The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-09-05
A Glimpse Of Various Kinds
of Humanity.
MRS, CLEvELAND'S IDEAS.
The DecOIette Craze-The Upper Ten
-ExhibitiOss That Would shame
= the Heather - Notes.
SAT- LAKE, CRY. Sept. 4. 1886

Winnie the National Legislature Is IN
session, Washington, DC, is undouht-
eddy one of the most cosmopolitan O.;
cities. This is certainly true so far as
the gathering together of politicians,
would be politicians, ofice-seekers,
dead-bears, cranks, swindlers, thieves,
dudes. colonies, majors, captains and
Judges is concerned. Such cQpcenfra-
lion of the various phases of human
nature, from the most intellectual to
the most imbecile. it would Ne difficult
to beat III any city in the world. or
surety there is no city in this country
that can begin to compare with it. In
Washington can be found the elite OF
society. The President and his Cabinet;
the judges of the Supreme Court; the
members of the Senate; the members OF
of the House of Representatives;
the ministers of the various
foreign nations; the officers of
the army and navy; the great
political leaders of every sect and party;
the great lawyers of The country; the
great newspaper editors and correspond
ents of the country; the great LiterGteurs
of the country; the great painters,
scUlptors and architects of the
country; all these attract men and
women of similar tastes, and dur
ing the season entertainments and
parties are held nightly to suit the
taste OF the most cultured. There is no
mind of a refined nature but can be &C
commodated. Wealth, position and in
huence all lend TO the cOAsummatlon OF
worldly enjoyment. Night IS turned
into day, ana day into night. King
Society holds sway, and his satellites
are all around.
But there are various kinds of society.
Only privileged few have an entire to
the distinguished classes have named.
Only few can get a peep at the gather
ings of the upper ten" Only few
are permitted to enter the sacred por-
tails. As professional reporter L have
attended many such society receptions,
not in this country, but the old. have
sat near to princes, prIncesSes, lords,
earls, dukes and sirs, but | have yet to
remember the time when l was inn
pressed with either their good looks
or their exemplary behavior. After
a great military review, | have seen a
tell his own name. He certainly could
not stand upright without assistance,
and many an Earl, Duke and Sir have
L seen leave a race course in a similar
condition. l do not, however, mean to
say that at the most distinguished
gathering that can be named, "all is not
gold that glitters."
During my residence in Washington
through the last session of Congress, l
met many distinguished newspaper cor
respondents, male and female, and
from these l learned many interesting
particulars especially from what are
known as Society Reporters re-
gard to the inner life of society In
Washington. 1t is no better and it is
no worse than I expected, had long
since learned that so-called society is
rotten to the core; that the surface is
fair anu beautiful to look upon, but
that the body will not bear probing for
fear of scandals being unearthed that
would astonish the world. In Wash
ington every night there are
instances of women who, from
force of habit, brought on By
late hours and an ever present
supply of intoxicating drinks can
scarcely resist the temptation OF imbib
ing more than is good for them. This
is a melancholy state of affairs, yet it
is nevertheless true. 1t is no fancy pic
ture. 1t CA be verified any day in the
week. But not only is this taste for
liquor among society women to be de-
plOred; there are other things among
them to be equally regretted that have
a tendency TO demOraliZ tion. One is
utter abandonment in dress-What is
known as the dscOtLette style-the low
necked fashion of dress, by which the
shoulders aud the bosom are laid bare
TO the gaze of whole multitude of peo-
pie. Right Dravely while she was mis- tress
of the White House, did Miss Rose EIiz-
abeth Cleveland discOuntena ace such a
fashion, much to the disgust of a great
many so cslled female society leaders.
She felt that Washington was getting
outrageous on this subject, and she had
the courage to forbid such fashion at
her receptions. -If.I mistake not, Mrs,
Cleveland, now the First Lady of the
land, is of the same opinion, aDd, if re-
ports be true, she will do her utmost to
compel society ladies at her receptiors
to wear dresses becoming their sex.
This decoLLettc style of dress was ap-
preaching craze. Had it been
confined to the young and the beautiful
D6Iudpo SOI4c pCOpIC NOulQ DhNG lett III
clined TO condone the offence; but
when it became more prevalent among
the old danes, the mothers of three
score, and three score and ten, than the
young. When these old wall-flowers-
no matter whose wives they happened to
be-began to appear at parties and re-
ceptions exhibiting their angular, skin
and bone. unshapely, shrivelled should
ers, it was thought the time had arrived
when there should be "let up" Just
fancy some old woman with wizened
features, cadaverous eyes, long nose,
Handicapped with gold spectacles) ap-
pearing at White House reception in
low necked dress 1t is a sight that
is disgusting in the extreme, and il is
well that such a fashion should be
frowned upon In all society both b. the
old and young. Miss Cleveland did
right when she put her foot squarely
down against such a style.
But what of the men I enumer-
ated in the beginning of this
article? What of the Would-be politi-
cans and ofice-seekerS-an aristocracy
of another kinda class that claim to
have helped President Cleveland to the
Executive Chair? These, too, help to
swell the ranks in Washington during
the session of Congress- They are an