The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-08-28
A GLANCE AT SARATOGA.
"sAep THINKS 1T A VULGAR PLACE.
Where Gold Makes Homely Girls Pretty
and Badly Bred Women Fashionable
Diamonds-A Saratoga Ball-Mrs.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. VS.. Reality

the most absolutely vulgar. You can call
it nothing else. The stamp of the gold
coin makes ordinary girls pretty, badly
bred women fashionable and men who
wouldn't be spoken to outside OF bar
room in New York given the entree. At
ball the woman whose diamonds are
biggest is quoted as distinguished
and the girl whose frock is the
most bizarre is described as the belle. ]
should never be surprised at any ofense
against good taste committed here, Tor it's
just question of how much money, how
many diamonds and how many frocks
4 complimentary writer called it the
Monaco of America" and l think if the
powers that be in the smallest kingdom
in the world should hear of this insult to
their principally they would come and
rae Saratoga to the ground. Monaco, en-
framed in flowers, made JOYFUL by the soft
sea air, has about its gambling halo Of
romance. Saratoga, glaring hot and dusty,
has about it no romance whatever, and Its
gambling is of the sort that means an
eager grasp for the almighty dollar, while
its coat of arms ought to be three balls.
The women? Well, the many are loud
and badly dressed. The few are quiet in
manner, elegant in gown and equipage.
The water? The less said about the
water the better, for no matter how much
can be quoted in favor OF its after effect
there is nothing that gives one so entirely
a taste of ones hereafter as does the com
pound Of match stems and licorice water
that is pronounced so healthy.
The balls are balls in the most pro-
nounced sense of the word-theY do not
suggest that on a quiet corner Of the card
there could be written dancing" "cotil-
lion at IL o'clock" but they just sug-
gest balls-balls where the dancing is fu-
rious and the gentlemen who wear costume
de rig,te,tr find it costume de rigor, as most
of them pronounce it. After each dance
they wipe the perspiration of their faces
and feel that they have earned whatever
there is to eat or drink.
The girls are attired in gowns that out
rival Joseph's coat of many colors, and
YOU cannot but be amazed at the number
of diamond necklaces that abound. True.
it wouldn't do to examine them closely if
you are a Judge of stones, and such a
thing as their not matching in size and
they must be big-big before everything
else. and worn as often as possible. Soil
taire earrings, a brooch OF diamonds, and
a pair of diamond bracelets form a quiet
get-up in iewelrv in the morning. And
when YOU look at the women who so offend
against all the laws of good taste, you
wonder if they are like their diamonds
of color.
Among the ladies of the old regime, the
gentlewomen who remember the time when
gallantry was the vogue and courtesy was
counted of more value than costumes, il
Mrs. Hicks-Lord. Wherever she goes she
would by her dignifed manner and ine
presence attract attention, but here she
seems all the whittier because of the de-
cided contrast afforded. / was amused al
something a man had said to me which
shows that after all men are good judges
of women's clothes. Said he, Mrs. Lord
could never be anything else but a lady
How do know Because have been near
enough to her to see that her yelvets and
silks are of. the richest quality
her lace, even if it only be q
little bit, is of the finest, and that what
ever jewelry she wears is perfect
in shape and color; and really
l don't believe she ever wears all she
possesses" I laughed at his judgment and
agreed with him, for l knew it was true
And then l told him little about this
geutlewoman, whose life had been such g
romance and whose kindnesses are sc
many and so we'll considered. Generous
to her church, she is also generous to many
| of her friends who, having no riches
suffer the woes of genteel poverty, and
more than this she is curiously enough
| for fashionable woman. du fdu regarding
the joys and woes of all the people of hel
house. When the holiday time comes she
looks after the workers in her household
and at the great dinner-table set in the
servants dining-room everybody's wife
and child is present, and there is not
little voice asking for a drumstick that
does not get it. She doesn't
! forget the guards at her gate, anC
| the weary nights when her house
is watched are amply compensated
| for. Now, that's what call doing gOoC
with your money, and when the old butle
stands up and drinks "To the health o
! Mrs. Lord and God bless her." at the
Thanksgiving dinner. it seems to me she
must feel after all how good it is to hav,
wealth and how good it is to spend it
The old timers tell of romances con
nected with Saratoga and then sigh tina
it is not as it used to be. They regret the
| DAYS when the southern gentry used Il
come on for the waters and sigh over tht
fact that anybody can get there nova
/ DAYS. 1t is an exaggerated weighing ma
/ chine-you drop your nickel in the slot
a gold-washed nickel-and then it is an
nounced exactly what your weight is from
the golden standpoint by the gosSipS
round about The days of romance have
gone by, and those of reality are here
About the last of the stories is that o
Cammack and the lovely girl whom
| he married. He met her here, and hel
sweetness of face, of voice and of manner
charmed even the man who found bis
| greatest delight in making money. ant
he determined that the beauteous maid
| should be his bride. Evidently
she had no ideal as far as a hus
| band was concerned. or else ever
all the money would not have made mel
! find happiness in man old enough TO bt
! her father and certainly not handsome
She is not here this summer, and it would
seem lust as we'll, for the much-praisec
! beauty has gone-the delicate skin mas
grown flushed and the slender figure is
more than round; it is fat And tn,
moral of it is. that when you have LIVED
your romance in one place while you are
Young and lovely to look upon, neve
| come back.
An older romance that has the charm o
| fiction about it, is told of Mrs. Willie X
! Vanderbilt She was here after her father
| had lost his money, with some friends
when the announcement that the rich sol
| of William Vanderbilt would arrive tina