The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-02-04

husband have not been such as to associ-
ate the name of Sage with the idea of
popularity, and the position she has al
ways retained is the more marked in con-
sequence. Speaking of the years which
nave passed over her head, Mrs. Sage
said recently:
ue.'' '-O'o " ~ '''s
PREVALENCE OF MELANCHOLY.
Lent in New York finds, appropriately
enough, doubtless, most of the great men
OF New York in the habiliments of mourn
ing: To begin with. there is Mr.. William
=. Whitney, who has worn black long
gllne now. Then there is Cornelius Van
derbllt, whose somberly clad figure on
Fifth avenue is the embodiment of what
correct attire in woe should be. John
jacob Aston wears black and very well
hitting black it is. This is due to deaths
In the family, as is the clothing of the
Hamilton Fishes. Altogether the cpl
demlc of mourning, so to speak, has played
havoc with the social season by robbing
the big events Of their brightest orna-
ments, but during lent there will be many
explrations of the period of mourning,
with the result that Easter will find New
York reader than ever to take UP the
course of gayety.
Meanwhile the city's tailors are evolv-
ing creations in the way of mourning for
men that render woe a literal luxury The
black suits are getting more and more ex-
pensive, and the distinguished air that is
impaired by the wearing of them has led
to the accusation that some men deliber-
ately extend their mourning for the sake
OF looking we'll. The present state of
things is tribute to the tailors, who can
admittedly rival the European houses In
style, quality and all the rest
SWELL GIRLS AND POOR GIRLS.
In the feminine world of New York
Lent promises to witness growth of that
tendency among fashionable girls, so
noted of late, to cultivate the 'canaille."
The "canaille" are presumed to be the
persons whose portion is labor and pow
erty. Not to know at least one member
OF that class is now to be almost unfash-
ionable. This is partly the result of the
hard times, and partly due to a growth of
the romanticism impaired to the lower
classes as they say on Fifth avenue. by
some emanRtions Of the fashionable nov
elists. 1t is certainly odd to soc young
women in the pink of fashion visiting
girls who must toll for their daily bread
Not Infrequently such pair are seen in
Central Park, and when lent has put a
be a marked growth of the new cult.
1t should not be thought, however, that
New York's fashionable girls are actu-
ated by whimsical motives in these
lenten tendencies. The Sloan girls and
two among the youthful misses of the
Vanderbilt family have long been noted
as sympathizers with their poverty
stricken sisters. But in any other large
city of the country one does not see the
-Frs,t ftaaN av.NF
terms with the conditions of poverty as
has come to be witnessed in New York.
1t is positively out of style not to have
one's friends among the "canaille."
EPITHALAMIUM.
Mr.. Frederick Gerhard, whose mar
riage so long trembled in the balance is
now noted for two things; first, as the
proprietor of an empty seat in the Union
Club window, and second, as the cause of
the revival, in exclusive New York cir
cles, of the custom of addressing an cpl
thalamium to pair about to wed. AS
for the empty seat, 1t is attracting much
attention because Mr.. Gerhard was long
its brightest ornament, and that, natur-
ally, made his face familiar to many New
Workers who CHANGED to pass that way
1t now stands vacant and forlorn for the
reason, it seems, that no mem Der of the
Union Club is bold enough to invite COM
parison by occupying it, 1t is proposed to
drape the chair and hang it on the wall
of the clubs smoking room.
AS for the epithalamium, 1t is on the
lips of every member of the jeunesse
doree since its first appearance in pop
ular and widely circulated organ Of the
aristocracy.
The stanzas have the affecting title,
empty Is the Window, F'reddy's Cone"
and it is whispered that rival of the
handsome Mr.. Gerhard is responsible for
them Here is one stanza
At the Union window now there is a void
Every one regards that empty chair.
Once with faultless trousers was the seat en-
Once weil-dressed derriere sat there.
Latterly but vlchy rested by his side.
Cigars? He very seldom smoked but one;
Now that he will shortly take q winsome
Empty is the window, Freddy's gone.
The pathos with which these lines were
sung in chorus at that swell organization,
the Union Club, recently, is declared by
those who have exceeded anything ever
accomplished among the old Romans in
the epithalamium line.
1t is understo TODD that Mr.. and Mrs. Geb-
hard will reside in New York when the
usual tour is over.
DAVID WECHsLER.
nSS r15iro DI q oaa for N0naU