The sun., 1900-12-23
LIVE TOPICS ABOUT TOWN.

Nv IOPhS ABOt TOWN.
Lent f. usually considered the season most
injurious to amusement enterprises. and tho
week preceding Easter "a in common opinion
the worst Of the year: but as matter OF "a I
IL is really Christmas that strikes greatest
terror to the managers heart. This year
tho effects OF tho holiday season have been
more marked than ever. and some Of the
theatres which had been enjoying compare
tyr prosperity suddenly had their receipts
/ fall to Il Gegree never equalled before at
tbs period. one anomalous feature Of the
, situation is the explanation that the managers
are suffering because the time, arc good
and persons have so much money TO spend
/ on Christmas presents that they have no ttmc
1 T. think Of the theatre now. The operla.
of tho shops at night always has an effect
+ on the theatres. and with the greater pros
D prrty of thi, year the result has been moro
/ marked than at any other time. Audiences
have in some theatres been appallingly small
I for the last two weeks since the ere't, OF
holiday sh9prne have been fc.t Not only
. have the theatres suffered, but every other
form of public entertainment has realized
~ never before how important the diversions
' Of Christmas are in their relation T. public
enjoyment. The opera, as well as concerts.
large and small, have suffered such u dlWInu-
ton in receipts during the past ten days that
Il looks a. If the public has been thirkln;
Of nothing but spending it, money on Christ
mas presents.
The kidna ping of young Cudahy has
attracted renewed attention TO this peril q
wealthy families 1t is form of crime kept
constantly in mind by several residents Of
New York city, who take every IreCaution
to guard themselves against such an exreri-
. euce This is particularly noticeable IN tho
. country houses of two New York famIli' =.
In one of these the youthful heir to many mil
lions, on whose life depends much Of the FAM
, ily's wealth. is quartercd IN wing Of the
D house. Every window and door Is barred
n If tie rooms formed Irson and rot u
nursery. and one man il ALWAYS stationed
about the house ana the grounds with no
other duty than TO watch this ClIll ana keep
him aud his nurses constantly III view. 10
steal this child would require the en'rt. of a
small and very well-eQupped army. rs al! the
employees Of the establishment, whether
they come directly into contact Win ne
youngster or not, are impressed with th"
idea that nothing else is 80 important as A!,
safety. Somewhat older are two boys WHO
are some DAY likely TO inherit millions They
! and one of the interesting sights Of i4"ir
I fathers country house IL the floor v hloh Trey
; occupy. Every window Is as strongly buried
/ as II precautions were taken TO keep despera'e
7 characters inside the house rather than TO he"p
them out.
Sarah Bernhardt's strange financial methods
| have already been the subject Of Cp'-
! siderable anu scment and comment. but
. sle seems perfectly satisfied WITH thcm In
, spite oi the fact that she Is approaching =
J the end Of long career with li,tle or no for
! tune. Though millions have Iassej through
| her hands. From ono manager with wnom
! she has been associated for many years IN mis-
! country and abroad, she has received $1,000
! 600. She has her own ideas on business
! and one Of them IL that She snail always be
I paid I'm cash. checks are apparently worth
/ loss To her. as she refuses to accept them under
J any circumstances rYery morning at 10
/ O'Clock her conn en- alton Tor tho night before
] Is brought to her hotel and she expects II To
he always in currency. An agent whose duty
, II T., to take II 20 her has learned 10y eNleri-
/ ercc that his errand IS useless unless 10 coin-
During the early part Of her enga cement
here the fact that cash wolllq be rcCe- ~
aud il was not urtil after the matinee on the
first saturday here that the difficulty OF conf
apparent She acted twice on that day. and
was to receive 81, 600 for each rcprcscntatnn.
No such sum had CON" into the hoY oiicr'
/ vance and all that remains TO be disposed of
is the Standing room The, agent. therefore,
beFors bH 70 i6'e 10 oceck sp s the next m"rnms The
only thing 10 do was 10 borrow tho cash from
some of the other theatres under the "ont'oi
out u collect all the money available.
:, Inl. ~ pot much n ~ n rraGiy , ev"ry
/ vance Finally. the entire amount Wa.
raised. md consisted principal lly Of one AID
mind That that 81" was satisfied that Il i was vas, cash
| and on time, and received II with her custom
nrv, serenity II she had been confronted
with n check or the necessity Of waiting
| twentv-four hours, the Incident might not
| have passed of 80 calmly.
The narrow neckties which are so much in
favor to-day are the result Of the demands
L.. IA. ..l.,n xf L..
high standing collar must In accordance with
the principles of good dressing BE- kept close
together and this was found impossible with
the old-fashioned four -in-hand scar!s which
were two for three inches broad. However
one might tpg and pull ot these scaris they
could never be tied 50 as to bring tho edgos
Of the collar together in the fashion required.
UaUerdashers Invented collars that could DO
made to S comfy Tth '.e o naa ,as ,sae
de.isne1s to- to be realized, SO he sEaii tic is
ated In Eng and. where II Ii worn without tho
decoration Of a scarf pin This fashion has
Of the least conspicuous stvle are selected
4 for these ties Some semi-precious stone
burroundcd by plain. marrow band OF Goid
is no wadays the most popular lin.
Doctors have very much less latitude in
the matter OF facial decoration than men
| Of any other profession, because 1t seems
to be taken as settled fact that they must
wear only boards Il happen to have a
! great many doctors under my care" said
the barber whose name Is known TO more
New Yorkors than any other, Ind all Of
them excepting two wear boards These
two are both over 80, and they allow thcIn-
selves the luxury OF gray mustaches. Most
/ OF the others are men between 80 and 90.
and | don't believe there u one of them who
weIrs q beard from choice Some Of them
would very much Ike 10 be sinoothii'rH'
3 10 wear only a must1Chc They also say
that professional reasons compel them to