
going in this country, and which can never live
here because when not vulgarly personal they are
stupidity tame. This special print was called Our
Life or aThe WAY We Live' or Life as We Live
It," or something of <hat sort. In any case know
that Life" had something TO do with its existent
title lust a. death was among its future certanties
And it had played in some dull punning fashion
upon poor Reuben's name and had suggested what
should be the subject of his next article.
Through the young mans distress / came to have
long chats with his excellent mother. willow, Mrs.
Rodd She was little less than forty. with a fair
bright amiabie face, and tendency toward stout
ness. She was very fond Of Reuben, as she was
very fond, also. of her remaining child. Rebecca.
aged about sixteen. thought Rebecca. with her
folded hands, der really perfect complexion, her
and her unquestionabe simper. not
little depressing. But | liked Mrs. R0dd who
seemed to me typically an American matron. with
lssertiveness yet with modesty. and with self
assurance yet with sef-respect.
Il feel so for Reuben she said to me one even
ng. "Of course. being hi. mother. Mr.. Manhattan.
can't help that But think it is so horrid for that
title comic journal to have called his work trash
And Pm sure l should think so if were not his
mother"
Z" / am not his mother. Mrs. Rodd." replied. and
think 1t horrd too. ] Am not an author. myself
,ut can't imagine any author who has the least