Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-12-27
NEW YORK'S BIG BALL
HOW SUBSCRIPTION BALLS ARE GOT
TEN up--A PREDECESSOR.
The Recent Horse show and " Horse Play
as the Opern- House--rhs Finest Horse
on Fifth Avenuc--weaith and Title.
rcorro,,ondence ., the Richmond Dispatch

L
ON Fifth Avenue--weaith and Title.
rcorre,pondcnce Of the Richmond Dispatcb.|
Nzw YoRx, December 2s.--In the social
world only small receptions and the usual
quota OF teas and minor events are taking
place. Society people are holding back
for the great functions of the season, Mr..
McAllister's subscription balls and the
great annual Charity ball which have been
the features of New York's winters for the
past thirty.two years and which Is this
wear set for the 10Th instant. The SUD-
sc,iptjoa balls are gotten up merely for
| pleasure. A certain amount OF money 10
| subscribed by a certain number OF per-
| cons. Each one OF the persons WHO nave
| thus given the money are entitied
TO receive q certain NUMBER .,
| tickets which may be distributed
among personal friends: Iho NE
| thod is very simple, and by the eAciu-
1 siyeness OF the subscription-iist tne sn Eil
| is guaranteed TO be gilt-edged one. Inc
mode OF operating is something like this;
| Suppose the leader wishes TO give o pan
which shall cost Si5,00e-to place IL az a
| very moderate sum. Perhaps fifty people
are invited to subscribe $500 each. ana IN
return tor value received each one OF the
subscribers is presented with fifty tickets
| for personal and private distribution. All
this differs greatly from the Charity pan;
which is started primarily for cnarlty ana a
is conducted from beginning 70 emo VIII
the only time when the charitable IN
tent is lost sight Of Ia when some one not
in favor with the gilt. edged -Four hun
dred attempts TO purchase ticket: 10
tho Four Hundred and TO friends OF the
-Four Hundred tickets 70 the Charity uaii
are IS each. TO others they are not o.
| talnable at any pTicc. ABOUT l,VOO tlohets
are issued, and az ~ each we sIu - ~,
5000 is realized. T6isis the snlalleSt sum
that has ever been netted and only one
wear did the amount tall as low as TINS;
For come reason, not clearly UNDERSTOOD
by any one, money is more plentllul sohle
gears than Others. There are years when
everybody seems cranped IN funds. ana
then there are Others when people
are flush. Nothing feels structure
| in the money market IA 1ulcKV
as does a charitable institution or
a charitable affair of any KIND. Mhe'i
people find out they rlusl economic they
Immediately cut down on the sum when
they had intended to give away. 30,
| though the greatest social event OF the
| winter-the Charity ball-never suners
greatly, there are yet seasons when tue COT
fers are not as neayy as IN otners: Ine
greatest boom in the history of the Charity
ball was enioyed in 1860. the year the Prince
| of Wales was over here. Although the
Charity ball was only celebrating its second
anniversary, she tickets sold OF such prices
that over $50, 900 was gathered IN a lump
for the pet charitable institution which the
ball is designed TO benefit.
TIE CHILD's HOSPITAL.
II is not generally known that the begin
ming of the Babies Nursery and Chlid's
| Hospital was very small building rented
by some charitable people for the Deneht
| of the children of wet-nuTses. These poor
little waits had been left TO get along hap
hazard as best they could In almshOuses
and almost anywhere, and the mortality
among them was 80 per cent. The mothers
| of the children were away caring tor the
babies of strangers, while tteir own
| children were thrown upon cruel word.
And very cruel they found it. too. After
the hospital was made State affair and
received large annual contribution from
the Legislature, the ladies who had been
| interested in it from the very beginning
decided TO give the patients of the hospi-
tai all home comforts and such delicate
care as babies and sick people crave. And
this was the reason for inaugurating the
| Charity ball. Every year it has gone trl-
umphantly on, and to-day there is no more
heightened social event OF the season ID
| New York. Many of the heaviest sub
scribers to the ball do not attend. Ihey
buy a certain number OF tickets and let
the money 90 in the general fund without
thought of getting their moneys worth
| at the ball. Many well-known people who
were society figures thirty years ago when
the ball was started, but who do not now
mingle with the giddy throng, still claim
the privilege of paying large price for the
| ticket which is never used. The Babies
| Nursery and Chld's Hospital, which is
now in commodious quarters on Lexington
| avenue, is one of the most Luxurious hos
pitfalls in the city. The unfortunate wo,
| men and the neglected children who hnd
their way there have occasion to bless New
| York swelldom for enjoying Itself once a
year for their benefit.
| MORE HORSE SHOW.
| II is not at all strange that the first
| social function of the season should give
the tone to all that follow. The opening
event was called the Horse Show" be-
| canse. incidentally, there were real horses.
| tailor-made though they were, in 1t, and
thew were the excuse for the far greater, /!
not far finer. parade OF fashionable women
in costly costumes. The opera opening
was continuance of the horse show. IL
was precisely for the same purpose and
was patronlZed by the same people. 1t
would not be wonderful if the delusion
that every excitement must@ be to some
extent equine went so far that the
theatre parties this winter would only
patronize places % amusement which
present burlesques or farces that
afford good deal of horse play
Two or three of the Wagner operas
not only permit but compel the Intro
duction of horses, and as these are the
only features in the opera likely TO mo-
mentarlly interest the principal patrons
thew can go through the present Italian
or French, or anything bat German season
| with the consolation that the box chatter
will not be disturbed by anything on the
stage. 1t has been more than amusing tC
read in the newspapers the grave criticisms
of operate performances already given.
But the same sort of amusement has been
afforded ever since the Metropolitan Opera
| House was opened. This great brick barn
| of n building was originally the Cave OF
Adullam of the disgruntled, newly-made
| millionpaires who could not get boxes
in the close corporation then existing, the
| stockholders in the Academy OF Music
To be sure, the new mushroom set drew
| the old set into tue big barn. for when the
old Academy was sold for an everyday
| show-shop for whatever attraction might
| come along, tutTe LuuSb ntciS 10 u plnSt
for opera. otherwise for horse show. Fol-
the past six or seven years the perform
| ances in the big barn have professedly
| been Wagnerian, though very few of the
| box buyers would have known the differ.
ence if the opera had been Hibernian.
| And herein hes the fun of the elaborate
criticisms. as if the lyric representation
on the stage. of whatever" school or cha
racter, was Of any CONSEQUENCE in COM
parison with the horse show and
horse play in the boxes. Plain people.
protesting only to be lovers of music,
with such accessories in the way OF
acting and scenery as opera admits, who
have gone to the big barn and paid their
| money in the foolish expectation of getting
the worth of it, have been grieyously. even
Indignantly, disappointed. They simply
have been nightly insulted by the i'll man.
uered people who owned" the big barn.
| The widest Wagnerian noise on the stage
or in the orchestra was actually murmur-
Gus in comparison with the incessant din
| in the boxes. 1t will be so this winter.
Anti Wagnerians of the deluded class
/ who fancy that they go to hear "a.
| onar. ara communicating themselves