The age-herald., 1902-02-09
New York Society
BY DIEDRcH kNicKERBocKER.

New York, February 5.-It is generally believed that the grand social coup de theatre this season will be made by young
 Mrs. John Jacob Astor. It is whispered
 that Prince Henry will be her guest at
 a dinner to be given in his honor This
 important item of social news has been
 kept as a secret a surprise. Public at- tention has been directed to the grand opera event. MT. Thomas Hitchcock has ioomed into prominence by publicly an-
 nouncing his determination not to yield
 his box to the Prince and his suite; and
 afterwards by consenting under condi- tions.
 This difference of opinion between Mir.
 Hitchcock and the arrangements has been
 a clumsy piece of business to say the least I say advisidly between MT. Hitch
 cock and the arrangements. That is just the trouble It should have been between
 MT. Hitchcock and the committee in charge of the arrangements. but unfor- tunately the committee announced its plan of arrangements before it had been
 perfected. This is what aroused MT. Hitchcocks wrath. The committee dis posed of his box at the opera without asking his consent or approval. He ex- pected of Mayor Seth Low, who poses as man of refinement, culture and courtesy, a different method of proce- dure Not receiving it he became angry and said things These sayings duly re-
 ported by cable have not been pleasant reading in Berlin.
 But 1t is amusing to note the sayings of Mir Thomas Hitchcock. He denies that h-At
 "a snip and a sprig of nobility but he asserts that it is abhorent to his Dem-
 ocratic feelings to give up his box to the brother of the Kaiser as he an Ameri- can citizen is an uncrowned King, etc, All this is nice gallery talk but l confess I am surprised. MT. Hitchcock is a man of cultivation, an unusually well read man, and his weekly observations in the columns of a great daily journal proved him to be unusually well posted on affairs | and finance. MT. Hitchcock is one of the l men who have risen to the social sum | mits by the easy process of floating up | from the bottom after the fashion of | corks.
 When I look about me and see the mob who Haunt through the best houses as | though to the manner born, l generally make a mental observation as to the lev l craze of gold, but there are exceptions. One of the exceptions is to be noted in | the rise of the house of Hitchcock.
 Hitchcock himself was for years quiet
 unobserved, laborious man who toiled for
 the golden coin. He had three sons,
 Frank, Center and Tom. Frank was a quiet, heavy, talented man who had no aspirations and was unnoticed; Cen ter who gained a reputation for wisdom as he was never known to speak, he was called the Silent Man, yet he was clever with his pen; Tom was fine horseman and a swell huntsman in anni-seed bag circles. They toiled not neither did they spin, yet they were brave in social ap- parel and no tea or ball was a success without them. An indulgent father sup piled their wants, and an ambitious moth CT urged them on. It was due to the en- ergy of Mrs. Thomas Hitchcock, Sr., the family gained place and position. She began by becoming an efficient member
 of charitable societies and boards of one
 kind or another. Little by little she worked her way along up the social stair case and finally reached the summit. Hence after years of foundering MT. Hitchcock, with Jeffersonian simplicity compares his status with Prince Henry.
 I believe MT. Hitchcock in his own house is one of the most hospitable of hosts and the most courteous of gentle men, therefore I am surprised that as a box owner in the Metropolitan Opera House he would not show the same good breeding as he does at home. Prince Henry Is an honored guest of the na- ton representing great people semi officially and he becomes, in a measure, a guest of MT. Hitchcocks as one of the share holders of the opera house. In his