St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-05-03
New Manners and Costumes of fashionable
Life in Gotham Town-Oham-
pagne's Sway.
Revolution" the --latest Game in the Fifth
Avenue Parlor-a Very Popu-
lar Sport.
handsome Women of the Stage Who
Receive the AduIations of
Gilded Youth.
The Silken Goddesses of New York
Mrs. Astor and Her Sister
Queens of Fashion.
Correspondence of the Globe.

New YORK. April SO.-Never before IN
the history of New Y DIRK fashionable society
has there been so much wine drinking Us
during the present season. NO form Oh
evening entertainment exists at when
champagne is not freely served Al the
german. the parties. the balls one ana ALL at
dinners, and under every possible preteNt,
wine is furnished. and on all hands, lnclud-
ing the young women, drink freely anu
without becoming the subject OF comment
Indeed. it is expected that they VIII partake'
and if their eyes sparkle the more ana a
ROSY tint attaches to the complexion, so
much the better and no harm done. The
Astors and the VanderbiltS would no more
give dinner or a ball without wine than
fhev would exclude flowers for adornment
and china for use. The same practice pre-
walls daily at half the dinner tables OF the
fashionable folks of the town, whether there
be guest or not.
THE VIM GLASS
is as common as the goblet for water, and
is more frequently used. This is condition
of affairs that temperance people are power
less TO reform. The edictS of fashions fan
cies are not easily frOwned down. Indeed it
is something like twenty years since New
York city had anything akin to temper
ance revival. and there is to be found among
all sorts of people decided feeling against
the agitation of abstinence principles. There
are no temperance lectures no temperance
demonstrations, and precious few temper
ance sermons. There have been told this
winter scandalOus stories Of drunkenness at
the most fashionable of the balls and par
ties. but there is a general disposition to
call it good fun. The guests enjoy it and
are pleased, and the hostess is pleased be-
cause the guests are having jolly time. 1t
wasn't so twenty-five years ago, and it isn't
so now to any great extent, outside New
FORK city'S society circles.
-
The new folly for the Fifth avenue par
lor is French rather than English, for it
consists of a roulette table-a reduced copy
of the kind used in gambling hells. We
read of Partisan saloons, where games Of
chance are politely played for money, and
by people not lost to a delicate sense of pro-
priety Exactly the same thing cannot be
said of the innovation here, and | hardly
expect that the roll of the roulette marble
will become a usual noise in fashionable
gatherings Nevertheless, there are two of
these
WHEELS OF MISFORTUNE
revolving nearly every evening in two of
the otherwise respectable and very costly
boarding houses in Fifth avenue, and 9TH
erS are heard of. The game is played pre-
ciSely as in professional hands, l believe,
except that banker is chosen for each Oc-
casion, and there is presumed to he a free
dom from cheating on his part; but it is
called revolution" which word may be
taken as descriptive of the numbered wheel
employed in it, and not as indicative Of any
revolutionary change in our WOmen'S Senti-
ment about gambling. Poker and PRO
greSSive'' euchre have accustomed them to
stake in card playing, but when it comes to
introducing the apparatus OF roulette, with
its placing of chips on a layout, the diver
sion is a little too gross for most OF them to
stand.
There is hardly a time in New York thea
trical life when some women is not accorded
on the palm of superiority OF loneliness,
Rose Eytinge, Alice Lingard and Pauline
Markham had their run as beauties. Mary
Anderson. when she came here fell far short
of the requirements though her dramatic
ability was satisfactory. and it cannot be
said that Fanny Davenport ever wore
the crown of conquering beauty. But Lill-
ian Russell conquered from the instant that
she emerged from Tony Pastor variety
show, and her sovereignty ended only with
the fairness of maturity, a year or so ago. A
break was made for the vacated place by
Pauline Hall, regal brunette of the neces
sary size and shapeliness; but somehow or
other-perhaps because her rise from the
ranks of the burlesque chorus has been too
plainly in sight-she cannot be said to have
CAPTURED THE CROWN.
The dudes alone are at her feet, and even
to them she cannot be queenly so long as
she shows herself in prosenium boxes along
with German husband neither young nor
heroic. This spring the position of queen
of beauty is open to competition. There
are numerous aspirantS. One is Estelle
Clayton, with whose face and bare feet the
windows of Broadway are photographically
decorated, and whose debut at the Union
square theater involved an investment of
So 900 by manager fresh to the business
"a Young son of the late Millionaire Du-
rant. If she could be enlarged in all her
proportions about third she might be sue
cessful in her undertaking. but at present
there is not enough of her. At a matinee
performance recently for the benefit Of the
Press clubs charity fund, the contest had
A NOVEL EPISODE
in the lobby of the Academy of Music, where
booth for the sale of flowers had for sales
girls Pauline Hall, Lille Grub, Annie
Robe and Olga BrandOn-al foremost in
the race for the prize of appreciated beauty.
1t isn't likely that in their calling as act
resSeS they have ever done so expert and
careful work as they did in the fascinating
disposal of bouquets on this occasion. But
this exhibition did not determine the matter
and if there exists anywhere in America a
superlatively lovely young woman, not less
than five feet ten in height and possessing
natural and acquired abilities to do tOlerable
acting or singing, she likely might come to
New York and be famous professional
beauty.
~
That New York women are the best
dressed in the world is acknowledged by ev-
cry one. The combine the plain elegance
of the English, without their dowdyneSs of
coloring, and the chic of the French, with
out their extremes and fussiness.
Most of the prominent ladies of this city
have certain individuality about their cos
tunes which distinguishes them from the
common crowd.
Mrs. Astor, who leads the world of So
ciety and fashion among the upper-ten
dresses as handsomely as any woman in
London or Paris, and her taste even to the
smallest detail is perfect. For the street Or
afternoon black is her favorite color, rich
silk or velvet being preferred, with long,
loosely fitting wrap heavily trimmed with
jetted beads. Her bonnets are princess in
shape and have bright bits of color about
them blended with the leading tone.
Her ball and opera dresses are
ALWAYS MAGNIFICENT,
made with full trains and and corsage
cut low all around, with short sleeves. She
wears most of her magnificent diamonds
and dresses in all the light colors, no strik-
ino tint such BRIGHT red or l1,o