The Washington herald., 1919-02-27

New York, Feb 26-The Woman
Who is a Bit Nouveau Is a Manhattan
monotype that one meets while play
ing around Gotham. She is a lika ole
person and tries to be human. but
she lives in such secret dread that the
social goblins will get her II she
should inadvertently betray that she
has a heart that she is miserable
She drops into the Ritz tearoom and
in the Majestic grill and down n
Greenwich village enough to pick up
what's done and what isn't. but le
cannot get through dinner with w
casually referring to the fact that the
service is gold.
Her personal belongings are repre-
sentative of expensive simplicity. Sre
adores her children. but she me- er
sees them, owing to an ineXplicable
suspicion that some sort of psychic
contamination arises from associat.on
with ones progeny.
Her house Is done in perfect taste
and her jewels are according to the
latest Croak from Cartier and her
own complexion is good, but, feeling
that anything au natural is not smart.
she has 1t done" regularly. Then
she takes on the smooth whiteness
that is unearthly and instantly be-
trays the beauty parlor habit at SO
a throw
When she lived out West she m v
have thought that Rabidrinath Ia
gore, the lavendar nightie poet. was a
race horse, but now she speaks of
his sensuous beauty in a carefully
modulated voice.
Culture has become the Big Thing
in her life. She dotes on 9 o'clock in
the morning musiCales and is a pat
ron of those boorish lectures of an
informing sort. Now and then she
spends an hour or so at a gallery
and she skillfully talks of mezzo- tints.
soft coloripgs. sharp outlines and
perspectives although she used to be-
lieve Whistler was in Vaudeville and
that a Fragonard was a new kind of
dessert.
She always throws the smartest
parties and struggles never to express
a definite opinion or betray emotion
Her table in the restaurant is the
best and she bestows largesse in the
proper channels. She is exactly what
she wishes to be-a perfect imitation
of a gentlewoman.
The war and a few Long Island
murders have checked the habit Of
those who buy country homes, fas-
tening thereon hiCh-sounding names
such as THE Box, "Thistledown
Manor" and the like. When men
were splashing around in mud in
Flanders. the owner OF a country
home hesitated to remark that he
was going to nun down to The
Lodge" for over Sunday. Then came
two society murders at such typi-
cally named homes. Now from many
of the gateways the names are being
changed to the name of the owner.
Samuel Hopkins Adams farm at En-
senOre, y. Y, called in more aff'u
ent days wide Waters" now is
known as Financial Straits" which
proves that the writer has a very
keen sense Of humor.
The price of on apartment in New
York is becoming out of all reason.
The former s25 Hat in the Bronx now
rents for SO. and the high-ceilinged
rooms in GramcrCy Park that used
to rent for S15 a week now rent for
$50 a week. The landlord everywhere
is boosting the rent.
There IS an artist on the West
Side. His landlord raised him $50
month and he paid it for one month.
Then he painted several very realistic
pictures of leaks on the ceiling and
holes in the plaster.
He also faxed some wonderful
cracks in the woodwork. He put the
place, in brief. on the artificial bum.
Then he called the landlord in TO
discuss things. It took the landlord
just twenty minutes to agree to ,c-
duce the rent $40 on the price before
he made the $30-a-mOnth raise.
This same artist should be in Wall
street, for his cunning is uncanny.
He always wears a soft cap when he
goes to a restaurant for dinner and
sticks it in his pocket. Thus avoid
ing the hated tip.