The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-07-05
ROTTEN ROW BEGINS
TO MERIT ITS NAME
No Longer Does One See Health,
Wealth and Luxury
There.
STRAW SUCCEEDS TOPPER
Patrician Disappears, Replaced
by Disciple Of More "Dem-
0cratic" Age.
STRAW SUCCEEDS TOPPER

LoNDoS. June 26.--Time was when Rot
ten Row in the season was sight for
the gods. Then, as Henry james put II
In his Lady Barbarlna." the Row was
the great exhibition of English wealth,
health, luxury and leisure all
striking, all pictorial great
composition
Gone now arc the triple row of stately
carriages. the bright cavalry of fashion,
those promenadng bellies. too. of the line
IRE omen cit Is Henry James
AGAIN. had tight little bonnets and still
lighter l.ttlo knots OF hair Their rounded
chins rested on close swathing of lace
or I'm seine cases OF silver chains and cir
Clss. Tl,y had fiat backs and small
waists. They walked slowly with their
elbows out carrying vast parasois, ana
turning their heads very little TO the
right or tn, left. There was q
teae. IA. looA Of successful development.
Tue men had an air more elab-
orateiy decorative"
Row Man OF tn. Old DAYS,
Here is our ancient Row man. Il.
Olympian indeed. He sat bcsid, his
nectar and the thunder clouds were furled.
less made cunning arrangements fDr
"Uectar" to come, and was booked 70.
many fashionable feast. There was
diplomacy and intrigue and security an
supremacy In the Row of those days. /.
was the apo,heosis Of aristocratc man.
Where now y dat Row man and whcr,.
thu Gibbon to chronicle his fall? Even
his successor survives only as an ~
ception to the motley rule. The real Ro v
man signed hi abdic4tion when he dis
carded his coronation robes. Where now
are his glossy top hat" his high white
collar--emblem OF eminence-hs slim
frock coat trow middle class, his
large, fragrant "buttonhoie." that sceptre
Of stick. that prevalent air Of stiff
loftiness which used to proclaim dominion
The nut will have none of them. for he
rejects restraints.
He reioices In what tailors term a
lounge suit" He wears a straw" o.
bowler" according 10 the caprice of our
so-called climate. Sometimes he even
declines upon brown brogues. lie might
almost be on the rlver--though I suppose
he would scarcely condescend to tho
nelghboring Serpentine. These sacred pre-
cincts inspire no awe For him town has
no sanctlty He does not recognize its
right COR even his OWN to any allegiance
there Is nothing venerable about his
youth.
what a Medley Now!
What a needy surrounds him His
patriclan preaeces. or--of tho years before
golf was almghty--would never believe
II. 1t belongs 20 a democratic" age
which plays at being equal and advcrtises
Equality as qu1ilty--'o "A fascinating
age. none the less. one of Infinitely varied
interest. For now at last the audience
Is on the stage and sees i'sc'f act once
"som body" was in the Row, now Il is
"nObody.' Really. however, IL is every
body. for most barriers are broken down
Here on one bench are all the varieties
/ which the nursery rhyme bids us tick
| OF on our fingers. Here too are hats
and garments Of every description and
every natiou--we might he N colossal
slop clothier's. The shabby smart. the
smart shabby alternate with the -al
dowdles and dandihed Stevens. Rags and
fnery, dirt and diamonds justle each
other IN a kind Of rag time. And ther,
too layers Of the duly respectable CHI.
zeus pore over ne rapcrs Osters crane
over the raillrgs, smoking pipes Pipes
PAPERS The serene. impeiious Victorian
Row man would have a NJ.
How the riders have changed Wha
would the old Row man have thought Of
ladies' riding straddle in half masculn,
guise II Is more Ike circus. Rut after
ALL II we have lost caste-says an old
fogey writing to the Times. hav,
found fun, That must be the solace.