The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-09-11
SWELLS0F THE WORLD
The Fops of the Great American
and European Cities.

y
the swell is interesting
1t is difficult to define exactly what consti-
tutes swell. Nevertheless, he is not to be
confused with the man-about-town, dandy,
fop rourder, good fellow or dude. As for
dude, he Is almost an impossibilty under any
circumstances, nowadays, and not worth seri-
Gus consideration, except when he is anus NO,
Such a man as Howell Osborne, to quote a
well-known character, could never pose in
London or Paris as bowling swell thought
he was considered such by the cal
low youth, stage door diyinities and some of
the newspapers in New York. He was loud in
the matter Of clothes, paid his tradesmen but
not his friends, was never seen in society, did
not gain admission TO any of the desirable
clubs, while his constant companions were
either theatrical men, gamblers or nobodies.
He is now in Paris, by the way, spending $780,
coo or $4,000 year, but he is utterly I'M
known there. Probably this is because there
are $1,000 or G0,O00 Frenchmen who spend
100000 a year without thinking twice about
the matter.
The other type of swell in New York
may be typitied more or less by such men
as Allen Thorndyke Rice, James Gordon
spend enormous incomes, own crack
yachts, are received in the best English and
continental society, dress quietly, but with alb
solute correctness and are unobtrusive, WE'LL
bred and what might he almost called retiring.
The swelldom of Vienna is a difficult thing
to define, but the spectacular and promi-
nent men seem altogether devoted to
riding and driving They have wonder
full breed of SMALL clean-limbed and
handsome horses, most of which come
from Hungary; ard they are remarkably fiery
and intelligent. Most of tho toffs in Vienna
drive from two to six of them out to the races
every day through the park-usually to O
curious little break that is part mail cart part
phaeton and part buggy. The dark-eyed and
beautiful women of Vienna seem especially
taken by these remarkable traps.
There is nothing in Germany but militarsm.
Title, wealth. beauty and postion-all recede
before the military hero. The captain in a
crack army corps is many times moro impor-
tant than man of exalted title who has no
military position or record to show.
There are men-and men only--,fn the
crack circles of Berlin society, as far swells
are concerned. The military handles of the
German empire eclipse those of the world,
while the civilians and the women are un-
questionably the most dowdily dressed and the
civilized countries.
In Franco, the successful swell must have
brains as we'll as the other characteristics to
get along. 1t is a curious thing that, among
all the millionaires, spendthrifts and high iiv-
ers of Paris, less than half dozen mon have
anything like general reputation. The
prominence of a swell may come from dozen
causes artistically interviewer, but it can never
come from one. BY this, L mean that, if
man worth S50,000,000 were TO start in to
achieve eminence IN Paris.
The French laugh at the solemnitv ard stupid
1ty of Englishmen of nigh social prete Ds land
fail to understand how any li,,t.. oan stt,, g. d
in society or in club life whose main object
seems to be to render himself as disagreeable
as possible to the people whom he meets. The
popularity of the Partisan vivier depends
almost entirely upon his jollity of manner and
brilliancy of talk. He invariably has some
skilfully, writes dabbles in some of the arts
but, whatever he does~ we'll done.
His life is one that would kill an Anglo
Saxon. He breakfasts at two in the after
noon, dimes at eight and sups at two in
the morning. The one pursuit in life
which engages all of his energies is the
chase for the favor of the woman who
happens 10 have Paris by the ears for the mo-
ment, and he invariably runs several estab-
lishments devoting portion OF his time with
punctillious potter ess to his wife and chill
dren.
Sweldom in England is q stupendous thing.
1t takes the peculiarly heavy and stolid order |
of intellect which prevails in England to re-
gard swelldom as the only pursuit in life. The |
amount of heavy and exhaustive mental anal |
ysis which an Englishman devotes every day |
to the subject of his clothes would render him
prime minister, at least, if turned toward |
state craft. Nearly everything he does in
public receives an amount of consideration
that is almost inccnceivable to people
who have any other object in life than
that of dressing well and establishing social
fame.
1t is generally considered, 1 believe, that
they are the worst hammered men in the world.
They seem utterly devoid of tact, and their
unfriendliness towards strangers seldom stODs
short of the absolutely rude. Thousands and
thousands of men in London spend fortunes
of from $4,000 to 100000 a year without
making ripple ON the surface of the town.
Meanwhile it seems rather odd to most peo-
pie, fancy, that any man should deliberately
give up his entire life to the consideration Of
things about which good servant can always
give him valuable points. BLAKELY HALL.
Great mistakes are often made in trying to