Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-28
MURRAY'S MUSINGS.
A Group Of New Yorkers Hasn't Its Equal
Anywhere-Facts About Newspaper Cir
culation-AnticipatiDg War in Europe
[FRoM A STAFF CORRESPONDENT. ]

New York crowd comprises the best dressed
ana finest looking men and women that car
be seen anywhere in the worldn So said Q
gentleman who has the wisdom ant expert
ence that comes of extensive travel and
close observation. We were sitting at one
OF the little. tables on the Casino roof at the
close of hot day. The place was thronged
The walters were hard worked serving cool
ing drinks. The music of the Hungarian
Band in the cupola doated deliciously over
| us, and the plants and flowers perfumed the
grateful breeze that brought through the
moorish arches its own rest and refresh
ment The ceaseless hum and chatter OF
male and female voices the handsome gen,
tlemen In summer neglige, the clink OF
glasses, the colored lights, the sparkle OF
bright eyes and champagne, the snap of fiirt-
ing fans and the pop of corks-all made up q
Continental picture.
You may travel the world over" con-
t1nued my friend, flashing comprehensive
glance around, "and visit the finest places in
London, Paris, Berlin, Yienna-haunt the
famous watering places OF Germany and
mngle with the cosmopolitan crowds in
Dresden, Florence, Rome or the Riviera-but
you Will never see the la ge proportion OF
| manly young men and womanly young
women with their uniform taste and ele-
gance of dress that you see in such crowd
as this. have remarked this in every pub
lie place where a representative party of
New Workers. is to be found. There is an
other thing: Take those couples laughing
| ana chattering at yonder table and place
them In a foreign crowd and they would be
the observed of all observers. They would
| be considered loud and perhaps be set
down by the more sedate and formal East
as positively vulgar you know. That is
abroad. These people here act naturally.
| They are born and bred to q degree of social
freedom and live in an atmosphere of indie
pendence and personal selfreliance wholly
| unknown abroad.
| Foreigners cannot comprehend the under
| lying causes that produce the American:
They only know that we carry a stamp Of
our own. Because we are different we are,
| from their point of view, censurable. The
American stamp is the stamp of liberality of
thought and freedom of action-of recog-
| around and see the men and women our sys-
| tenn produces mentally compare them with
the best foreign article and thank God for our
own peculiar civilization. The Prince OF
wales does not represent our standard OF
the gentleman, nor does the dusky Queen OF
the Hawaiian Islands constitute the stand
ard of the American lady-however much
their Royal Highnesses may be looked up to
IN their own respective dominions."
The Stay-at-Home Girls.
WHAT lot of young men can be seen
about town now-singly, in pairs and gangs.
number the fair sex five to one. At the the
aters they swarm, hot, uncomfortable and
disconsolate. Every passably pretty woman
enchains their attention. Where are all the
women, anyhow? Outnumbering the young
men ten to one at some hot and swarming
watering place, and doubtless signing for
"dear JaclS'' and "poor little Neddy," etc.
In the meantime Jack and Neddy are hav-
ing not half bad time Business by day.
nm hpr iph nd iad ri "
by night. The girl who remains in town is
In great luck SO far as male company is con-
cerned. This Is her time of the year. Every
where she goes she excites sharp male COM
petition. She Is surrounded by beaux who
seem just to have discovered her charms.
She never before had so many invitations.
The theaters, gardens, races, ball matches,
trips down the bay and trips up the river
follow each other so rapidly and pleasurably
she takes no note of heat or time. Talk
about fun Then, she can work her little
tarSed Nor dees sSe nas1ecs ahs Foden
opportunity. Look here, you old timers
down by the sea and up in the mountains, it
isn't quite safe to leave this girl here with
''dear Jack" and poor little Neddy."
Mustaches and Engagements:
THE actors on the STRAND" pull indus
triously at the outof-an-engagement adorn-
ment of the upper lip. They keep feeling
for that mustache as if It were a matter of
that by the side of $5Oa week the most charm
ing mustache is mot in it,
Ebb and Flow of the Newspaper Tide.
"ADEoL1NE or rise of sales of newspaper
said the agent of popular news stand at
Broadway and Thirty-third street, 'is Gu
rious study. This news business Is the pub
lie pulse, and through US it beats stronger or
weaker day by day. We have to watch it
mighty sharply, for errors of Judgment in
ordering too many papers or too few cost us
money. Some people think the demand
runs evenly along, it doesn't. 1t changes on
every paper on my stand every day. For
one of the big morning dailies-will rise and
rise and rise, and then fall of so rapidly
that we cut off every day and can't keep up
with the decline Then 1t will take q turn
haps in the average showing steady run or
substantial increase. Sometimes the de-
cline is steady and permanent.
81 make a study of this thing I have
found on the general average the sales OF
other stands harmonize with mine. When
have to cut two or four papers, or add one,
two three or four papers of any publication,
know that is being done in the same pro-
portion all over town. Do you know what
the dropping or adding of few sheets
means? The loss OF gain of 1000 to 10000 cir
culation. I can tell right here just how every
paper of Importance in the city is doing. I
could tell you some curious stories con-
nected with this business. An ill-advised
editorial or bit of badly handled news will
often be followed Immediately by o falling
off /; and sharp and vigorous course on
live topic that touches popular chord, or a
big scoop or something will be followed by
steadily increasing sales. Customers often
tell me in sentence these causes before 1
know anything about it. They are mad or
glad, or sail along serene. Human nature
averages, and these customers are fair sam
Piles Of readers all over this big city"
Hot Weather as Leveler.
WHEN the mercury has prolonged run on
the upper figures aristocratic New York
melts down to the common democratic level
of American mankind. On one such after
noon on O car of the Sixth avenue elevated
a fine looking gentleman of middle life, who
probably goes to dinner habitually at his
own home in dress suit, looked around
uneasily and famed himself vigorously with
his newspaper. He had entered at Rector
street in q wilted condition from the Stock
Exchange. At Franklin street he seemed to
have made mp his mind to do something des-
perate.
just there big drygoods man came in
with his coat on his arm, nodded to him, sat
stock brokers face ltghtened up and he arose |
and calmly took OFF his coat and folded it on |
the seat beside him. The drygoods man |
smiled fds;Ip his approval from across the way. way
smiled their approval. An athletic young |
man in u far corner got up and took of his |
coat and laid 1t across his knee. At Four |
teenth street another elderly man of sleek |
appearance came in with his coat on his arm. |
Before the train rea ched Twenty-third stree |
q dozen sat in their shirt sleeves and lookeda |
if they would like to further reduce costume. |
In the next cars front and rear the usual |
custom of male attire was observed. Such is
the conspicuous force of example.
A Cabbv and His Stubborn Horse.