Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-09-27

SNi Jay
voaid be bowling swell. They are adorable. I"
''Am not n swellS" said he.
No ne wasn't. and nothing could ever make
him one. Not that his clothes were not good
enough. but he couldn't wear them as a swell
should He was solid man" and he thought
of other things.
The svells are coming home. Some have
been to the watering piacA, but the bowling
variety Of sweIls have been 10 England to buy
clothes. story has been told of an ignor ant
individual who met ole of these swells and,
having heard that he had been some months in
England. asked him if he had seen the Abbey
and the Tower and what he thought OF the
parliament buildings.
Il believe 1 passed them on my way to nv
tnilors," said he; Il did not notice them par
tieulGrly, but l brought home eight lovely
overcoats, you know"
He had got what he went for. at any rate.
Now, there is q noted swell in New York who
has no less than forty-fve pairs OF trousers,
new and In use; and here IN Washington we
rejoice III a select coteric of swells who make
i've distinct toilets each day allowing an hour for
each enc. There is the first toilet before break
fast, which is negigee toilet; there is the toilet
An hour or SO after breakfast before the morn
ing constitutional stroll down town. Then
there is the toilet before luncheon, and again
toilet for visiting walking with the girls
and Last there is the ful-dress toilet for dinner
and the evening.
What on earth did Berry Wall mean by say
ing In print the other day that O man could get
along very well with three suits of clothes-the
morning suit, afternoon suit and full
dress suit9 This distinguished public man
must have come down considerably in his ideas.
He never could get along with only three suits.
nor could any other real dude do so. When
Berry Wall came to this city several years ago,
In a published interview he made the assertion
that there were mo dudes in Washington"
NO DUDES WASHINGTON!
Let him come up in the neighborhood of
Connecticut avenue and Dupont Circle any fine
afternoon and look about him. and il he saws
there are no dudes in Washington. either he
has no eyes or else the king of the dudes does
not know his own subjects when he sees them.
What would he call that young gentleman
with the black pointed beard and the single
barreled eyeglass2 He is very foreign in
appearance, but soon as he opens his lips
You perceive that he once ornamented the
prairles of the wild west He wears the most
hilarious garments; he is heavily built; his cane
Is ponderous; his feet are clad i'll patent leather;
ne wears black hat and dark gloves. He is q
heavy swell, but he's a dude all the same
And what would Mr.. Wall say Of that ex-
tremely young individual, with bis Inustacho
just sprouting. his light suit, his red cravat and
his harvard swing?" This toy man carries a
cred with silver. 1t cannot be denied that the
elements of the ''pill enter into his compost
tion but he Ii mono the less dude on that &C.
count
THE HARVARD SWING,
by the way, deserves a brief description. The
arms should be carried in . stiff, lowed posi-
tion, the head should be bent forward, the cane
should be grasped by the middle and the step
should partake OF the nature of a hop. When
the Harvard swing" is combined with the
"Boston stare, the effect is particularly fine.
Inc latter lSa peculiarly inane, expressionless
expression OF eountenance ar the term may be
used) obtained by undergraduates who use their
brains IN perfecring look which Is peculiarly
traInless. This sounds paradoxical, but any
one who has studied the dude and the swell will
recognize the propriety OF the description
THEN THERE Is THE STOUT MILITARY DUDE,
red in the face, tightly buttoned and clad in
the most elegant ultra-fashionabl clothes. Jus,
o Murst, the field marshal was tremendous
dude and an entirely brave man. lust as the
Lacedemonians-so Bulwer tells us-Ieyer
budded out into full-blown dudes until they
were going into battle, so Is this officer noted
for his physical bravery as well as for his fash.
ionable clothes.
DUDES AND swELIA
Berry Wall Is mistaken-there are plenty OF
dudes, as well as swells, in Washington. Be,
you must not fall into the vulgar error of con.
uuucS Win sWels. A man NAV be a
dude without being a swell, or he may be both,
a. IN tine instances Just cited.
Now, when the girl on Connecticut avenue
spoke so rapturously In favor of bowling swells,
she said nothing in favor of dude. A dude is
dandy, fop, but a swell is q dandy and some
thing besides. As dude may be made, but q
swell is born a swell and his life is devoted to
the development and perfection OF his swell
ishness- We have all known those individuals
whose trousers, as some one has put it, give
q nfraf tod
cravats indicate absolute genius, but the dude
par excellence Is u person who 10 a mere
Augmentation OF extravaganza clothes rolled
upon his person, without the rhythm that
should characterize the swells appearance and
without the reason that dictates all the swell .
purchases.
A man may be q dude on a comparatively
small salary. His clothes needn't be ine-they
must De e1travagantiy cut and showy-and by
innnhe scraplng poor man may even be q
mid swell He needn't eat he can live In q
nall bed room. he can spend all his earnings on
his personal adornment, but
HowLISo SWELL MUST HAVE MONEY
He has 70 have at least two hats-the DERBY
for the forenoon. the high hat for the after
noon-and they must be Of the finest make, for
he cannot wear anything that has the fain.est
appearance OF chespness. He must wear tbres
suits each day-the sack suit in the morninc
the cutaxay or frock suit i'll the afternoon. the
swallow-taIled suit in the evening. To keen
THESE IN respectable state of freshuesa he
must have two Of each kind and wear them al
ternstely. BY strict economy be can run a Few
months on six fine suits Then there IL fbs
item of his shirts. They must be of fine linen
and they must have the collars and cuffs a q
tSched- The imperial ukase from the autocrat
and car Of all the howiiny swells, HRH the
Prince OF Wales, went out some years
ago declaring that man could wear
false collars and cuffs to his shirt and expect
70 be considered = loyal subject. bowling
swell would scorn to pay less than IS apiece
Tor his shirts and would cease to have any re-
spect FOR himself If he had less than three dozen
OF them. The shoes, the cravsts the sticks make
the o1tnt mount up to n pretty tidy sum of
money, a sum that no poor man could possibly
afford. Nevertheless. the swell need never be
loud in his dress, and when he becomes 90 he
not only swell, but dude
MUST HAVE HORSES.
There are bowling swslls who neither ride
horseback nor drive, but there are very few
OF them in Washington. Here Q swell must
have horses. This is . custom of years. A
couple OF hunters will do and tandem. The
latter Is nos essential but IL 10 highly desirable
ana II you sport a coach you are q petty aover-
sign among the swells
Aeertsin bowling swell in Philadelpbia once
made the remark that a man could mot he \
gentleman and work for his living Nv Gentle
man. OF course, he meant howllng swell. and
MS remark was uikind to his old father. who
was still alive. having retired from the busines.
s.E -e..N A.