The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-05-25
FORUMS SPECIAL
new YORK LETTER

New York, May 21.-To The Forum:
To the touring visitor who drives or
motors along the famous East riV of
Central park, passing the menagerfe,
the Metropolitan museum, and Cleo
patra's Needle, the park is quite a diff
ferent affair han it is to a resident. to
whom the park is his ~dooryard. OF the
middle section of the city it is the only
dWeller can claim. and that he appre-
ciates 1t makes the human interest of
central park a large factor in it's at
fractions: Whether the citizen is the
tenant Of one of those twelve room af-
fairs, whose decorative scheme Is way
up art, for which he pays a yearly rem
tai of twenty thousand, or the tenant
or a modest three room fat at three
hundred he recognizes, if not in his
w person, at least in his family, thai
the park Is for him and freuuents IL,
making this magnificent open space tho
most democratic thing in all New York.
1t would seem as If the rich and poor
had almost had an understanding as to
whom the space should belong for at
certain times of the year and at certain
times of the week and day YOU can he
sure to see either one or the other and
only rarely both together. Spring time
is especially the hour of the well-to-do.
and the asphalted drives are thronged
afternoons with ~equipages, and motors,
Some somber and quiet with sleepy fat
horses. and very dark nnobtrusive
llVeries, and some the acme of horse
elegance, high .%steppers, drivers and
footnen in doeskin breeches, cockaded
top hats and large gold or silver but
tons. The motors present a more DEM
ocrattc range than the horse drawn
vehicles for the road louise" the Ford
ls as ubiquitous in the park as else
Wnere and shoulders itself in among
the expensive French and Belgian cars
at every turn. The motor Is democratic
paths which run near the drives the
entire length of the park are the real
rlght-of-Way of society. 1t is rarely
mat you can find a stretch of the path
WlInout someone and his horse enjoy
ing this pre-eminently wise exercise.
In the early morning hours the n
members of society in groups of a doz-
en- or SO are out with their riding mas.
During all the winter only one day did
the equestrians hold aloof. Then the
snow was fourteen inches on the level. |
AT other times rain or shine seems to
pc all one. In the afternoon t%ournout
Of society the people are like the
equipages. Some quiet, some ultra but
all worthy observation. Here you ara
p 70 glimpse the newest fad, as for
instance the present corsage bouoIetI
which Madame wears upon her expan-
slVe breast (you can't have everything
-idIeness breeds weight). The fadl
seems TO be the return to the fashions
or a generation ago and lis revived with |
the frills n puffs which decorate thaI
present day costume. Instead OF. 4
single rose Madame wears q small bou-
quet surrounded by a ape lace frill,
race suicide seems an exploded
DOGGY on the spring morning you walk
IN the park for there are miles of baby
carriages, g~o-carts, nurses and chargesg
Such a baby show as 1t Is, too. Beauti-
ful children, dainty, ~sensibIy dressed.
and, for the most. part, polite are these
little aristocrats. 1t gives you an UNI
American feeling however, to waIle
among these little folks and hear the
foreign accents lisped by the babies.
Many of the nursemaids are French.
some German and these tongues-l
French especially-are more common
among the society children, whose
dooryard the park Is in spring, than
good United States. But when June
arrives, and all the curtains are drawn
In the big west side apartment houses.
and thesdoors and windows of the sem
arate houses boarded up along Fifth
avenue Ind the fashionable side streets.
then u good old mother tongue comes
into Its own from the baby lips of the
fiat jewellers. who can not be fashion
able and leave town for the heated
term" IL the rich enjoy their door
yard, what can we say of 1t when we
see fifteen thousand public school child
rem on the green together holding q
May festtval3 1t is a village green In
deed but 5 o huge that after you have