Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-03-10

asiaNl' Of Them runs @s. into ss a:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. ~ ey, in dollar bills,
sewn together, would
| carpet half of Man
| haitian Island. Their
| combined wealth in silver would weigh
2,Ooo tons and would load twenty-five
| freight cars In the shape of gold, five hun
| dred strong men could hardly carry it. No
wonder that the propretors of this i'm
| mense capital are afraid of anarchists
| The dwellings which they have put up
recently on New YorlSs most fashionable
| thoroughfare are palaces, but, like many
| royal residences in Europe, they are forti-
| fled. Though they have not the air of
strongholds, they are really SUCH TheJ are
built for defense. Within are galleries of
art and every luxury imaginable but the
outer walls are several feet in thickness,
and what are to all intents and purposes
dry meats surround the houses
These houses are set back from the
street behind stone fences. They could slIs-
tain a siege and from them an armed mob
might be kept at bay for an indefinite
period, rifles in the hands of a small army
of retainers holding the assailants in check
The hoses, connected with boilers, which
are used in winter to clear away the snow,
would throw streams of hot water upon the
enemy
The extravagant expenditure of money
| by New York millionaires of today has
| never been equaled in the worlds his
| tory unless possibly in imperial Rome.
| With such putocrats the Astors and
Nanderbilts leading society, every one must
| spend enormously to keep up. Those of
moderate wealth cannot hold the pace, and
| thus 1t has come about that the very rich
| nave pushed everybody else out of the swim.
| reasonable society in New York is COM
mllllOnAlfpS- 4 rpDrpSpntS a
| aristocracy of wealth and not of refinement
! or culture There are really not more than
! 400 people in the smart set" because only
a few can afford or are disposed to squander
| money at the requisite rate. Three thou
! sand dollars for flowers for one dinner
| party Is not an unusual expenditure, and
! jewels set with diamonds are considered
| appropriate faVors for the guests.
| With all this extravaganza, the millionaire
| society people Of New York are astonish-
| inSly parslmonious in many ways. For eX-
! ample, one very rich woman, who Is
| leader. always buys stale flowers from the
| florists. They furnish her regularly with
! blossoms that are unsold and left uver.
| Certain ladies' Of the highest fashion OK
| pect the flower dealers to serve them at
cut rates for the sake of the advertise
! ment Thus they actually bank on their
social reputation.
| BiuciSu:ail Pure and Simple.
| A charitable entertainment was given in
! New York the other day, at which several
! famous singers contributed their services
! free. The ladies Of the committee which
| GOT up the affair Obliged 4 weli-known for
| Isl to furnish them with 100 bouquets
| apiece, for their own private use, free Of
charge. If the flower merchant had re-
| fused these powerful persCnages would
have withdrawn their own custom ard
! would have taken elsewhere much other
/ trade, which they Were in Il position to in
| fiueace 1t was blacknail pure and simple.
! Speaking of this matter the florist said:
Il should not care very much If the
! flowers Were to he OF any use to the poor.
! But in a case like this they are wholly
! wasted, being thrown on the stage TO the
! singers. The latter, as a rule do not even
take the trouble to pick them UP. But
! against this form Of imposition, as with
! navy others. we are heloless."
The big florists inevitably swallow up the
! little ones because they can afford to make
! large expenditures for advertising. one of
! the PRINCIPAL and most exclusive balls given
] each winter in the metropolis is supplied
with flowers free, for the sake of the pres
tige attaching to the contract. A few years
ago the foremost flower merchant in New
| FORK failed, the reason being that those
who owed him money would not pay. A
| list of his debtors was printed in the news
papers. including the names of more than a
hundred of the bcst-kncwn people in soci-
/ ETY.. But even this did not induce them to
/ liquidate the claims against them; they
were satisfied to retain the cash and to put
| up with the shame.
Shall il be said that the smart set in
New York is vulgar? Perish the idea. Yet
what Will be thought of woman of fash
ion who. Immediately after her daughter
! has accepted an offer of marriage. tele-
| phones the news of the engagement frCm
| her house to every one of the principal
| newspapers. That very thing occurred here
| only the other day. While pretending to de-
! test publicity. these people are wildly anx-
! ious for it. The notice of the public press
| is the very breath of their fashionable nos
| debutante picture
into the Sunday papers has scored a tri-
umph and is the envied of all the envious
| The love of Publicity.
! Time was when a mother would not have
desired to expose her daughters likeness.
reproduced on a large scale from a photo
graph in the public prints for the criticism
of the mob. That epoch has passed by. So
| highly is this distinction estimated that a
millionaire merchant, anxious to get into
the swim has been known to offer 81, 600
| for the publication of his wife'S portrait
But money will buy this sort of adver-
! tiSement from the newspapers, which are
j then selves extremely exclusive in such mat
! tiers. II they were rot SO they would not
| be able to obtain the pictures of really
''sWeli'' people for use in this way. That is
why published portrait is such a card
/ for the original. 1t is an Endorsement of So
cial standing.
Some of these statements may sound like
an attack inspired by malice or envy. But
| tnere Is not an editor IN New \ Ork VINO VIII
not indorse them from his own knowledge
as absolutely truthful. The fashionable So
ciety of the metropolis today represents the
| apotheosis of Shoddy. Its exclusive circle
may always be entered with golden key.
It's morals are not good. At this very mo-
ment scandal of the largest proportions,
! involving two of the best-known families,
| is on the verge of breaking out into the
| light of publicity. When the explosion
comes it is likely to fill many columns in
| the newspapers.
There is a form of blackmail to which the
! fashionable people are themselves victims
Its chief manager and beneficiary is the
steward of the millionaire household. A
volume might be written on the family but
! Ter considered as a bird of prey. He eXacts
| from tradesmen commissions on everything
which they furnish Twenty-Five per cent
| is his customary rake-off. The florist is one
| of his tribute payers. If he does not stand
and deliver it is the worse for him. Last
| summer New York flower merchant took
charge of very large and costly palm dur
ing the absence of the owner. In the fall
he returned it in perfect condition. Two
days later he got word that it dead
! having evidently been frozen. The butler, to
whom no commission had been paid, had
la3 II nv bOiljppy tor