The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-04-24
THE MAN OF FASHION.
CAN A TRADESMAN GO INTO The
"BESr SET OF.NEW YORK?

VI Gne beSt hnOWn society Men-A
Vanderbilt Who Married a Carpet
Man-Was DR.. Webb Deutist?-Dun-
can Elliott Sells Soup james Ii.
Waterbury Deals IN Rope - Dry
Goods Men Galore-Not Many Rich
Idlers in New York
(Copuiqht.)
New YORK, April 23.-American society
has not yet thrown to the winds the good
old democracy of early times; it has not yet
declared the man-of-fashlon. who has
culture, good address and wealth at IN
back, from entering the portals where the
select rule. l had imagined the opposite
case until l looked over the long list of So
ciety men and women who have no an
cestors Of note to help along their cause;
until l found that Duncan Elliott, one Of
the most refined Of the best set here, was in
trade. and when not in society supervised
the sale OF very delectable and palatable
pea soup. l went step further and found
a son of New York's uncrowned social king,
Ward McAllister, selling wines on COM
m ission. found another in the tobacco
business, Pierre Lorilard still another of
the best set, James NJ. Waterbury, in the
rope trade; and the husband of a Wander
bilt heiress, W. G. Sloane, showing costom-
ers the very neatest designs in the latest
| carpet goods. | had intended to ascertain
where the line was drawn. l thought a
| lineage dating back to Peter Stuyvesant, or
| to some signer OF the declaration of indie
| pendence, or to some famous revolutionary
soldier was an open sesame; or that in Bos :.
| ton it was necessary to be an Ames
| Winthrop or an Adams; in Phiadel-
delphia, Yelling; in New York a
"Van;" IN the south Fairfax, a
| Lee, Carter or a Tucker. Just where
this popular error originated | could not
| ascertain, unless it was from the bleak souls
of some OF the rejected ones. l knew that
all the wealth of the Goulds. the Armours,
| the Carnegies the Ayers and the Singers
| had never given them an entree into New
York's best set, and felt certain there was
a reason. For the Jaffrays, the Testers the
| Oelrichs, the Tailers and the Iselins are or
| were recently in trade, and they are cream
of the cream. And then came the solution
in the following from the lips OF a De
| Peyster:
Society wants bright young men. 1t
wants no roues; no men of fashion who are
not gentlemen to the very core. 1t wants
men who are cultured, men with good ad-
| dress, men who can entertain if they should
become the husbands of fashionable daugh-
! ters. Trade Is no bar to American society
Wealth and ancestry are not sufficient to
admit"
"Why, then" asked I, 'are the Goulds
| not counted in the best sets"
Their wealth can never bring them into
society. We have made a certain degree of
culture the first desideratum, and this we
| believe they have not yet reached. For
that reason alone are the Goulds, the Sing
ers, the Armours and others omitted from
the lists of the most fashionable set"
10 I 49, -
story, which l will not absolutely vouch
for, although 1t has been affirmed and de-
MED thousand times 1t is the old story
that DR.. Seward Webb, while a hard work
ing dentist, met and fell in love with Miss
| Lima Vanderbilt. In fact, the story goes
that DR.. Webb fell in love with the young
| lady while attending her professionally |
have the story from such good authority
that l believe IL, but you can do as you
| please DR.. Webb only smiled when l
asked him whether it was true The smile
might have been a negation, but it might
also have been an affirmation.
1t is often said that the Perry connection
In the Belmont family gave it an entrance
into the exclusive set of New York. l do
| not know how true this is, but there GER
tainly are few more better educated AMI
more highly cultivated men among New
Yorks fashionables than these very Bel
monts. If they at any time did not belong
|
right to be among the best.
There are many men Of fashion In New
York, however, who, while placing no great
weight on ancestry, still feel pride IL
their genealogical tree. Among these are
the Cuttings. Both of them are in the
ultra" set and both are recognized as typi-
cal men of culture. They come of the
Bayards of Philadelphia and of the Living
srons and Schuylers OF New York. Their
father was one of the most famous lawyers
in New York state, but through their
mother they come from a mercantile stock,
for Nicholas Burger, an old Bond street
merchant, was their great-graudfather.
District Attorney De Laucy Nicoll comes
of Huguenot stock, but it is his own brain
which has won him a way into society.
Still he is proud of the record made by
the old De Lanceys, the old Floyds and the
old Provoosts, with which families he is
| connected.
While Pierre Lorillard and his brothers
the tobacco men, may be said to lie Sin
| trade" they trace their ancestry back to
some of the best families in old New York,
and their family tree, with its connections
Of Pierrepont's, jays and Duboise's is still
| in the records OF the old Evangelical Luther
an church of lower New York
Lispenard Stewart goes back to james
| Alexander and TO the early Pierrepout's for
his ancient family history. l had almost
| forgotten to mention that De Lancey Nicoll
! OIIen tells Ine story OF famous LedVard,
also a connection of his, who was Capt.
| Cooks corporal of marines in one of the
famous exploring tours of that daring navi-
gator, Capt. Cook.
find that American society is not mod
eled very extensively on that of the old
mOnarchtes There may be, and there
probably Is. Road deal of hero worship
whel titled foreigner flaunts his pedigree
before the eyes of our nouweaux riches.
| But in the best set this is decried In fact,
the titled foreigner who comes here must
have something besides his title to insure
him an entrance into the best circles.
Baron Gruenebaum, now an interpreter on
Ellis Island, had the honor of leading
cotillon at Mrs. Astor's during his palmy
days, but when the baron's wealth gave cut
he found that ell the culture he had
amassed in Germany did not suffice to keep
him in the best set here. AS | said before.
| it takes both culture and wealth to be
among the best, and one or the other will
| not suffice.
| One thing more must be said however.
! for the man of fashion of America, and that
| is he is not an idler. Our rich idlers are
comparatively few. Even so inve.erate
society man as Ward &cAlister processes
TO be lawyer and to work at his calling.