The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-02-01
THOSE CHEAP SWELLS.
NUISANcES AND DEAD BEATS WHO
MASQUERADE AS MEN.
They Manage to Live Without an Ap-
parent Income and Make Themselves
IntolerabIy Offensive to Decent People.
Samples of the Two Glasses.

Literally, scores Of men are familiar TO
the public at large whose pretensions to
swelldom are so transparently false that
they almost approach the grotesque. Yet
as the years roll by they continue TO float
about upon the surface OF hfe, are always
70 be found IN public places, are on hand
at all state occasions, and at every notable
theatrical or public event, and apparently
enjoy most of the privileges OF the elect OF
the earth. After time the feeling OF curl
osity about them dies away and that Of
evaporation takes its place. They pose as
men about town, FOUNDERS" gentlemen OF
leisure and the like Everybody knows that
they are penniless, yet they live on luxu-
ries. It is the cheap swell who stares wom-
en- out Of countenance at the theatres, who
infests the shopping streets in the early
part of the day, and gives his more sub
Stantial and hard wor king fellow citizen
an immense amount OF annoyance by his
arrogance and assumption in general.
There are two general classes of the cheap
swell in New York. One is composed of
the silly and pretentious young men who
pose TO crafty an intense ambition and
who fancy that they deceive the world by
their society" airs; the other is the type
of gaudy swell who Uses his fashy attire and
Assurance as the means of making living.
The source OF the incomes of many of these
men of sham and imitation is often COM
mented upon. The majority of them have
no incomes at all, and they do not need
them, for they do not spend any money.
They keep up the semblance of life of
leisure and extravaganza without carrying
II mt in ba frrht Iaryroo
ONE OF THE MILD TYPE.
A typical case of this sort comes to the
writer's mind. For nearly two years he
was constantly running across tall and
sallOw young man, who always betrayed
an air Of intense hauteur, and exhibited
all the signs of the world of cheap swell
dom. His manner was supercillious and
austere. He was always to be found in
Delmonico's just before and just after din
ner, and be was a prominent figure in the
theatre lobbies. Whenever women of par
ticular attractivenesS came along he stared
at them with an air of advanced imperti
nence. Occasionally he could be seen stand
ing up at the rear Of a theatre, and between
the acts he was invariably to be found
stalking gloomily up and down in the most
pretentious of the neighboring cafes smok-
ing cigarette, but never buying anything
to drink. After the opera he was always
to be found in the Thirty-ninth street cor
ridor, still smoking a cigarette and ap-
parently waiting for his carriage. He
moved about among people Of wealth and
high social standing, staring at the ladies
and arousing a universal feeling of indig-
nation among the men. He was always in
evening dress, and his attire was distinctly
fashionable in cut, though there was some
thing in his appearance which caused OBJ
serving men instantly to set him down as
An outsider. He aroused a vague and I'M
defnable but pronounced feeling of ex-
ASPIRATION in every decent man whom he
met, and yet he never did anything which
would warrant an observer in thrashing
him. For two years the writer encountered
this particular parsonage everywhere he
went in New York, until one day he saw
him in earnest conversation with well
known halter on Broadway.
WHAT THE UNCLE SAID.
Inquiry from the halter revealed the
fact that the pseudo swell was his nephew,
and not particularly popular nephew at
that.
HE has occupied hall room in a Lex
ington avenue boarding house." the halter
said as be took up the case of the young
man, for nearly three years, and, though
the cost of the room with board is only 81
a week, he has managed to run in debt TO
the landlady to the extent of over 800
She is a silly old fool of a woman who
thinks the cub has rich relatives and
big expectations, and who actually goes
down into the kitchen after she has fin
ished her work at IL o'clock at night and
irons his trousers and cleans his coats with
benzine for the following days parade He
poses in the boarding house as a society
man, always eats the regular dinner there
in evening dress, and then hurries out un-
der the pretense that he is going out TO
party, a reception or something Of that
sort at the house of some we'll known New
Yorker. For the rest of the night he
spends his time loafng about. He's well
dressed loafer and nothing else. Occasion
ally he runs errands or makes himself use
full to a theatrical manager, and in that
way secures admission to the theatre.
Then again be will manage 10 worm him
self into the good graces of some young
man about town who is careless and amia-
ble when he has been drinking little, and
out Of this acquaintance he always man
ages to extract something substantial
either credit at a tailor's or loan of one
sort or another. OF course he never thinks
Of doing any work"
This is a fair type of the cheap swell who
is not vicious. OF course there are many
grades Of the species, but they have all
managed in one way or another To adopt
such peculiar look and manner that their
presence acts as an affront 70 men.
THE VICIOUS SWELL
The vicious type of the cheap swell is
more interesting because be not infre-
queDtly drifts from careless into criminal
with tradesmen, and occasionally
slips into schemes OF trickery and fraud.
Every attentive reader Of the newspapers
has IRON time to time run across the names
Of men who have been sentenced TO prison,
but had posed and been accepted by certain
people IS men of leisure and social promi-
nence. There is no denying the universal
gullibility Of mankind. A large, breezy
and genial man, clad in the most advanced
style Of raiment, csn go down 70 Wall
street and into the Offices of the most con-
merchants and secure cash suo-
scriptiOns for any kind Of wildcat vent
ure. y mOdestly clad but thoroughly sub
stantial and reputable citizen could not
raise so in this fashion. A few days ago
two suits were brought and won against .
New Yorker who was always prominent IN
club windows, who boasted not long ago
that he had thirty-four complete suits %
clothes made this year. Judgment was
secured by one Of his creditors for $500
and by another for &. COO Every man who
knew ANYTHING about New Yorkers wa
aware ths: this particular 'swelln bad
been without any legitimate income for
years, aud that be owed $4,000 or soo,oOO
In New York Yet he succeeded in getting
ia 600 Many other men n New York
could DO tie sane. probably, II they had
thirty-tour s1its OF clotbes The attire Of