The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-08-03
II IDEAS for duomen

ea,, rarely get together who win agree as
10 the best methods Of their recognition
says Dorothy Maddox, in the fniiaael-
phia inquirer"
There are deluded ones who fondiy I'M
acme dress can squeeze them past ths
lynx-eyed social leader: others are equatiy
confident that blue blooded stock ciothed
in dowdiest fashion can worm IT'S way
into The very midst Of this leaders
j, ARMED circle. while others still depend
win certainty upon the clink of the
m-iabtx4Aolla to. down the slightest muir
nurZ sscontent at their appearance
The hamlet smart set Is most interest
ing: it is comical as well because OF ITS
extreme faith in its knowledge OF what II
should do n what it should leave I'M
done.
The smallest town is not without its
good society. Cliques are many, ana eaen
CLIQUE is honestly sure it is following
right in the wake of the citys ultra
smart set. The villagers exiled suffef
lxeeuIv under their banishment. Heart
burnjngs are many. Feelings run high.
Not long ago 1 accepted the hospitality OF
a member of a village ~coterie. and MAD
not been in town a day before l sa" thae
the entire place was divided against u
self. .-The set carried all before II
other sets ate humble pie. Fantastic
enough were the attempts at modlshness.
4 do not Believe a single earnest soul
ever dreamed that her soarings after style
were ever anything but sublime lhere
are no less distinctions in the world tnat
breed such constant unhappiness as those
which belong to some picturesque little
SPOT hidden far away from fashionapie
centres.
Occasionally hamletted democracy rules
and Miss b. in the big house on the mn
condescends to entertain Miss e, VINO
lives in a shabby house down IN the moi
low. odd ideas control society in this set,
such ideas as would open with horror the
ewes of any leader in the four hundred OF
a big town.
Good society as it exists in all its per-
fectness carries a code so rigid that no
excuse can suffice for the infringement OF
one of its requirements. Social queens
must be dressed to express the very
SWEETEST modes of the season and no one
save a leader of fashion has any real con-
ception of the time, money and brain work
s~quandered on this Herculean task.
Truly ones clothes tell a tale which
there is no ~evading. The fake queen may
think she is 'arrayed in the purple and
fine linen of good society, but it needs
only a chance for comparisons to have the
keen-sighted. world-wise critic discover
her false claims to elegance.
80
Some. of the simplest rules governing the
ultra smart set rarely ever find their way
into obscurer regions: places where the
danes and damsels are perfectly satisfied
with their social progress.
And a blessing it is that where ignor-
ance is bliss it is folly to be wise. Grand
DANES and their conventional daughters
are hard-worked souls. Sometimes 1 ques-
ton whether any pack horse or army
mule is more constantly with his nose to
the grindstone.
Not a lapse of fine form is allowable.
Brought up from childhood to understand
the ode as thoroughly as a naval officer
his znais fair slaves to social calls rarely
bluisder. 1t is the comparatively new
Corners who suffer.
They are unused TO the treadmill exist
ence for a t~read1nill it is, with all its va
ried entertainments, its panoramic lights
and shades so constantly supplied foily's
demands.
/ have frequently had the question
asked. ssWhy do women torment them
selves as they do for the sake of leader
ship or being at least in the swim?'
An excuse of some sort is trumped up.
In truth it is for self and self alone Most
women are abjectly miserable when made
to feel that they are on the extreme edge.
lust about ready to be pushed eff. Until
they reach the centre they are on the
ragged edge of despair. Once there they
become autocrats, and woe betide the poor
solus who get under their thumbs.
Rules governing good society are many
and ir~on-bound. Heavy is the strain even
with knowledge as a hacker.
The American girl in good society"
knows what is required Of her. She is
picketed by co-nventionalties. This does
not annoy her in the least. From the time
her school is selected or her g%overness aD-
pears until she enters college or a fash
ionable finishing seminary, she is well
aware of her duty. She knows nothing
that cannot be accepted as proper by her
mother.
One great blessing that comes to the So
ciety girl is shown in her ownership of A
~taetful, graceful mother, the sort OF
! mother that a girl can depend upon at all
times and under all circumstances. This
gives youth its full swing under protec-
tive environments that show the Ameri-
car daughter to be as well shielded as
any girl in the world, say what people
may to the contrary.
II UNREASONABLE mothers could emulate
this example Of espionage much misery
would be saved the middle classes. 1t is
the free and easy selection of compan
ions that works so much mischief.
Good society" may be summed up in a
few words. 1t is having a complete
knowledge of thing to be done, and as
perfect a knowledge of the things that
must be left undone. Steep is the road
that leads to perfection. TO the woman
still climbing it seems to have no ending
A novel hospitality and a thoroughly
delightful one was a tomato dinner given
lately in a smart suburb of Philadelphia,
says the Philadelphia Press"
The dining-room was -enchantingly cool,
with green vines and ferns and a jar of
scarlet field lilies to give color. A bit Of
brilliant SALIVA in a mass of feathery as
paraeus frightened the table.
Each guest found her place marked by
a square, white card, with a bit of green
$3.50 eI1rrsoo 4orna+o IN --a+or