Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-09-12
why Bah Thinks 1t the Most Alb
SOlutely Vulgar Place in
the World.
Where Gold Makes Homely Girls
Pretty and Badly-bred Women
FaShiOnable-A Sara
tOga Ball.

| De SPOKEN 10 outside OF Dar-r0Om In New
York given the entree. At ball the
woman whose diamonds are the biggest is
quoted as distinguished and the girl whose
trock Is the most bizarre is described as
the belle. | should never be surprised at
any otfense against good taste committed
here, for 1T S Just a question of how much
money, how many diamonds and how
many frocks. A complimentary writer
called 1t the Monaco of America, and |
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 raze Saratoga to the ground.
Monaco, Unframed in flowers, made joyful
by the soft sea air, has about its gambling
a halo of romance. Saratoga, glaring hot
and dusty, has about it no romance what
ever 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
the taste of ones hereafter as does the
compound of match stems and icorice
water that is pronounced so healthy.
WHAT A SARATOGA BALL Is LIKE.
The balls are balls in the most pro-
nounced sense Of the word-they do not
suggest that on quiet corner of the yard
there could be written Dancing or
"Cotlllon at II O'clock" but they lust
hol ho11 L. 1
furious, and the gentlemen who wear cos
tune de rigueur find it costume de rigor, as
most of them pronounce it. After each
dance they wipe the perspiration off their
faces and feel that they have earned what
ever there is to eat or drink
WHERE DIAMONDS ARE AT A PREMIUM.
| The girls are attired in gowns that out
rival Joseph's coat of many colors, and
you can not 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
color doesn't seem to be considered. but
they must be big-big before everything
| else, and worn as often as possible Soil
talre earrings, a brooch of diamonds and a
! pair of diamond bracelets form a quiet
get-up in jewelry 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 dia-
monds- off color.
MRS. HICKs-LORD' s CHARITIES.
| Among the ladies of the old regime,
the gentlewomen who remembered the time
when gallantry was the vogue and cour-
tesy was counted of more value than cos
tunes, is Mrs. Hicks-Lord. Wherever she
goess he would by her dignifed manner
and fine presence attract attention, but
here she seems all the whittier because of
the decided contrast afforded | was
amused at something man 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
bat lady. How do | know? Because |
have been near enough to her to see that
her velvets and silks are of the richest
quality, her lace, even if it only be a little
bit, is of the finest, and that whatever
Jewelry she wears is perfect In shape and
color; and really don't believe she ever
wears all she possesses. " laughed at his
judgment and agreed with him, for
knew 1t was true. And then | told him a
little about this gentlewoman,
WHOSE LIFE HAS BEEN A ROMANCE.
| and whose kindnesses are SO many and so
well 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 a fashion
able. woman, perfectly au fait regarding
the joys or woes of all the people of her
no bnlI ocl,o
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 a
little voice asking for the drumstick that
does not get it. She doesn' forget the
guards at her gate and the weary nights
when her house is watched are amply
compensated for. Now that S what | call
doing good with your money and when
the old butler stands up and drinks ITO
the health of Mrs. Lord and God bless
her." at the Thanksgiving dinner it
seems to me she must feel after all how
good it is to have wealth and how good it
is to spend it.
WHERE ROMANCE WAS AND REALLY Is.
The oldt1mers tell of romances connected
with Saratoga and then sigh that it is not
as it used to be- They regret the days
when the Southern gentry used to come on
for the waters and sigh over the fact that
anybody can get there nowadays 1t is an
exaggerated weighing machine drop
your nickel In the slOt-a gold-washed
nickel-and then it is announced exactly
what your weight is from the golden stand
point by the gossips round about. The
days of romance have gone by and those of
III 11,4 Il L
stories is that of Cammack and the lovely
girl whom he married. He met her here,
and her sweetness of face, of voice and of
manner, charmed even the man who found
his greatest delight In making money, and
he determined that the beauteous maid
should be his bride. Evidently she had no
ideal as far as a husband was concerned,
or else even all the money would not have
made her find happiness in a man old
enough to be her father and certainly not
handsome. She is not here this summer,
and 1T would seem just as well, for the
much-pra1sed beauty has gone-the deli
cate skin has grown flushed and the slen
der figure Is more than round; it is fat!
And the moral of it is, that when you have
lived your romance in one place while you
are young and lovely to look upon, never
come back.
MRS. W. K. VANDERBILT s ROMANCE.
An older romance that has the charm of
fiction about it, is told of Mrs Willie K
Vanderbilt. She was here after her father
had lost his money, with some friends,
when the announcement that the rich
son of William Vanderbilt would arrive
that evening was made. Of gowns she
had but few-most of them had been
worn, and she did think that she could
make an impression on any man if only