The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-03-24
KING OF THE DUDES.
PECULIARITIES OF A NOTED
NEW YORK CHARACTER.
A Man with Enough Clothes to stock
Big Store-Expensive Jokes
which Helped Use Up
his fortune.

A gentleman, who is well posted on
the subject, was talking to Star re-
porter the other day about the many Pc
culiarities which gained for Mr.. E. Berry
Wall, of New York, the title of 'the
King Of the Dudes" Mr.. Wall still
wears his crown, although the money
that helped materially in acquiring it is
all gone, and royalty is now forced to
live on the memories of the past, with
the help of an indulgent and wealthy
mother. He still gifts about all that an
ordinary man can want, but it
is said that the mother refuses to pay
any bills of the son contracted dur
ing the height of his reign. wall isn't
a bad fellow" said the gentleman with
whom the Star man was conversing.
''There is nothing wicked about him. He
has heart as big as that table. But he
is the biggest fool about dress that ever
heard of. He never had any idea Of the
value of money. He never has found it
necessary to do stroke of work, and he
succeeded in getting away with $500, 900
in three years. He has seen more life, as
the boys call it, than m ,st men of twice
his age who may be considered fast. He
has been going it hard since he was fifteen
years old, and he is now barely twenty
five. He has a brother who was in Paris
tie last time I heard of him. He is
about as eccentric as Berry, but las never
attracted so much attention. His weak
ness is for pictures. He has so many that
he hasn't room for them, and is continu-
ally getting more. Good taste2 No in
deed. He is just as apt to pay $1,000
for daub as for gem. The father left
both boys wealthy when he died, and his
will gave both entire possession of their
inheritance when they became of age"
GAS everybody knows" he continued,
"Berry Wall thinks more of clothes than
anything else in the world, and he posses
ses enough to open frst-class clothing
house. If he never gets another cent he
will be we'll dressed for the remainder of
his life. He has, or rather had, one room
given up entirely to his clothes. A long
table on one side was covered with piles of
trousers of all styles neatly folded. In this
way they always showed the crease
which swells have learned to approve be-
cause its English, you know The
wearer of hand me downs, however, al
ways has his trousers pressed before he
will wear them. The dude king would
enter the room in the morning, and run
ming the back of his hand up pile so as
to get glimpse of the colors, would
draw out pair that suited his fancy. He
would hand them to his valet, and pro-
coed to select the rest of his outfit for
the morning. His overcoats occupied
portion of the room, his cutaways an
other, his frocks and sacks another, and so
on, all carefully hung on frames. Under
the long table referred to were shelves
filled with all kinds of shoes of the finest
make. I remember that representative
of an English tailor received letter of
introduction to Wall from an intimate
friend. When he presented it to get an
order the dude king said: II am awfully
sorry that have given orders for my
spring clothes to Poole and others in
New York, and that I can't give you a
good order, but if you care to you can
make me up thirteen suits and send them
over" That's a fact. He took few
miles sail on the Despatch at New York
not long ago, and he took with him three
or four overcoats, each shade heavier
than the other. He devoted as much at
tention to his underclothes, which were
always of the finest silk, costing not less
$40 per pair"
"Next to Clothes" went on the Stare
informant, "Wall loves horses and dogs
best, and he has owned many fine ones
in his day. I have known him to hunt
through the New York kennels in search
of dog to match suit he particularly
fancied. I saw him one day walking
down Broadway with log of cane
under his arm and at his heels the ugliest
bulldog ever saw in my life. Ofcourse
he attracted attention. The next day a
number of swells could be seen with club
canes and ugly bulldogs following them:
dudedom, and he set the fashion for his
admirers. He often dabbled in stocks,
but knowing nothing about them seldom
struck them right. On one occasion he
showed telegram to some friends which
informed him that he had lost $40, 900 in
cotton at one stroke. He met his re-
verse with good grace and never cried
over spilled milk. he spent his money
as freely on others as on himself, and
was always ready to lend helping hand
to friend in trouble. He was governed
by impulse in nearly everything, and
would carry out any freak that entered
his head. He would at moments notice
take the steamer for Europe and catch
the first returning one he could, bringing
with him something to prove to the boys
that he has done as he intended. He
has been known to overrun and literally
smash coupe on Broadway containing a
friend just for a joke and pay Brewster
$500 to fix it up. Walking along the
street sometimes he would wonder how
brick would look flying through a big
plate glass window, and would at once
take steps to find out and promptly pay
damages. He would buy anything that
struck his fancy, no matter what it might
cost. Berry came to the end of his
string some time ago, but will probably
never want as long as he behaves himself
half decently. He occasionally came to
Washington during his reign, and invar-
iably brought wardrobe sufficient for
half dozen men. He has number OF
friends here with whom he is quite
popular. 1t wouldn't surprise me to see
him take sharp turn and show himself
to be man, Washington Star.
What Flame Is.
A.,o,l;o, ~ nr Ssonepc 1oroo fir.