Free press., 1906-09-22

on persons and town have been so sharp,
indeed, that not few of her victims
have been stung into talking back Butt
for all the heated indignation that herr
frank speech stirs up from time to time,
it remains true that no sooner does Mrs.
Fish issue invitations to those she criti-
cizes than they Immediately respond by
their presence Not to do so would bel
to put certain surprise aside, for Mrs. /
Fish's affairs, both great and small, arei
sure to contain surprises. Also, not to
accept her invitations would be to Slight
society's real leader, and not even they
whom she has most mercilessly criti-
cized evidently care to do that
Why does Mrs. Fish play the social
game in such strenuous, innovating and,
costly fashion, if she recognizes that her
associates are so stupid, and so foolish
as to, chase after dukes and such
things?
Not for notorlety, per Sc. She does
not employ a press agent to give out ad-
vance information of her social doings,
as some of her social sisters are in the
habit of doing. Neither does she wink
at the distribution of her photographs
or placidly submit to being caught by
the snapshot camera man. Her dislike
for being pictured is intense. She is the
bane of the man with the 'black box"
The splendid photograph of her here
published was secured only recently
quite by accident. The photograph of
her that has been doing duty all over
the country shows, not the Mrs. Fish
of to-day, but her of fifteen years ago.
Mrs. Fish is much like her dis
tai equipment-bold, resourceful, chock
full of energy She delights in doing
things for the sake of doing them; she
has lived in the social atmosphere all her
life, and SO she delights in playing the
social game for the sake of the game it
self Then, too, she has dubbed New
port hopelessly stupid; she is undisput-
ably bold and resourceful; does she not
find pleasure in startling the stupid ones
out of their stupidity by some daring
scheme of amusement or decoratiOn2
Before her marriage Mrs. Fish was
Miss Marion Anthon. At that time she
was without the millions that have been
at her beck and call since she became a
bride, and which have made her position
of society's real leader possible, giving
her a splendid opportunity to exercise
her ingenuity. However much any of US
may think that the years could have been
devoted to something better than en-
tertaining Stupid monied men and
women, it should be borne in mind, in
justice to Mrs. Fish, that society IS only
one side of her life. There is the philan-
thropic side There is the home side;
no scandal or ugly word attaches to it.
There is the student side, as revealed
in her work of preparation for the peace
ball
And, further, many Of the things she
has done first have been taken up by
most of us and are INDUCED in by us
when we crave social diversion. Con-
slider the cakewalk, which she seized on
and introduced among white folks"
Also the altogether ludicrous gynhkana
races; and, to mention another, social
vaudeville.
Unlike many of the Newporters and
other get-rich-quickers Mrs. Fish does
not fall down and worship dukes and
such things" She has entertained, prob
ably, nearly every titled person who has
made our shores within the last decade
and a half; but her phrase, dukes and
such things" tells its own story, and
she has put herself on record as favor
ing the untitled American man every
time, both in and out of society.
It is good to know that the real leader
of our society, she who sets the style in
social amusements for the great majority
of us, whether we live, in city, town or
country, or have much or little money,
| is an American woman.