The Washington herald., 1920-05-11
New York City
By o. Q. Mcintyre

new iorks MY ~ hote y =
depressing Iuxury--a sort Of after
this-t the-deluge sort of feeling
about those stately mansions de-
voted to outhtting milady along
Fifth avenue. They bear chic
French names. for Paris is still the
arbiter .elegantiarum of women's
fashions. There is a cold formal
ity. brooding silence, about them
that makes you feel instinctively
that IL you haven't any money,
we'll. you needn't come around.
have never seen them at all
busy. Junoesque saleswomen stand
around In little groups gossiping
One imagines they look forward to
those society papers pandering to
scandal. The fioorwalker. a metic-
ulous person, bows with proper re-
serve. Who knows but what he
may be bowine to the WORKING
class? That would be lese majestic.
After the sale the saleswonnan
will inquire: The charge address,
please?" If one hasn't charge ac-
count there is lifting of the eye-
brow. Perhaps sypercilious
glance. 1t seems so vulgar, SO
bourgeois, to pay in cash. People
up In the Harlem and Bronx sec
tions deal in that old style. middle
class way.
And one must not ask the price!
Indeed that Is just the same as
advertising that you do not care to
be robbed, and unless you delight
in being delightfully."- harpooned
there is no sense In visiting the
Maison de INTERCHANGEABLE.
Even the floor. sweepers seem to
| have acquired a certain snobbery.
1 understand that they will not
converse or eat lunch with the floor
sweepers who may work in Abe
Silberstein's Bon Ton store a block
away on Sixth avenue. If the pur-
chase Is a small one and Is charged
1t little matters. but If it is a sable
coat and paid for in cash there will
be some hearty laughs while the
purchaser exits.
From what i have seen of these
establishments. l believe that they
send many students to the Rand
Schools of Social Science. There Is
such insufferable- snobbery that a
casual visitor feels like starting
something before he leaves.
Button, button, who's got the
button? The buttonless or strap
waistcoat is now being worn by
the smart dressers for day dress.
One half the garment overlaps the
other. narrowing at the bottom into
strap, which passes beyond the
waist line and Is fastened in the
back. Englishmen of the polo ana
hunt set have used 1t for some
years. but not until this summer
did it reach the business suit IN
America. II one has a soul above
buttons 1t IL a useful garment and
is remindful of Sylvester Dagger
wood. the day dreamer, whose
father was a button maker and
''who painted for a liberal profess
sion"
Practically everybody of impor-
tance attended the forty-eighth an
nual banquet of the New York
Press Club except Marse Henry
watterson, Of Louisville, who re-
fused to come all the way to New
York to participate in an orgy Of
teetotalism. Some mighty strong
speeches were made against prohi-
bition by prominent men. New
York at first howled that it couldn't
get along without light wines and
beer. but now they seem to be con-
centrating on fight for beer
| only.
Two rich girls have been arrest
ed in New York stores during the
past week on the charge of shop
| lifting. In each case their lawyers
claim that they were victims of as
phasia. 1t seems that they walked
into the stores, looked around and
suddenly the world became blank.
They did not come back to their
normal senses until detectives
| tapped them on the shoulder and
said they were under arrest. 1t
seems that a good detective is an
absolutely perfect antidote for as
| phasia.