The Portland daily press., 1895-02-04

when / started these Family Circle Dane
ing balls, Mr.. McA lister sac.
From the giving of the first OF these
dances at a private house to the time o.
my giving them up hao no peace az
home or abroad. I was assalled on al
sides, became in a sense a diplomat,
committed myself to nohing, PROMISED
much, and performed as little as posi-
BILE. / saw at once the rock on Whlcn
we must split that the pressure Wouio
be SO great no ona couli resist IL;
that our parties must become 100 gen
eral, and that in the end the smart set
would give up going to them. L knew
that when this occurred they were
doomed. M mornings were gwen up
to being interviewed about them J
mothers would call ut my house entirely
unknown to me the sole WORDS OF lntro-
duction being, Kind sir, l have q
daughter These words were caballstlc;;
l would spring up, bow to the ground
and say: My dear madam, say no more
you have my sympathy; we are III ac-
cord; no introduction is necessary; you
have daughter and want her to go to
the &c. d. C.'s. I will do all in my
power to accomplish this for you; but
my dear lady, please understand that IN
all matters concerning these little dances
/ must consult the powers that be. am
their humble servant; | must take or
ders from them, all of which was figure
of speech on my part.
A t the time when Mr.. MeAllister was
in the height of his social career he re-
ceiyed the following anonymous lines:
He does not reign in Russia cold,
Nor yet in far Cathay;
But DER the town he's came to hold
An undisputed sway.
When in their might the ladies rose
To put the Despot dowr,
A plandly as A Sin he goes
His way without q frown.
Alas though he's but one alone
He's one too many STILL
He's fought the fight he's held his own,
And to the end he will.
All the New Years balls, two of which
were given, at the Madison Square Gar
den Assembly rooms in January, lo'2
Mr.. McA lister had misunderstanding
with the late w. H. johnson, Sexton
Browns successor as society's outside
man. The fuss resulted in a lasting
enmity between the two men. The
trouble hinged upon temporary green
baize door, 1t was to have been john
sons duty to take the tickets at the
door. johnson wanted storm door built
to keep the draughts from him. Mr.. Nc
"A udu Uuo QOOI CIOCuOt. ilO WIN
johnson to remain outside, and said that
if he could not stand a little draught he
had better give up. The result was
that Johnson did not take up the tick
cts, causing confusion and m1sunder
standing at the door. Afterward Mr..
McA lister and Mr.. johnson exchanged
epithets.
During his social career Mr.. McAllister
made more enemies than Johnson. Ere
In faf with wealth and social
aspirations but comparative strangers
in New York. sought to have their
daughters and sons admitted within
the pale OF exclusive society. Knowing
that Mr. McA lister held the open sesame
they went to him and tried dishonest
means when fair means failed. On
three occasions large brides in the shape
of stocks bonds or checks were offered
to cover up any defects in introduction
or ancestry, but Mr.. McAllister stood
true to bis trust and blighted the amhi-
lions of many social aspirants. So care
tul was he in issuing invitations that
only one instance is known where an
unlimited guest wriggled into the Patrl-
arch's ballroom. The strange guest was
Miss Elsie DeWolfe. At one of the Patri-
arcs balls six years ago a subscriber
asked Mr.. McAllister to account for the
presence of the actress. Miss DeWolfe
had been for two years regarded as the
rival of Mrs. James Brown Potter on the
amateur stage, and she was known per-
sonally to many persons OF social proml-
hence. Once a gentleman holding COM
manding social position had asked for
an invitation for Miss Elsie De Wolfe,
but for reasons not at all to Miss De
Wolfe's discredit the application was re-
fused. Mr. McAllister knew no invitation
had been issued to Miss De Wolfe. He
went to the door and asked of johnson:
son whose invitation has Miss Elsie De
Wolfe come in?"
ION Mrs. Edward Cooper's invitation"
was Johnson's reply. Upon lnvestiga-
ton Mr.. McAllister found that Mrs.
Cooper had sent az invitation to Miss
Celeste Stauffer of New Orleans, to
whom Samuel J. Tildea left 100000
Miss Stauffer could not attend, and re-
turned the invitation to Mrs. Cooper and
unconscious of proceeding irregularly,
Mrs. Cooper reissued the invitation to
Miss De Wolfe. At secret meeting the
Patrlarchs exempted Mr.. McAllister from
any blame in the matter.
The incident brought no end of ridi-
Guile upon the Patriarchs in general and
Ward McAllister in particular. Epithets
and Jokes were hurled at him, especially
from the theatrical stage.
While fond of writing for daily news
papers and periodicals on social topics,
MIR. McAliister made only one serious
literary attempt, and that was financially
comparative failure. His "Sociey as l
Have found Itn is full of amusing incl
dents, Interesting to readers happening to
know who the persons referred to in it
are, but it found no permanent popular
ity with the public. In the preface the
author said: "One who reads this book
through will have as rough mental
Journey as his physical nature would I'M
dergo in riding over corduroy road in
an old stage coach. / make no preten-
sion TO either scholarship or elegant die
tion.n Mr.. McA Ulster said he made less
than SO, QUO from the publication of his
book.
Beware of ointments for Catarrh that