The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-02-02
GOTHAM GOSSIP
(F3y Francis Phillips. Copyright 1910. by the National News Service. N- X)

ciaIIy and been elected to the inner
 chamber of the elect, is no longer
 something for dowdy old laidies and
 amottious young matrons to conjure
 with, according to Frederick Town
 send Martin. MT. Martin is one of
 the city'S most popular and wealthy
 bachelors and of late years has held
 much the same relation to society as
 the final arbiter of Who's Who that the late Ward McAllister occu-
 pied in the days when Mrs. Astor was
 in her prime as the social leader of
 New York. It was McAllister, who
 first defined American society," as consisting of but 400 families and he who kept the army. of climbers and
 ake-beieve aristocrats from makin g
 a breach in the closely guarded cor
 poratIon. Since his death and that
 of Mrs. Astor, there has been a notice
 able relaxation of the strict line of
 demarkation observed in their days,
 due largely to the rival aspirations of Mrs. ogden Mills and Mrs. Anthony
 Drexel for the leadership of the clan
 Through their desire to secure the
 coveted position, which Mrs. Astor ter part of her life. they have well comed to their midst many persons,
 who though having all the qualifica-
 tions of money and culture, regarded
 as essential by Mrs. Astor for those
 on her visiting list, found the doors
 barred resolutely against them for
 no other reason than that their
 escutcheon was too new to merit their
 acceptance as social equals.
 With the arrival in town last week
 of the Duke and Duchess of Con
 naught and their beautiful daughter,
 Princess Patricia it was inevita ble
 that the question as to whom was ''it'
 should be raised and make necessary
 a show down. of relative social val
 ues. That the result filled many with
 eIation and doubtless just as many
 with heartburnings, is only natural.
 To those of the latter who saw their names passed over in the formulation
 of the list of people invited to meet
 their Royal Highnesses, Frederick Townsend Martins assurance that
 there is no longer any '4O0' and that the failure of a man or woman to re-
 ceive an invitation to meet the dis tinguished visitors at the city home of Ambassador Whitelaw Reid or at mother of Lady ,Granard is no evil dence of their undesirability acted as a bromide on their ruffled sensibili- ties.
 ''New York says MT Martin. 'fs too enormous for it's society to be anything more than a network or cliques. The time was years ago, when there were not more than few hundred families of great wealth and cultivation here, that they all tried to stay together-to make a social unit Now it is different. There is no 400 in New York today. It is collection of one-hundreds or less, us> ually less.
 Neither Mrs. Mills nor Mrs. Reid,
  could entertain hundreds of persons at one time in the space at her dis posal New York houses are not biz enough, and 'crushes are no longer Fashionable. Society today is on a friendship basis. It has passed the struggling stage. It can now afford to indulge in comfort of friendship gatherings. Society is not nearly as formal as is usually believed Most social leaders are amiabIe and hu> man. Leaders, l say, not newcomers SsNlT- EV as a cachet. Social leaders give par ties to people they know and like. They give parties for their young daughter and some to other young people with whom their own children have grown up since babyhood. (.
 ''If you look closely into society to- day you will find it is simply col lection of small friendly circles. The Reids are intimately acquainted with the Duke and Duchess of Connaught, with whom they have been on the friendliest of terms abroad It is per fectly natural then, to make enter tainment for them when they come 70 visit New York. The result was that the Reids invited the members of their own friendly circle. Limited to the capacity of their home. The same was the case with Mrs. Mills when she entertained the Duke and Duchess. The 400" is now only name and signifies nothing-nothing at all.
 Some surprise was excited this week because John Jacob Astor and his | young bride have. abandoned their plans for, brilliant social season ana | have gone abroad to winter in a houseboat cruise up the Nile. Fol lowing his marriage last spring 10 | Miss Madeline Force, his junior by al- most thirty years, it was stated that | the couple would open up their win ter home on Fifth avenue Ihls seasoh eso and embark upon campaign of so- cial entertainments that would dag gle old New York. The Colonel is known to have keen1y resented the second marriage by the ministry or the country which excoriated him from a hundred pulpits though many If his critics have themselves made It a practice to marry divorced parties when asked to do so As an offset to this public condemnation the Colo> for her. would be the proper thing and he so planned. But he and Mrs. Astor. who is reported to have no particular social ambitions, decided +bat if would be folly for them to de- fer to the demand of their friends for 3 season of sparkling dinner parties, and dances and suddenly packed up inc other day for an old world Journey that will keep them abroad until next fall. They have rented the largest Egyptian house boat available and have arranged for a large-retinue of native and domestic servants, porterS and a attendants to meet them at Cairo. On leaving for the other side the Col, onel was asked if he intended that his bride should aspire for the social leadership of New York and he quick y replied that neither he nor Mrs. Astor cared one whit about society. 7hey were just living for themselves and planned to follow the path of least resistance for their personal comfort and happiness, regardless of the whims of society
 Hans Andersen, Keeper of the gov .rnment light house on Fire Island, the first and last point of land 'spok> an'' by all transatlantic voyagers, 1n their way to or from this port is now truly the ''lonesomest man" in he world. Some time ago he brought -o his lonely retreat, a pretty girl pride to share his isolation. but eight weeks of the life there so palled on Ter that she left and is now suing the light keeper for a sep aration.
 The tale of Hans Andersen's court ship and marriage of Blanche Mich els rivals any classic work of fiction.