San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-02-12
The Mania for Borrowing.

borrow or buy the use of almost any
thing. At great cru h it is under
stood that those who entertain may
have hired most of their chairs, and
there are caterers who make it their
business to rent out entire dinner
services. 1t Is a matter Of harmless
conjecture as to how many young
men at dancing party wear their
dress suits by the grace OF s. a night,
or by the mere knavish procedure of
stealing the use n secondhand one
from friend, under the promise to
pay when "remItGances come from
home, don't you know" But there
are times when social swelis rebel
against paying even modest sum for
an accommodation in the way of
supplying what their men,
age lacks. There is not a
leading merchant in this city
who could not tell some scandalous
tales concerning people of wealth and
social standing VINO have had goods
sent home "on approval" There Is
absolutely no limit regarding the
style and variety of the articles thus
pressed into service. Opera clOaks,
fans, jewelry and headwear are kept
oyer night and then returned The
next day, after having done duty at
some social function within the
twenty-four hours that they have
been absent from the store Since the
greatest offenders in this respect are
aften the firms best customers, the
vi rIiD A.
imposition as best they can, and 80
the polite knavery is passed over III
silence. But il has been reserved for
some of San Fran cisco's new rich TO
play trick upon trustful importers of
bric-a-brac. When certain people eDter
the art rooms, look at cut glassware,
and order several of the handsOmest
specimens TO he sent up TO the house
"Lhis evening, be sure you send them
up this evening for my husband to
see them by ,gaslIght," the clerks
know full Well that u big dinner is on
the tapis. Ia this superstition they
are sustained on the return of the
goods by the unmis taxa BILE signs of
died soap suds in the deeper cTevices
OF the rose cuttings. Sometimes
these society" frauds do have the
grace to retain one piece and pay for
iG, as the price OF the cut glass dis
play which their assurance enabled
them to make before their guests of
the night preceding, but quite as
likely the whole lot will be returned
without conjunction, and with re-
grets.
some time ago society took up the
fad for china pain ting, and several
artists, particularly one who has his
| own firing establishment, numbered
| their scholars by the hundreds. One
| of the most successful of the amateur
artists was lady, who had deter
mined to paint u complete dinner set
for her own table. The meat platter
] was work of art 1t WAS placed in
the oven in the center of collection
that representa- ted q great deal OF
money, taste and time. Imagine the
proprietor's horror when he opened
the oven door only to find that the
big platter had exploded into multi
tude of pieces, each one marking the
spot where it tell on cup, saucer or
dainty bit OF china. The whole
firing was ruined. Whyi how?
Because the platter mad been
used before it had heen painted aud
fired, and the glazir g had undou bted-
ly absorbed some of the salt from the
meat or fish which had rested upon
it. 1t had been brought by the lady
herself in her carriage, direct from
the store to the studio. She had been
the victim of goods sent up "On APP
prevail and returned as unavall-
able" The frequent mention OF
a society belle and the con
slant newspaper adulatIon of her
charms of face, figure and manner, of
late, have recalled to my mind an
incident of the borrowing sort In
| which the young lady was the central
| figure, so 10 speak. When she first
came into her Kingdom OF young lady
hood she went TO photographed o
have some pictures taken. She was
| q very pretty girl, and, with his eye
| for artistic effect the phOtNgTs pheF
saw that she would make, under GER
| tain conditions, very tine picture
She sat for it, and it was finished eX-
guisitely in water cOlOrs. Then there
was some higgling about the price,
and at last the family concluded that
they did not want the picture because
| "they did not HK5 a profile
view any way" So the photopIa pher,
| although ne could hsye forced them
to take the picture, decided to keep
them for show card. He therefore
wrote to the mother that, although
he had paid the artist for his WORK,
which sum he would lose by her
change of decision, he would not press
his claims if she would permit him to
display her daughters picture at bis
door. Glad to escape the payment OF
of the $40, which had been the price
at first agreed upon, the mother
wrote back Certainly" and down
went the picture to the en-
I trance. In the cOurse of a