The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-01

The art of floral decoration is an elab~
35adIe one IN these end of the century
uays- It is likewise a costly one. says
writer in the Chicago Record.
= VI instance, one grand dame recently
spent $1,000 for flowers TO decorate her
table. dining and drawing-rooms for a
dinner party.
-. Not, less than the graces and no more
man the muses. is no longer the rule as
70 the modern dinner. and this hospita-
Die nOstess-Mrs. HaVemeyer. BY the way
-t entertained eighty guests. They We're
seated az the tables; over each table a
nuge umbrella covered with orchids,
rom the edges hung delicate trailing
SdrlandS, and the lights were charming
~ arranged to show off the flowers 10
perfection. One umbrella was a mass of
paIe-plnk orchids; the other was covered
IN SlcnIus cost = each one can under
sIdhu that such elaborate decorations
must be backed by a long purse.
A pretty centerpiece of roses or VIC
rents ana mignOnette may be purchased
Tor SO or $50; il is more frequently, how
ever, the case that $50 is paid for the
centerpiece
If one insists upon having an orchid
taole, one must pay anywhere from 500
10 $500 and upward, especially upward,
LOT H. tor a house wedding the flowers,
palms and foliage plants usually cost
500 to $LOO0-as much as the bridal gown
For the brides bouquet, So SIS. $40
ana upward and onward, whatever the
happy interested ones choose to eXpend
I q
luncheon or dance is worth from 81 to
So while a box of cut flowers costs from
81 TO $40.
At coming-out teas the votive offer
ing OF bouquets is one of the features Of
the junction, and the pride with which
the debutante displays her trophies Is
| only equaled by the satisfaction the IN
dian chief takes in the scalps which
adOrn his abode
Ihirty-eght bouquets is an extremely
/ modest number for young Sirl to re-
celVe at her cOming-out tea; siXty-eight
Is a more correct approximation. Mss
Gcftfude vanderbilt received nlnety-SeV-
en- rare and costly nOsegays upon the &C
caslon of her debut, and each was tied
with at least six yeards of rare and
costly satin ribDon-all very, very eX-
| remark.
The Nanderbilts probably pay 81. 600 a
| month to their florists, even during the
dull season. when teas and dinners
and luncheons and receptions are in full
swing 1t is too great a tax upon the i'm
aSlnation even to try to estimate the
amount of their bill for flowers.
The plants and flowers for Mrs. Will
lam Astof and Mrs. Jack AstOr's use are
sent down four times weekly from the
| greenhouses at Fernclife, al ways ac-
companied by a bill, which is paid in
/ due course by the Aston estate. This is
a case of taking money out of one pocket
/ and putting 1t in another, but the Aston
/ family are very methodical and system
/ attic in their business modes.
Although corsage bouquets are no long
/ er worn, 1t is quite the proper thing TO
/
! the design is a perfectly round mass Of
! flowers, with a delicate border of maiden
/ hair ferns. It takes true artist to con
| struct an affair like this No tightly
arranged mass of flowers crowded 10
gether will suit the fastidious tast. A
green bouquet is considered most chic
| for an opera-or, indeed, almost any oc-
casion. Mignonette. orchids of pale
green shade and ferns are used to form
a green bouquet. Mrs. Gerhard carried
one to Patriarchs ball last winter The
fair matron had a small battery dispos-
ed somewhere about her costume, ana by
its mean the bouquet was illuminated
with tiny electric lights.
Conversation is certainly growing more
and more vapid in what is termed So
! city," remarked clever woman the other
day to the New York Tribune. Even
the most intelligent and cultivated people
fact, they would not dare to talk of any
| thing else for fear of being thought dull
or heavy. 1t is like a perpetual game of
what the children oall consequences
What he said What she SAID and
What the world said But what amazes
me perpeIualiy Is the great ana secretly
acknowledged supremacy OF the wholly
unintellectual and often ill-bred handful
of people, who are commonly called the
smart set over nous autres, who really
have ideas, and who would enjoy sensible
/ clever conversation, if it were only fash
ionable-which it distinctly is not"
1t is not to the credit of America that it
must be said that this Fashionable or
smart influence, whatever it may be
/ called, not only stultifies otherwise clever
( people who happen to be in or near that
/ set, but it has a far-reaching, and quite
/ extraordinary effect over the whole coun-
1 try. The doings and sayings, and even
! the attire, of a few really insignificant
/ men and women evoke the greatest i'll
/ tereSt, not only in their own immediate
/ community, which is natural enough, but
/ that of other communities in other cities,
1 who conscientiously endeavor to copy,
/ emulate and establish a local Oligdrchy
| Of the same kind This development Of
/ OF 81 l0T nj unf 1afe
/ to such little purpose is comparatively of
recent growth. Twenty-Five years ago
| there was to be noted undoubtedly the nu-
/ cleuS OF this folly, winch is now spread
1 ing it's ramifications over the entire coCn-
] try; but in those days this set was not
/ considered desirable by the truly ariSto-
/ cratic old KnickerbOckers, who were, for
/ the most part, men and women of culture,
! interested in art, music and literature
/ whatever in fact, refines and elevates
community. Ii is lamentable to see the
! present generation of such honOred an
cestry Vying with the vulgar in their Nor-
| ship of ana subservience to what is rep
! resented by mere wealth and spurious
aristocracy.
There have been two powerful inhu-
/ ences which have contributed more than
anything else TO produce this de gringo-
lade of our nascent arsitocracy." said
man of the world who was in, but not of,
the set which arrogates to itself tine SUI
premacy. "One Is certainly the Prince of
Wales and his all-powerful influence on
London society, which certainly has
4
and the other is our own royal monarch,
the almighty dollar, the exaggerated wur-
ship of wealth in itself, and not the le-
ultimate appreciation of the refinements
of living and development of whatever is
best in the arts and sciences, which wealth
| makes possible"
1t is not within the compass of a short
paragraph to dwell upon the more per-
nicious effects of modern ultra-fashion-
able life-the prevalence of divorce the
increased dissipation among idle young
men, the loose principles in regard to
debt and positions of trust, all conse-
quent upon the way we live now" Or
der the conversation Alright" says the
good book; and certainly if this could be
put upon a higher plane there would be
a great step gained.
When a woman buys a ticket for an
evening performance at a theater says
Clara Belle in a New York letter to the
Cincinnati Enquirer, the ticket seller finds
her comparatively easy to deal with; that
is, barring the feminine tricks of hesita-
ton and questioning. But not so the mat
inee girl. She's up to snuff, and capable
of putting up stout a kick as any man
that was ever born. So when on Wednes-
day afternoon, the man at the window of