Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-23

gruelfng defeat from the Tammany ami
nal Some thousands of the Tammanyites
at the track masSed themselves in front of
the club stand and groaned at and derided
the aristocratic financier until he was COM
PEELED to retire In confusion from the
stand. Some of the things that the boot
ing Tammanyites yelled at the one-tifne
Tammany congressman. after the numbers
in that race had gone up. were:
Our mutt don't wear no gold-spiked
plates. but"
Our skate don't sport no silkerino socks,
but.
dis push's plug amt owned by no back
DE winners owner don't wear no orch
ids. but
| And a good deal more of that sort of
jeering, which was little short of revile-
| ment. Perry Belmont hasn't visited a race
track very often since that day. and 1t is
more than fair presumption that he will
never again permit one of his horses to
run in a race in which there is a Tammany
horse entered.
Barmaids Not Success.
The proprietor of an extensively deco
rated drinking place located on one of the
lively business streets of Harlem dis
charged all of his bartenders a couple of
| months ago and employed women to take
their places. His idea was to introduce
the English barmaid system in New York
and he thought he saw chance to make a
sensation in addition to lot of money.
out of his scheme. The barmaids he en-
ployed were ali pretty women. and he had
them instructed in the art of mixing
drinks before discharging his male bar
tenders.
With the neatly dressed and aproned bar
maids installed, the proprietor of the cafe
sat back and waited for the rush The
rush didn't ensue. The regular customers
of the establishment would poke their
heads In at the swinging doors. gaze mysti
f1edly at the barmaids and then bolt for 1t.
Passing strangers. darling into the place
for refreshments, did exactly the same
thing. The proprietor kept his barmaids
for about a week. during which time
scarcely any business whatever was done,
and the greater part of the steady custom
had gone elsewhere. and then he had to
discharge the barmaids and re-employ his
male barkeepers. The barmaid scheme had
been what is known as a dead frost. 1t
was not the first time the barmaid expert
ment had been tried in New York, but the
failure was even more complete than on
the other occasions when attempts have
been made to attract custom to New York
drinking places through the employment
of attractive barmaids. The simple fact
seems to be that the American view Of and
reverence for women Is of such character
that even the steady drinkers object to
taking their drains from feminine hands.
Americans cling to the belief that the bar
room is no place for women to be employ
ed. They take no stock in the yarns
brought home by travellers to the effect
that the presence of the barmaids in Eng
fish pubs" has a tendency to restrain the
talk and conduct of the men drinking in
such places. There seems to be little
truth in this presentment Of the matter,
since the most reliable students of the Eng
fish barmaid system affirm that the aver
age Of disorder and unfit conversation in
English drinking establishments where
barmaids are employed is great, If not
greater, than in the saloons of the United
States. But. leaving this controversy out
altogether, it has been signally shown that
the barmaid is never likely to become an
American institution.
Women Champagne Agents.
When women do not actually hand the
alcoholic drinks over the bar, however. it
is different This is exhibited by the fact
that two middle-aged society women of
New York, both of whom have been re-
duced in their fortunes through the in
judicious speculations Of members of their
families. are now well-known champagne
agents in New York, nor has the fact that
they are well understood to be engaged
in boosting their wines initiated in the
least against their social prestige. The
friendly rivalry between the two women
in the placing" of the respective cham
pagnes for which they are selling agents
is said to be intense. but 1t is certain that
both of them are making far more money
than they could hope to earn in any other
way. since neither of them is especially
fitted for business. Their opportunities for
demonstrating and purveying the cham
pagnes they represent in the homes of
their wealthy friends are Of the best, as
most of their social associates who are
not hopeleSSly welded to other brands
of the sparkling fluid are more than will
ing to help them along. Plenty of reduced
women Of New York society have initiated
the example of their titled English sisters
in embarrassed financial circumstances and
gone in for business"-millinery, flowers.
poultry raising, horticulture even modes
80 that, while the idea may not at first
thought seem attractive, there appears to
be no valid reason why women who have
the nerve for that sort Of thing should
not engage in the exploitation of so prof
table and widely used a commodity in
New York as the bubbling fluid of France.
The male ''pluggerS" for champagne do
not view this invasion of their field by the
society women with entire equanimity. 1t
is considered likely that a little later on
they will have occasion for actual alarm.
for 1t is predicted by the social prognOSti-
Gators. as well by other acute seers
into these matters. that. the wedge hav-
ing been inserted, the purveying of wines
to the elite of this town will sooner or
later fall altogether into the hands of wo-
men agents with ready-made ''clienteles."
Women's Second Hand Clothing.
So many shops that deal exclusively in
women's secondhand clothes have made
their appearance in New York during re-
cent years that one is perhaps safe in
are no longer the beneficiarieS of their
mistresses' cast-off dresses-at any rate.
in this section of the world-as they used
to be in an older and more liberal day.
Come to think of it, however. the gowns
that hang in the windows of these second
hand women's clothes shops are. as rule.
so gorgeous that the f1rst-hand owners
of them could scarcely be expected to
turn them over to their maids. especially
IL the maids designed to wear them on
their of days. lady's maid leaving her
mistress home by way of the basement
on a Thursday morning "diked OUT in a
800 or $500 real lace CONNECTION or a Felix
carriage costume might present certain
incongruous aspect in the eyes of the
neighbors-and New York neighbors. with
their Argus eyes, abnormal length of neck
and acrid tongues, must be taken into
consideration in these little matters.
Most of these secondhand garments for
women on display in the cast-of shops are
sumptuous, plainly expensive when bought
at first hand. and few of them show any
apparent signs Of having been worn. OF
course, before being placed on exhibition
for sale, they are gone over by people skill
ed in all OF the arts of renovation. but the
women who run these shops state that
the women's garments that they get at
second hand have rarely been worn very
long by their original owners and that the