The Washington herald., 1910-01-02
By THE SOCIAL ARBITER.

! ~ received and Is so iucislNe, so Wen
put. that. contrary to my usual custom,
am going to quote it entire. 1t reads
as follows:
Dear Mr. Arblter: ! am an old wom-
an, forced to depend upon my faithful
maid for everything-even the pe1ning Of
this letter-but am not so old uIat I am
blind either to the virtues or the f0llies
| Ct the young women. who Will come aft
/ ar me and who will tread the same path
have trod. but I am too old. too worn.
too feeble. and too tired to attempt any
active missionary work in their behalf.
and this winter, for the first time,
have been forced to abandon my weekly
receptions. at which / not only received
/ the old bellies and the old beaux OF my
own time, but the dear, young children
who were novices in society and who-it
/ is not vain fer an octogenarian 20 say
this-I believe benefited BY the influ-
ences they met here
| Lately my intimates have brought me
scraps Of news and gossip from the out
1 side world that frankly shocks me. What
/ is to become Of the American young
women If the tales I hear are true? Are
| they really becoming such snobs. such
/ insufferable little priIs as my old friends
/ lead me 20 believe? You, dear Mr., Ar
bitter. hear much Of what is going on in
society, but you could never have heard
| this, or you would have scored 1t in
/ your clever column. Fancy "A few girls,
pretty. foolish little things. with no an
cestry 10 boast of-there is, indeed, no
! ancestry that should be toasted Of
banding together 10 keep certain girls
out Of certain smart social functions,
which were instituted before they were
/ born. or course you viii say that this
! is impossible, that our Young girls could
never be so cruel. so malicious, and I
would have said so. too a week ago, but
have had it from one OF these very
girls who lunched with me a day or two
| since
| She IS a dear child, as pretty as one
Of Greuze's dimpled lassies, winning and
charming, and one would as soon connect
malice with her as one would with a
dancing Bachante. but this is what she
said:
Dear Madame. do you know the COM
monest people are gradually creeping
/ into society here? Mamma says It IS
/ perfectly dreadful, perfectly dreadful
/ Just 10 think OF that Epicier girl expect
ing 20 go TO the Glanzendar germans.
, Mamma says she never heard OF such
! pretensions. And we girls, YOU know
/ just we girls have banded together 10
prevent It. Count Humphdedah had de-
termined TO invite her. and I just told
him that il was impossible. and then
mamma explained all about il: yet he
wasn't a bit convinced, and was rude
enough 20 say that he thought she was
the prettiest. brightest and most attrsc-
tive girl he knew. and II he could not
ask her, he would not subscribe 10 the
! germans. but mamma says she Is going
TO speak 10 his chiee about It. and then
I guess he'll find out"
My dear Mr.. Arbiter. we 1--we in the
/ greatest republic OF all time. the rich
est. the finest, the noblest, and we live
in the most progressive. the most demo-
cratic, the most enlightened age the
world has known so far. and we Ameri-
cans pretend to be more democratic,
more enlightened. and more progressive
than all the rest Of the world. vet one
OF our fairest children has so warped
I an idea Of life. is so badly bred. and so
badly taught that she presumes to speak
TO a woman OF my age and position as
she did
/ Il belong to the old school. OF course,
but I know the new school as Well. I
was presented at the English court when
/ Queen Victoria reigned. I had the honor
/ OF bowling low before the old Emperor
William in the EOS. and Franz Jo-
seph called me die schone American
erin while his beautiful Empress was
alive and stood by his side at court func-
tons; I knew King Umberto and the
amiable Marguerite. and in my own
| country I have enjoyed the friendship Of
the great men who have figured in the
past half century and before. and I know
the world of to-day, but never IN all my
| experience have I CHANGED TO meet such
little vulgarian as my pretty visitor,
vino proposed. in perfectly cold blood, 20
/ keep the little Epicier girl out OF the
! Glanzender germans!
This IS what l did: NV dear I said.
! I know Count Humphdedah very well, 7
knew his father when ne was lad at
college. and. dear child am not asham-
| ed to confess IL. I knew his grandfather.
Now, will you write note for me TO
| this Count Humphdedah, for Estelle's
! chirOgraphy is not as elegant as I could
wish, and this is a very important note
! OF course, the child would be delighted.
and I rang for writing materials.
Dear Count Humpdedah. dictated. I
am told that you are going to ask the little
/ Epicier girl to dance the first Glanzen-
der with you. I commend your taste; she
1 Is an adorable young woman, so adorable
that I shall ask her 10 dine with me on
the night of that first german that I may
see her in all her flnery and enjoy the
look Of anticipation she will wear on her
! lovely face. VIII you risk being bored
by an old woman, who, although her days
| for dancing germans are over. Still enjoys
the pleasure that others get out of it, and
dine with me, too, on that evening, when.
/ II l am in the mood, | viii tell you what
a gay gallant your grandfather was and
so the letter went on. my little secretary
gasping with amazement the while.
Dear Madame she cried finally.
Dear Madame, you are surely not going
to take up the Epicier girl; that would be
too dreadful Mamma says her father
was quite common
- No my child, am not going to take
up the Epicer girl replied my cheeks
growing quite red with indignation. An
gele Epicier has been a friend and favor
lite of mine ever since she was born, and
a more lovely young person I have never
met even though your mother does pro-
claim that her father was quite common.
I don't want to hurt your feelings, my
dear, but a great shock is sometimes
| very good for one; have YOU ever asked