Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-09-10
He DEFENDS THE 400.
F. P. Garrison Makes Warm
Reply to Henry Wat
-terSOn.

NEWPORT. r. l., September 9.-(Spe-
society member, who belongs to fashion,
able clubs here and in New York. and
who voices the views and sentiments of
Harry Lehr and society, which, for sew
eral years has been made up by Mrs
Oliver H. P. Belmont Mrs. Stuyvesant
Fish, and Mrs Herman Oelrichs, pub
fishes a defence of Newport society in a.
local evening paper tonight. Mr.. Gar
retson says:
IAN attack has been made upon this
city which is unparalleled in the history
of Journalism and is unwarranted and
ungenerous. Strange to say, the attack
is made by a paper edited by one of the
most distinguished men of this country,
born and bred Southern gentleman. and
living in an atmosphere of Southern chiV-
airy, reputed by North and South alike
Naturally, the invectves and nsinuations
made bv Mr.. Watterson have. and will
have wide circulation, and may seriously
affect the fair name of this city. That
they are mainly false and untrue goes
without saying.
I'm the first place. where does this dis
tinguished editor OBTAIN information that
this is a sink of iniquity, it's smart set
debauchees and cyprians, and their ac-
tions notorious and disreputable? Has he
been here himself? If he had we should
have known it and the hand of good fell
lowship would have been held out to him
and he would have had the hospitality OF
Newport extended. not only by those
Northern-born, but Southern-born is
well. Had he ever stepped foot on the
Isle Of 1Aquidneck he never would have
permitted his pen to wander on subject
which is absolutely foreign to him. AS
for debauchery, and conduct otherwise
unfit for publication. it is almost an un :
known factor. A few young fellows. fresh
from their A B Cs. may at times kick up
their heels like young colts and make
themselves conspicuous. am inclined
to think they do the same in Louisville.
Human nature Is alike the world over.
AS for drinking and gambling, there new
er has been a time when there was less
of it. Mr. WatterSon makes one insinua-
ton which is so unpardonable that In the
very atmosphere in which the editor of
the Courier Journal exists it is answer
able only on the duellng grounds-is so
base that ones blood boils. The word
CSlIldll Is Only llS SidSolS "oiu AOi lIlS
Anglo-Saxon one of a single syllable. But
enough! The vile calumny of the article
is so dastardly that it only needs the cas-
tigation it deserves We are not perfect
in Newport. We are human. We have
people who are silly, foolish and weak.
We are not different from other conlmun-
tiles. The main trouble here is that en-
tirely too much slush is written up about
the doings of men and women who wish
:, 1of+ ,1o ovo1 NIT 10 ncir
worldwide publicity. and any indiscretion
is magni1ied as a crime.
do we hear of the many acts of secret
charity done by the people Mr. Waiter
son fays? Who. in the broad United
States does more good with money than
those sojournins here? Who contributes
to hospitals, women's homes? Who Wis
its the sick. the afflicted?
go. if you will, Mr.. Watterson, the
first time you are North, to any hospital
in New York. Boston, Philadelphia, Bal
timore. or Newport, and you will find
your 'cyprian debauchee' with kindly
hand administering generosity, unknown
and .Ensung.
mo, Mr.. Watterson, you have been mis-
guided. You have forgotten your South
ern chivalrS, and been mean and ungen-
erous enough to look upon the simple
follies of a summer watering place and
placed them before the people as GRIM
inal stigma. It is your place as editor of
a powerful journal to lift up humanity
and not degrade it. No Northern man
would ever dream of f1aying your city as
you have Newport. You have good and
noble men and women in Louisville who
are an honor to this country, but not
more SO than we have. You have those
who hurt it. So have we. But the latter
are vastly In the minority, and i1f the
long run uncountenanced. You have OF
fered US unwarranted and deliberate In
suit. The respect you bear for mother
hood and its sacredness, for wifehood and
Its loveliness. for danghterhood and its
purity. not only to tiis city, but to the
nation Itself, demands 9 retraction,