The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-08-23

4 \ Billie Rawson, the retired
: Secret Service man, one hot night last
= August, when met him eating his din
ner on the roof garden of the Halcyon
Club.
mo more than the law requires me to
wear this weather" l replied facetious-
z ly as mopped my hquidating brow.
Good" said Rawson. "The absolute
frivolity of your reply shows that you
haven't anything even on your mind, so
go home, pack your trunk for a two
weeks outing and come with me-"
Pleasure or PROFESSIONAL" asked.
my dear boy, with me the terms are
interchangeable" said Rawson, with his
ferret-like eyes dancing at me out of his
mask of face. "Say the word and I'll
book you"
why of course I'll go" said l. But
this time, Billie, if you don't mind, l
think I'd like it better if you'd let me
Fay my own way Make it Dutch
treat and I'll follow you to the eight
zenith hole"
NO" said Rawson, that can't be.
When l invite a man to go anywhere
,as my guest, he's my guest, and
couldn't let him pay any more than l
could let him pay my Jap valet for
opening my front door to let him into
my poor but honest fat"
So it happened that the following
evening after a long and tedious ride
up through the Connecticut River VAL
ley we found ourselves registered at the
famous Algonac, one of the most de-
lightful resorts of beautiful New Eng
land, much affected by persons of pie
thoric pecuniary habit, who find relax
alton from the trials and tribulations of
social life by transferring their bridge
and tangoistic activities from Fifth
avenue and similarly fortunate
branches of Easy street to the otherwise
peaceful wales in the shadow of the
granite hills.
The gathering there was in many re-
spects a cosmopolitan American one,
for the fame Of the Algonac has spread
to all parts of the United States where
money is easy, and the three or four
hundred guests Of the house came from
as far West as Omaha, as far South
as New Orleans, and as far East as
Boston. keeping up with Lizzie" was
the keynote of life at the Algonac, and
the occupants of the twenty-odd cot
tages and those occupying the suites in
The famous old hosiery itself WED with
one another in the dazzling splendor of
their entertainments.
Interesting, isn't it" said Rawson, as
we sat that evening after supper smok-
ing in the al fresco court and watched
the ultra and semi-ultra smart set of
twenty American cities 'toing" and
''froing" in the spacious corridors be-
fore separating into the special groups
of tangoers, bridgites, and cyclists, as
Rawson called those devoted to the
purring wheel
Very" said I. 81 am not sure that
in way they are not the justification
of the !. w. W."
There's no real justification for
either" said Rawson, but for heavens
sake, Jinks, if you are going to enjoy
yourself here don't go running off on
any sociological tangents."
Il don't know of any better use for
an observer of the ways Of men to put
his brain to than just such specula-
tons" said l.
Perhaps not" said Rawson IF you
are seeking academic satisfactions only,
go ahead and speculate. My only OBJ
lection to it is that such speculations |
are so everlastingly fruitless. You may
reach conclusions and your conclusions
may be true, but what good do they do?
If you publish them, they merely add to |
the unrest, of which we already have
enough, and reform nobody, because
these people who are properly, and with
singular fatalism, called the upper-crust,
are deaf and blind to everything but
b4AS4 OhA plGoSulSSg dliu lllSN won rs
ten to you or anybody else. They won't
! hear and see until"
Here Ransom shook his head.
Until when?" said l. GO on"
Until the crust breaks through under
their weight, and they find themselves
precipitated helpless into the seething
social volcano that lies underneath it"
said Rawson. Then, possibly. they'll
realize where they are at, but not be-
fore. Whoever taught smart set any
thing?"
Vernon Towers, the dancing mas
ter, said l. He's taught EN- the Ma
ike, the turkey trot, and how to dance
with their toes turned in"
"Fine!" laughed Rawson. But what
ever they've learned from the vaude-
vile stage they haven't learned the first
blessed thing from Danton and Robes