Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-16


have the kntek o. behaving themselves.
II am very Eeinsy of Newport was the
pun cracked by a New York clubman In
speaking OF anat place not long ago, ana ana
spectacle OF pfuFf grown men carrying dolls
up and downs Newport parades, and other
manifestations a, of that character. had a
good deal to do-with the disfavor into
which Newport began to fall more than
year ago. }.91
The attitude of the Newport authorities
toward the fashionable automobflists ana
whips also had not little to do with the
withdrawal from the place of a good many
of the elect siO One of the younger Wander
bits used to be arrested there two or three
along too fast. and scores of other young
automobile enthusiasts were leaving col
lateral at the police stations Of Newport
all the time for a similar offense.
Arrogated Special Privileges.
These people felt that inasmuch as they
and their wealthy forbears had contributed
wholly to the erecting of Newport into the
leading summer resort of America, they
were or ought to be entitled to special
privileges. and they resented the interior
ence of the Newport driveway cops ex-
tremely.
One day. early last summer the young
Vanderbilt who was getting arrested so
often for furious automobile driving pulled
his machine up in front of a real estate
Office in Newport
You may put a For Sale -placard in the
yard Of my place here" he said. drily, to
the real estate man. I'm going to leave
newport this evening, and I'm never going
TO set foot in the place again."
He Kept his word, and he has not so
mucn as crossed the boundaries of the
state OF Rhode Island since that even
ing: HIS example was followed almost inn
mediateiy by many others of his kind and
long before the regular season was at an
emu at newport last year the For Sale"
or To Let" signs were planted on the
lawns OF many of the most magnificent
summer residences there
When women like Mrs Stuyyesant Fish
say, as she said with yawn at her New
York home last fall, II am tired of New
port, and never intend to visit the place
look any too rosy.
gun another reason at the bottom of the
decline of Newport as resort for the elite
Was wa, the tremendous overcharging habits of
the tradesmen there. They regarded the
summer householders as the easiest and
most legitimate kind of prey and they
charged literally five prices for everything
toners
Householders to whom ~it would really
nave made no difference had they been
charged twenty prices nevertheless began
TO Kick eloQuently over this sort of thing
for even the wealthiest Americans do not
rensn being gouged in such fashion before
their very eyes. But their kicking did no
good. Then the Newport householders be-
gan to order all of their supplies from New
York direct. sending their stewards to the
pig town two or three times a week on
buying errands
This made the Newport extortionsts sore.
ana IN many petty ways they sought to
get even" by making things unpleasant
Tor the customers who had determined to
endure no further gouging. The summer
residents OF Newport no sooner perceived
the animus of this purpose than they began
to plan to simply pass up Newport
I Finally. the vast growth of the wealthy
colony on Long Island, and the building
all of the MAIN figurantes in New York So
clety. has served to wean away from the
Rhode Island resort many of the summe.
residents there who were .ot influenced
by any of the reasons already given.
Many Forms of Competition.
Competition takes some diverting TO- ms in
New York. There's big steam laundry
up Harlem way now that has this sign. in
enormous letters hanging in its main win
dow:
LET us do your laundry work and we'll
keep. you SUPPLIED with collars and cuffs
free" ss$
And the laundry does exactly as the
placard states. When the patrons collars
and cuffs become frayed and frazzled. the
laundry throws the WORKOUT ones aside and
replaces them with new collars and cuffs
of the same size and STYLE.
The man at the head of the laundry says
that there's money in the scheme. on ac-
count of the vast patronage it brings. The
collars and cuffs that he gives away are
not cheap looking truck at all, but appear
to be on quite the same plane as the ordi-
nary haberdasher's goods. The laundryman
has the thing figured down as pat as life
insurance table, and when he says that the
plan is a profitable one there is no reason
to doubt his statement. Moreover, other
big laundries are announcing that they are
going to adopt the scheme. so that the
time seems to be at hand when the only
sales of collars and cuffs will be made to
the laundrymen.
"a corking good all-around scheme" is
the verdict of New Workers who know of
the plan. Now they are roofing for the ar
rival of the time when they will be able to
send an old and outworn suit of clothes to
the cleaners and get back a brand new
suit" c. l.. c.