The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-07-26
NEWPORT is STILL SUPREME,
THE SUMMER HOME OF FASHION,
IN SPITE OF RUMORS. ,
Social Life mt the Greatest Watering Place
In AMERICA. IL Not I'm the worid-Dini-
Guilty OF Entering It--Increascd dis
play OF Wealth I'm Recent Years.


to some conspicuous member of the summer
colony here is for sale because the owner
has wearied Of Newport life and is anxious
TO seek some other place Of summer retreat.
Usually these reports are denied just US
emphatcally ~ Stnyvesant Fish this sum
mer denied the story that his place, Cross
ways, was in the market. 1t has been
said, however. for the past two years that
the villa could be bought by anybody able
to pay the large price at which 1t is held
The game story IL told of half n dozen
Newport houses whose owners are said TO
be weary of them and of Newport. Among
these houses there is none that was recently
put up. All Of them have stood for years
and belong to the families in what is known
AS the old Newport set.
This is quite distinct from the set so
much in the public eye, although it is quite
as rich It's members live in their homes
here with all possible luxury, although they
are less os.entatious and figure In none OF
the social Incidents that have attracted
attention to Newport social doings during
the past three or four years.
1t must be understood in the first place
that the people with villas TO sell do not
come here still merely because they are not
able to get rid of their houses. They could
afford to let their houses stand empty or
they could rent them
Newport cottages are still in demand,
even il some of their owners do think OF
selling, and attractive houses always COM
mand high rent So if these owners OF
houses have had change of heart In their
relations to Newport, their feeling Is not
strong enough to have made them give up
their homes.
Newport is duller this year than it has
been for a long time, and this state OF affairs
will have its effect in suggesting to other
persons that they have possibly had enough
OF the town and would like TO try some
other place, But this complaint will not
come from Viewpoints old residents who
bought their places here twenty years or
more ago and have been coming here ever
since 1t is the newcomers who might
be led to desert Newport because 1t is
dull.
Newport society is VIGOROUSLY the most
difficult in the United States to enter. 1t
is New York society, with difference. 1t
il smaller, more compact and more critical,
because at short range the defects Of every
applicant are plainly visible.
The wealthy person ambitious for social
importance must hesitate before taking a
house at Newport. The support of certain
influential friends is Indispensable, and even
with these men and women Of wealth have
taken the Newport step prematurely and
made shipwreck Of their social careers.
Others have gone there, rented hand
some villas and entertained lavishly for
several years before they could In the least
be counted a part of society. In one in
stance seven years of waiting was required
before recognition came. Then in others,
it had arrived much more quickly. On the
other hand, aspirants have beaten an ig-
nominious retreat after one tentative sum
mer. ="
Acceptance in Newport, on account Of this
difficulty Of breaking in, carries with it great
social weight. Persons of wealth from
other cities than New York have their eyes
lished everywhere once they were safely
established here. The great increase OF
fortunes in the West has made tho expense OF
Newport life unimportant. To be estab-
lished here once is of such value that the
cost involved is not considered.
The publicity given TO social life at New
port has its effect in exciting the desire of the
of lust the kind Of life they can afford TO
lead and would very much like to enjoy.
Thus this summer city has been for some
years the mecca Of persons with money to
buy what they want. As has been ex-
planned, some got it and others did not.
The social ,brilliancy of Newport has not
been dimmed in the least by the arrival or
the success of this contingent. Newport
remains, as much as it ever was, the dis
tinctly aristocratic summer resort Of the
United States, to which the life of New
York's most fashionable set is directly
transferred.
Although the social character OF the
Lnn x,ln
have been other differences Of a very
marked character. There is much more
ostentation, much more display of wealth
and much more publicity about the life
OF the New Workers who come here for the
summer months than there used to be.
The residents are more than ever victims
of yellow journals. Camera smashing has
become a popular diversion with men
trying to protect their wives from undesir-
able publicity.
II there is any truth in the report that
Newport has grown distasteful to its sum-
mer residents, the reason for their desire
to go elsewhere will be found in this super
fetal phase Of life here. In every other
way Newport il as select as IL ever was,
the existence of the ma jority Of it's cot
tagers is as refined and the spirit of the
place il unchanged. 1t il only in the glamour
OF wealth thrown over certain set by
newcomers at Newport that any change
is to be observed
Society everywhere in this country has
shown the influence Of money during the
last few years very much more than 1t
ever did in the past. Women dress more
deliberately, they wear more Jewels and
they wear them much more frequently;
they entertain morep avishly, and the whole
course of life proceeds in much more
costly fashion than it did decade ago.
But among the wealthy families of promi-
hence at Newport, expenditure has in
creased out OF all proportion to the extent
that money Is spent in other places.
Quiet and even seclusion are possible
to persons who desire them at Newport,
80 there is no reason why anybody should
leave the place merely to avoid the ostenta-
ton that is n part OF life here. Certain
persons are compelled by their positions TO
entertain, and they must be in the FORE
ground whether they want to or not. But
it ia possible to the ma ority to live almost
as quietly az they want to.
Newport life to-day seems as free from
every element that might be criticised as
life in any such resort could he. IL is tho
resort of the richest society In the world
and its dignity seems to have been main
tanned remarkably well Money has never
opened the gates Of its society TO anybody
who Lad no other right to be there.
Society must have a place Of retreat for
several weeks in the summer And 1t is
unlikely that Newport will ever lose its
supremacy as the foremost watering place
Of this country-if not Of the world.
LOCKED IN A REFRyGERATOR CAR.
Two Young Men Have Freezing Ride as
the Result or "a Banter.