Evening star., 1920-01-25
ny ANNE RITTENMeUsE.

last of the winter coats Dy the m1d-
die of January. All that was kept
over from last year was sold before
Thanksgiving. they say.
New York has been the storm GEN.
ter of this peltry buying. The wealth
of the country is usually expended In
h,xuries in Its huge centers, az France
found out during the war. and America
found cut the day after the armistice.
The fact that state Of peace did rot
really exist between the belligerents
had no effect .on the lavish manner in
which money was poured out by those
who had 1T.
Peltry is a pearl Of price these days.
no matter how it is handled or where
It is bought, and by this token ono
realizes that there is vast wealth in
the country, despite the taxes and the
H. c. of l.. Not all of the splendid
peltry coats are old possessions. Many
of them bear the mark Of 1920 and
the label Of a new furrier, so *heir
cost is self-evident. and cost Is the
dominating topic of conversation on
the American continent. This would
shock grandmother. for to tell what
things cost was once considered
sign Of i'll breeding; to talk Of ones
expenses or the imitation or reduction
Of ones income was looked at as the
kind of bad taste not permitted by
those who were selective in their
choice of social companions; but all
these distinctions have been swept
aside with other notions.
We have gotten down to the funda-
mentals Of human nature in our con-
versation. The polish and brilliancy
of artificial conversation, of what was
considered elegant and inelegant.
good taste or i'll breeding, have gone
by the board. Life had been too essen
TALLY fundamental during the last
five years for human nature to pre-
tend to ignore the common, every day
facts of existence.
There is no one 100 highly bred or
fastidiously exclusive not to enter
with Zest into a conversation founded
on the cost of bread and meat, the
price of a tailored suit, the raising
of the rent. the cost of fuel, the
wages paid to laborers.
Those who are elemental in their
DCliClS VIC nave ChSSASN cpOh q
healthy phase OF life when we get
back to the essentials in our talk and
stop the flow of insincerity. The world
has pushed its skeletons out of the
closets, letting in the light and sun
shine. Therefore we will be healthier
in mind and perhaps in body, and get
down to the beginning from whichSall
great things spring.
SO argue the matter-of-fact people,
and probably they are right But here
Is one of the strange phases of this
modern whirlwind in which we are
all going round like atoms In cy-
clone; 1t is that the woman who
speaks bitterly Of the price of bread
often wears a sable coat to her knees
and a string of pearls to her waist.
A most interesting and vital bit Of
psychology! What IL the reason that
women are spending money on luxu-
ries? Why all this orgy of furs,
pearls, new motor cars and country
houses? Why the luxuries and along
with the 1uxuries rebellion against
the cost OF food and rent? The an
swer does not lie with the stars, but
with the taxes.
Over In France last summer. for in
stance, when we, the observers, were
fretting our brains about the terrific
extravaganza of Paris and Brussels as
shown In the apparel and jewelry of
its women, we were told by deeper
minds that people were not sure what
would happen to currency. and they
preferred to spend wildly in the ac-
emulation of precious articles that
might bring great monetary value
as the years went on.
France has not dared tackle the
question of taxing its incomes ana
luxuries. This, Of course. Is not sub
ject for a fashion writer, but still the
underlying feeling in France Is to
spend money as soon as 1t is gotten.
All through the strata of millionaire
society and the moneyed classes be-
meath 1t there Is the old French cry
that preceded the revolution: After
us the deluge."
Has this feeling spread to America?
The students will tell you that 1t has,
but for "a different reason. The taxes
In America are so exorbitant that
millions of people are too discouraged
10 save. to speculate, or to buy real
estate. so they take their money ana