, 1890-08-05

- ~
M the unfortunate
MIMI wretches h m
W" poverty consigns
during the heated
Term to cramped. i'll ventilated quarters
in some horrible tenement. But 1 often
wonder If the denizens of fashion are
DOT also worthy of commiseration when
,ne considers the constant wear and tear
10 which they are subjected at a sum
mer watering place. Surely these fair
matrons and maids make every possible
sacrifce to comfort and well being, and
often display a remarkable heroism.
They are content-or pretend to be-
with living in small, uncomfortable
rooms devoid of any modern convent
.nces." They dress three times n day,
no matter how hot and sticky the atmos-
phere may be; they dance and bowl and
play tennis until it becomes truly mirac-
ulous that some of them survive to tell
the tale.
We all admit hat it is very nice to
have a villa at Newport, Narragansett
or Bar Harbor, but the envious persons
who grumble because they are obliged
TO ''take rooms" at exorbitant prices
in summer hotels, or at those abortive
institutions called summer boarding
houses, little dream of the responsibility
involved by the sort of independence a
cottage affords. To have a cottage
means to entertain, to give parties of all
kinds whether you wish to or not, and
TO invite people to stay with you. II you
happen to be a millionaire aud afflicted
by the constant craze for excitement,
which 1 am told is n component part of
the "rich" temperament, we'll and good.
But possibly you are not a millionaire,
and you may crave n rational method of
making yourself comfortable.
A lady who lives not far from Wash
ington square told me a few weeks ago
that she meant to remain at home the
sntire summer. II haven't a daughter, "
she explained, "and l am sick and tired
Of fashionable hotels. In my own house
[ have a good bed and the finest linen.
| have an excellent cook and n splendid
bath room. l can go about all day in a
thin white wrapper, and better still, i
don't have to talk TO silly, curious or
stupid people" l admired that IN
I thought there was much philosophy as
we'll as much sound Common sense in
what she said. There is only one great
disadvantage connected with her sum
mer programme. That is the enforced
solitude. Fancy not having n soul to
speak TO from weeks end to weeks end.
Imagine sitting and thinking eternally
about your vanished youth, your lost
opportunities, your mistakes and the
receptions perpetrated upon you by your
friends. Is there a woman living who,
following this regime, would not become
horribly morbid and nervous in less than
two weeks?
/ met at Manhattan beach the other
day a pretty little Journalist who had
gone down for an outing, and to listen
to one of Mrs. Marcy Raymond's new
waltzes played as only Gilmore can play
it. Mrs. Raymond, by the way, is
spending the season at Manhattan beach,
and is the center always of an admiring
crowd. The little journalist was in a
bad humor in spite of the waltz, and
she was inclined to quarrel with fate.
'-Of course" said she, 81 can only get an
afternoon off now and then, and the sea
breezes are perfectly delicious. But the
crowd is dreadful Ican't get served in
the dining room; the moist air has taken
all the crimp out of my hair and ruined
by best hat. And oh, hat horrid ride
back to the ethyl 1 shall get home hot,
tired and cross, and L shan't be fit to
speak to for days. Am / coming down
again next week? No, indeed l am
going to stay home. sat a light dinner,
take a sea bath made of the salt / buy
in boxes and read a nice, trashy novel
until it is time TO go to bed / shall
have a lovely time"
Certainly she will, and my advice to
her toiling sisters is to go and do like
wise.
81 don't think l could endure a sum
mer," said Rosina Vokes to me just be-
fore she sailed for Europe a week or two
agoaf unless l passed it in a pretty little
cottage way off in the country. We
have Such IA tiny place in England.
don't know how we are going to get into
it, for the children are so big and the
rooms SO small. But l am taking with
me every kind of flower and vegetable
seed l could find here, and I'm going to
amuse myself making an American gar
den"
There is one woman whom l really
envy this summer, and that is Mrs. Ath,
erton, the brilliant author of Hernia
Suydam" and Los Cerritos." She il
travelling in southern California, and
doubtless collecting material for a new
story which shall excel in picturesque,
ness her last.
Mrs. Atherton was in Europe last
year, but she writes me that California
is a thousand times more interesting
than anything she saw abroad. Why is
It, l wonder, that so few of our people
explore the marvellous regions thai
abound in our great west? Is it becaus,
it happens to be the fashion to rush tc
Europe? Those fortunate ones, however
who really constitute the life at water
ing places usually remain faithful to the
end What. indeed, would Newport b,
without her professional beauties. like
TheIPuIpit and the stage
D. IL NJ Cl-- -A-- IT-.NAs