Mexico weekly ledger., 1886-02-18
NEW YORK a0ssIr.
Fifth Avenue Society ut the French
Raiis-The Sub Rosa" Clab,
Aud a Misunderstanding
TO Central Park, &c,
eo,,s.nondeuse of the Ledger.

correspondence OF the Ledger.
New YoRK, Feb, l5th-some one
remarked in my hearing the other
day that the open winter had closed
again for repairs, To the average
New Yorker an open winter is worse
than a backward spring to the uller
of the soil. La this latitude people
very naturally anticipate cold weather
when the sun is on his annual south
ern tour, and make their preparations
accordingly, To say anything OF
enviahle possessors OF seal SKINS
they are the people who make
sleighs, the people who let sleighs
aud the people who ride in sielghs,
All these, however, form hut n small
contingent compared 10 The army OF
ball -goers. Aud such myriads OF
balls rs there have been and are going
to be-! About every craft in the
city has given, or will give a ball and
they are no ''tuppence-ha' penny
affairs, either. Half of them are held
in the metropolitan Opera House, the
largest and most complete in Amer
| ica. and most of the remainder oc-
cupy not only the Academy of Music,
which is next to the Metropolitan in
size, but Irving and Nilsson Halls,
which flank it on either side and are
accessible Ly huge quadruple doors
that make the three practically n
Most of these affairs are sadSqaes.
and only the Sunday papers dare
handle the details. But good
society is there. Fifth Avenue goes
and of course occupies the boxes,
but with no air of enjoying forbidden
fruit and with no loss of sociat pres
tige. Society endorsed the ballet a
good while ago and, of course, as
regards the primary consideration of
clothes, or the lack Of them. The
American opera or the Kiralfys can
furnish pointers to the bal mosquers.
On reflection, l beg leave to qualify
that assertion. The French societies
L'Amitie and the French cooks each
gave a ball recently, and a young lady
who is a Murray Hill belle of the
purest social breed told a young man
who told a friend of mine that it was
Just too delightful, and that the
American opera managers should
have made a special study OF the
pastures and endeavor to mitigate the
tameness of their ballet by imitation.
1t is a mistake to suppose that the
active contingent of o French ball is
of French composition. The morn
ing after the l. Amitie affair, five
young ladies', who had inhibited toe
much exhilsration, were up before
Judge Duffy. They all had goo
English names. Now, I have the wore
of six honorable young men wht
:, serve the public in important capac
!, tiles, that these five young ladie
:, were above reproach in their socia
relations, which, if not of the highes
: grade, closely approxlmatedi it. Judg
Duffy beheld them in all the glor
of magnificent ball dresses AM
diamonds variously estimated to b
~ worth from five to fifteen thousan
q dollars. A very proper desire t
-. keep their folks from a knowledge c
. the arrest prevented them from goin
~ home on bail.
= Your unsuccessful attempt t
kick off Mr.. Van Norton's hat wa
very painful to your friends" sal
Judge Duffy, solemply, to one of til
five.
I'll With q look of the most perfe'
W innocence imaginable the young lad
began an eager defence of her abb
:, tiles.
Il could have done it, Mr.. Duff,
if they'd have given me n MOI
trial. That was nothing to what [ ca
do"
- She lifted her gaze to the bal
IL apex of Zone of the finest who, d
u ing duty as guardian, formed tt
y sixth in the line. There was a loo
~ of painful embarrassment on h
face, and he began edging avs
~ with an apprehensive glance at Il
II pink silk slippers, but the Justice +
called the innocent to a sense of ii
'h serious nature of the occasion with
d. stern and fatherly lecture, aft
y which they were discharged, happie
o. if not wiser.
There was, until a short time ag
a woman's club here called the ST.
Rosa. The ladies' were all youn
" unmarried and with no lack of none
'" They fixed up elegant roons and a
d. said to have followed the "rdina
u bachelor code of club room rul
implicitly, or as hearty as would
do possible under the circumstance
Ii One rule was reversed. Instead
the pictures on the walls represeI
III ing sweet femininity in various form
the Sub Rosa adorned its rooms wi
the less fair, but, in the case of t
Sub Rosas, more lovable sex. T
ut bar is said to have been, at first
Ipt real stumbling-block, but after a f
re ~unintentional orgies, the result
Die ignorance as to the proper amount
Ter stimulants TO be taken at one tin
la - loao,a o-1r oo1r4 d,