, 1884-03-06
NEW YORK'S WASHERS.
A Few Distinctive Types Selected
from a Limitless Variety.
The Broken-Down but Self Com
pIacent Dude---The Bold and
Dangerous. the R~eprobnto
and the Romantic.

masher is a magnificent creature who wears
half a dozen suits a day, frequonts the green
room OF the theatres given up to comic opera
and burlesque at night, patronizes tho music
halls, and drives his own horses in the park.
He Is ~dissipated to the last degree. and an in
veterate man-about-town. Tho London
masher is magnificent. BE devotes all his
time with the girls, and goes to pieces with Ok
trnordinary rapidity. New York cannot
boast OF a class OF mashsrs Of this sort. In
all the city, however, there are not more than
three men who are at all like the London
plungers. These three, however, go far to
make up in wild living for their poverty in
numbers. They keep the town talking from
morning to night, and their freaks and esca-
pades are a source of incessant amusement to
their cronies.
After all, the youth who undertakes to
mimic the London masher must suffer ac-
cordingly. He must, in the first plnce, give
up all pretensions TO decent society, for
mothers here do not overlook wild living in
young men as they do in London. The
ambitious boy who starts in to SOW his wild
oats in this prodigal manner must therefore
forfeit all recognition from respectable
women, be scowled at by fathers of families
and generally summed. The life Is likely to
pull him down rapidly, and in the end make
him prematurely old. Whether it pays or
hCe II al ORch dhtobAOhr oftAl oOAJ aJb -
DOESN'T But If it doesn't, why are there
those who follow iti
THE BRoKEN-DowN SWELL.
Another type of masher. and one who Is
very prevalent In New York, is the broken
down dude or swell. He may be seen every
where, from the Battery to Harlem river.
He is always abroad, and hence one must
| conclude that he has no home. He lives in
the street-cars, the stages and hotel CORR
doris, elevated railroad stations and the side
walk in front of the great ~dry-goods houses
are his special haunts. 1 saw a typical
specimen OF this class in the Sixth Avenue
Elevated Railroad car this morning when 1
came down town. There was a drizzling
rain, and the mud was half a foot deep,
while the wind blew fitfully. When tina
trained stopped at Fourteenth street the
masher drifted in. 1 should imagine
from his appearance that he had been
standing in front Of Macy's all night
long. He wore a standing collar, which was
very much broken down at the sides, and a
white satin tie, which had evidently been
rained upon several hours. His well-crowned
English beaver hat was dented and disreput-
ab~lelooking, and his brick-colored gloves
were all out at the fingers. His spare form
was clad in a bob tailed coat which had once
been a stylish drab, but had become a mot
N H0A %
were rolled up at the bottom, exposing q pair
of pointed patent-leather boots, cracked on
either side. He carried a cane with an
enormous silver head, and wore a naughty
and reserved expression. He evidently hadn't
been shaved for two days, and his eyes were
bunged up, but his self-complacency was I'M
disturbed and he was apparently as satisfied
and contepted with himself as it was possible
for him to be.
The mans appearance was absolutely gro
tesque. 1t would have been pitiful il he were
not 80 well satisfied with himself. He pulled
q rumpled 1-cent morning paper out OF his
pocket, and read it placidly until he came to
Park place. The well-dressed and prosperous
looking men on their way to business looked
at the masher ~askance, or openly made fun
of him, as he pranced through the car and
alighted at the station. He skipped rapidly
down the stairs and went off toward Broad
way with his arms akimbo, his hat on one
hdo of his head, and his cane swing
ing jauntily in the air. Meanwhile the
rain poured down on him, the wind
blew at him and the mud splashed all over
him, but his self-satisfed air did not desert
him for an instant, and he seemed utterly
unconscious Of the gibes Of the street boys or
the paternal advice of the passing truck
drivers Does anybody know why he didn't
carry an umbrsllai Because this weather re-
minded him of "Dear ole Lonnon." The dude
masher, however, is rapidly drifting out OF
favor. Even the Bowery girls refuse to
notice him now, and he spends his time in
dreaming OF his conquests OF a year ago,
when he enjoyed a short-lived popularity.
THE REALLY DANGEROUS.
Still another type OF the men who are
known as Washers is the rejuvenated "sportn
of other days. He has lately appeared on up
per Broadway in considerable numbers
| Formerly he confined himself to the lower
wards of the city or to Grand street and
| Third avenue. Gradually he crept up into
| Sixth avenue, and now he may be seen on
| Broadway. 1 presume eventually he will
stride into Fifth avenue Among his init
| mates he is known as one who travels on
his shape" As a rule he is square
shouldered and athletic in build. He
wears u high hat, big amethyst rings,
| and usually he has a huge mustache
| curled at tho ends, oils his hair and smokes
strong cigars. 1t is a popular impression
among his kin that women love him at first
sight, and husbands and fathers are afraid
| OF him because of his powerful proportions.
This is a particularly agsravating type. He
accosts women on the street boldly, insults
them in cars aud stages, and makes their
afternoon walks a source Of annoyance and
terror. He is persistent and fearless II a
woman gives him tho slightest encourage
ment he will follow her for hours about town,
dog her footsteps to the door Of her own
house, and wait for her day after day. He is
by all odds the most dangerous Of the many
different sorts of Washers in New York D.
THE Ill R~EPRoBATE.
A type which Is growing alarmingly nu-
msrous is composed Of Washers who nave
passed 30 years OF age. These are the most
s~oulless, ~iniquitous and abandoned Washers
OF them all. They are usually rather fine
looking old men, s~crupulously neat md
fashionably attired. They all tend toward
one style of dress, and a description of one
describes them all He wears a blue or black
frock coat, buttoned high In the neck, a
white COLLAR, q bit of scarlet tie, light
trousers, white ~over-gaiters, and patent
leather boots. He Is always well gloved,
and carries a respectable-looking cane. He
shaves every day, and his white mustache
Is carefully waxed. II he has any
hair it Is parted behind. This gentleman is
always round-shouldered, always weak in the
back, and always has a mincing gait. He
leers into the faces of young girls as he makes
his way along the more populous streets, and
smiles continually. Every able-bodied man
who comes along fairly aches with a desire to
ssizs this particular style of rufiian by the
TUE nDCET rCDuAu