Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1893-01-08
SWELL TEA PARTIES
THEY ARR 50 CALLED BECAUSE IBl Is NOT
SERVED.
Walter Wsllman Gives an EdiJing Glimpse Of
Washington SOcisty-Most Of the Guests
Are Strangers to the Hostess
and 10 One Another.
Eracial Corresponaenes Or sAs Rsgisisr.

paNemeQLa u Nuo Ndpltdl wy UNIV
OF heavy carriage wheels, banging Of
the doors Of brOughams. Society has
awakened from its long lethargy, and Is
once more endeavoring to be gay and
imagine It Is having good time.
want TO tell you little something
about swell society In this American
capital OF ours. 1t won't take me long
20 tell yOn all know, for AN anything
but fashionable. l went 70 tea day
or two ago-one of the SWEETEST teas the
town has seen for many month-and
probably / shan't go again for long
year. A swell tea IN Washington, par
tlcularly in big house where the host
ess is ambitious and the invitations nu-
merOus, Is one OF the most soul harrow
Ing and provoking instruments OF tor
ture / ever had the misfortune TO meet
with. A tes In Washington, you should
know, is called a tea probably from the
fact that no tea is served; that no one
thinks OF tea or even coffee, and that
the one great beverage which every one
eagerly looks for and lovingly fingers by
Is champagne punch.
You are invited from TO 5 In the az
ternoon, but after you have haggled
with a cabby about the price for half an
hour and finally reached an agreement
by which he Is to call for you at quar-
Ter 10 4 sharp neighbor who is fash
ionable, or who thinks she is, finally
suggests that it Is very bad form for
any one TO appear at 1 o'clock tea be-
fore 8. ''And il you want to be right
in the SWIM" she adds, you won't get
there till a quarter after 8 and will stay
only half an hour. This makes you
look like an old hand" 1 accepted her
advice about not going till 5 and wish l
had made it an hour later and Staid
only thirty seconds.
Well, we arrived at 5. There Is q
long string Of carriages just ahead OF
Us, for everyone else wants 70 be fash
fOnable too. After a long wait we get
I'D 70 the port cOchere and alight. The
man who opens the carriage door is so
magnificent a parsonage that am az
once in awe Of him. / am afraid ! won't
do something just right and that he will
look reprOvingly at me. He hands me
in a little ticket with q number on it,
which afterward learn is the carriage
number, to be used in ordering your
vehicle when you getreadY to tear your
self away.
Within the hall another magnificent
person in livery waves you TO the right
and your ladies 70 the left, and after
you have given one young man your
coat and received a check for il, and an
other young man your hat and received
a check for that, you begin to look
around for the ladies who are so unfor-
tunate as TO be under your escort.
During the ten minutes which are Oc-
cupied in this search you have your
toes walked upon by at least dozen
distinguished people, Cabinet Off
GERS and Senators and their wives,
who are nearsighted and important and
who saInaDEthink they have right Of
49,, Some men would consider il an
honor to have their toes trod upon by
such distinguished persons, but have
been so long In Washington that the
honor conferred seems % me TO be out
Of all proportion to the pain inflicted.
There is nothing now do but to take
your place In the line OF guests and ad-
vance as rapidly as possible to the place
where the hostess is standing to receive
you. AS you near her you can see that
she is magnifcently attired and that
her face wears perpetual smile, AS
she is stranger TO you, you fall to won
dering who is TO give you the introduc-
ton, when you observe that young
man stands near by to whisper an in
curry as to who you are, and In turn to
announce with another whisper your
name, so that the hostess may gracious
" greet you as one Of her oldest and
dearest friends. IL IS a great relief to
discover that you are not the only one
who must thus be made known. In fact
twp-thirds OF the guests are strangers
hin the gates, like yourself. PrOba-
our capital society is the only society
his country in which people are in
to affairs Of this sort simply be-
Be their names are known and with
any previous acquaintance with or
EN- an introduction to the hostess.
The worst Of IL is, as you presently
discover, that not only are a majority OF
the guests strangers to the host aud
hostess, but 10 each other. There Is
great big crowd OF people, and those
whose acquaintance is somewhat limit
ed wander about discOnsOlately looking
for some one TO say word TO. The
crash is great. Half the time you are
wedged In so that you can't stir one
way or the other. A big fat diplomat
-&ars your progress in one direction, and
three women of gOOdly size and great
cOmpactness render il difficult for you
70 take even q single step in the other
direction. Like the Arctic explorer
whose ship is beset in the ice pack, you
have nothing to do but wait and watch
for favorable opening and then make
your escape.
The house is richly furnished, but not
so rich are the hangings that women
fail to pick at the curtains and declare
them cheap, or 20 examine the so-called
silk hangings on the walls and pro-
nounce them imitation Of the real ar
ticle. The manner in which one must
in the name of fashion throw his home
open to the marauding and the criti-
cisms Of the mob is something quite ap-
palling to me.
/ know that I was in q sort Of nervous
state all the time / was at this tea, 10
fear that the next minute would find
me either fioundering upon the floor
amid q wrecked train or standing up re-
ceiving the whitening glance Of q justly
offended dame. So passed most Of the
time looking at my feet, and noticed
that other men did the same thing.
1t is tremendously hot. Probably S2O,-
600 Was spent In ornamenting the walls
Of this house, and not q dollar FOR
ventilation. About one-third Of the
people present appear to have bad
breaths. Society people are more al
fllcted with this misfortune than other
people because they eat so much sweet
n n