Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-10-31
Berry & Co.
MAIN AND TENTH SITS.
A Tawdry Court.
Nashville American.)

NASHVILLE Americana
Mr.. Richard C. Wieghtman, an editoriai
writer on the Washington Post, sends an
interesting letter to his paper from Ashe-
vile, n. c.. describing q court which mas
been established at Biltmore. the country
seat of George Vanderbilt, near Asneviiie.
AS Mr. Vanderbilt Is seldom resident a.
his estate Mr.. Weightman does not CRU u
else him for the state OF affairs Wnlcn ne
finds there. 1t is the absurd nunkeylSin
and snobbery which prevails at this sen
established mountain court winch en-
cages the attention of the Post satlrlsl.
He acknowledges that The establishment
graceful contribution to the landscape,
and that 1T is not that Mr.. Nanderpile
himself has done anything TO invite nos
tile criticism or justify complaint. Per-
haps II he spent more OF his time mere inc
situation would be different. But the fact
is. that he is seldom here, and the result
is that Asheville has to 10 with a veiieo
prophet of Khorassan through the medium
of a lot of desperately inflated acolytes
and censer-swingers. The arrangement
has given birth to q perfect swarm OF
kitchen and stabie-yard aristocracy. NIT.
Vanderbilt's manager and visible repre-
sentative has found a BRIDESMAID, to be
sure. but hideously fervent-of toadies and
adulators. His secretaries and clerks are
superior beings. His gate-keeperS ana
gardeners are not as others. The hum
blest servitor who rakes leaves or forks
manure within the august Enclosure takes
social precedence and gives himself large
airs And from the arrogant and offensive
top to the wretched bottom of this ridicu-
lous structure Of vulgarity they are one
and all, straining themselves to make
the muddle worse. In each subdivision
OF society there are those who pay court
to the individual Of the Vanderbilt retinue
who happens to come within his purview
and philosophy. The virus has penetrated
everywhere. The cancer. has a thousand
tentacles. 1t reminds me of one Of Oren-
bach's burlesque courts, made up OF bell
boys and scullions arrayed in purloined
tinsel for the occasion. each one a thou
sand times more naughty than his absent
master ever dreamed Of being, and eacn
as greedy for adulation and as fierce In
his trumpery authority as any bedizened
upstart in the whole realm OF opera
bouffe."
The writer describes how courts exist
within courts, coteries OF intriguers within
coteries. all scheming for the wretched
bauble of flunkey's favor until 1--WE have
here, in the heart of this gracious noun
tain country, an ugly and pestiferous
focus of servility. offending the sweet
ness Of nature and poisoning the very air.
1t is as l have said, like some tawdry
little court-say the Court of Pretzel-
Pumpernickel-with its Grand Hereditary
Bootjack at the head of the establish
ment, it's keepers Of the Royal Cuspidor,
its swarm OF lackeys I'm waiting. and its
army of sweeps and bottle-washers."
If there is one thing more repugnant to
the American spirit than another 1t is
toadying 10 the cap and bells OF tawdry
Office. Americans love manly independ-
ence and applaud 1t wherever II is ex-
hibited. The superlatively rich may at
tempt to foster in this country the vulgar
European habit Of servility. but it will
not go down with common-sense people.
A servant Is a servant In America. and
whatever title he may assume for himself
ne is still so regarded. The lackeys at
Bitmore will find no imitators under the
Stars and Stripes