Wichita eagle., 1888-12-05

Young snobs-Eow ''lly Dear Baron
Was snubbed by Club Mana Trans
formation
Some time since we met an officer in Ber-
lin who was starting on tour Of the world
He was q captain in the German army-a
very high rank for g man of only 35 years,
had served II a minor diplomatic capacity a.
St. Petersburg and London, and was OF on a
SIX months leave. He had letters OF intro
duct1on 70 number Of prominent people in
New York The other day he sat In Q
smoking room OF the Liederkranz club and
tailed Of New York society He is man Of
perfect manners, handsome person and great
intelligence.
Il have been IN America ever since left
Berlin, he said, and hope to remain here
permanently. | an in love with the place
and with the women, but not with the men
Have you met many New YorkersF'
yes, great many OF them at Newport
Bar Harbor ard here With the exception OF
few Travelled men an es5onished at the
manners which prevail In talking 20 you
assume, OF course, that you VIII not mention
my name, and as the opinion Of foreign OBJ
servers Is always Of more or less interest TO
Americans, believe, l shall TAX without re-
scrlcClOa about one Of the most remarkable
features OF your daily life. That is, the eI-
traOrdI nary III manners and IL breeding OF
New York's young men. There Is degree
OF snobbishness about them which | have
never known TO exist elsew there on the civil
lied planet You understand OF course, that
l am speaking only OF society men The pro-
resslclaI ana business men OF the town are
aInlable and good Eatured 20 the last degree,
but the sprigs woo claim 20 De social Men arc
almost insuferable Nv title Of baron, you
know, IS of small consequence on the other
SIDE. and l have not used il ST al here.
Probably would receive more consideration
had / done SO. but | was in love with the
hospitality and good nature Of the older New
Workers, and wished To 50 If l went at all
OF ny merits. On that account, as l say,
have been known simply as plain M"
SILLY LOT OF sPRIGs
do you mean to say that society men have
been distinctly rudet'
They are the silliest lot Of suriys.r said
the German captain, with an indulgent smile,
that l have ever known have heard
much talk about the difficulty which Ameri-
can men experience in getting into London
clubs and Of the manner II which American
women were taken UP By royalty IL England
while American men were snUb5ed. l did
nO- then know the reason for all this, but
realize now exactly what inspires the seuti-
nenCs Of antipathy There IS al apishness
about New York young society men that is
intcierable. They will lick the feet of a
social superior while they sru5 q stranger
with the most brutal indifference. Let ne
give you an illustration:
Last Teek I was ct luncheon at Delmon-
ico'S, when | met q distinguished member Of
our governments representative CORPS here
st luncheon. He said he was going 70 leave
on the $40 train for Washington. and ur-ed
ne 70 20 with him He promised 70 bring
me back safely two or three DAYS later, and
spoke so eloduently Of the magnifcence Of
the railway service, the beauties Of the CAPT
tai, etc, that | rushed over TO my hotel.
threw some things into my trunk, Joined
him. and went 10 the capital city We ar
rived there before 10 O'Clock It looked more
Ike Paris by night than any other city l
have ever seen. This was doubtless the re-
suit Of the many lights, the smooth tar pave
ments, and the width of the avenues. met
g New Yorker whom l knew that night ct
supper at a prominent Washington club, and
be asked me to dine with him the next day.
When I arrived at o'clock the half
dozen guests had already assembled There
was only one New Yorker among them-a
man with a washed out face, bald head and
his elbows alliInbo in a general effort toward
a fashionable carriage. The host went Up to
him after | entered and said:
81 want 10 introduce you to Mr. Dash, Of
Berlin
"'Whor drawled the New York man
The host repeated his remark. and then
the New Yorker said in tone quite audible:
Never heard Of him
NOT PARTICULARLY ENTERTAINING
We were introduced 70 each other, sat
side by side, and talked for several hours.
He endeavored TO exploit his intimacy with
many prominent society people, and was not
particularly entertaining However, we
parted politely, and the following day was
gong along Commercial avenue, when he
brushed past with lady on his arm.
bowed 10 him, rs q matter OF course. He
stared ct me for a moment, and then, with
an impatient look Of recognition. he touched
his hat. l was surprised that he should have
forgotten me so soon, and when l met him
the following night at the Arlington hotel as
be was on the way TO the theatre, l bowed
Q gain but this time with some trepidariou
be stared at me cooly. again touched the
rim OF his hat as be would to porter and alb
ruptly passed by.
i am man OF unusual eopearance, and
there Is not the slightest reason il the world
10 believe he had forgotten ne The COM
mon instincts OF hospitality il any other
country in the world would have led to
polite recognition or us part al least II
any American were introduced = = gentleman
IN Germany his recognition would Of course
5e unusually cordial wh!ieoa German soil BIZ
the native 70 whom Re had been introduced.
Such did not Seem 20 be tie fealing Of the
New York society man in question He
something about a queer German
as he passed ! me the second tine, AL this
was naturally not parcicu ,arly pleasing.
Il came back to New York and was 81 the
Brunswick at supper las. night after tie
theatre, when the society man came in and
.lared about through his single glass.
He had rleanwhile learned OF nv
position in the German army and
Of my silly little title, 50 he rushed
without word upon the
party Of nv frierds-called me dear baron
md regretted that moment Of near
sightedness had uo1entar.ly caused him 20
forget ne IL Washington His f-iendliness
was 4 thousand tiEDes more offensive than his
saobbisa iRdIfsrpaoe 70 ny Presence II the
capital
1t is an illustration Of TIE manners OF
young society men. ! wondered 81 il very
much ~ .l7s-, but have grown callous 70 il
now. To be introduced - q society man By
Z mutual friend IS usually only The begin
mig Of = series q lCos s1d sights. On
=. ether hand Il you meet q yoocs man ii
Germany or France who IS AZ al in tie
,u-l- you may depend upon tie most thor
oug1 coslTsSy IL every possible way. IL tie