Year: 1878

All HDSSuCb Ol ES2dIly 5IH WbtRS lLDL3 bhS
capital, passed mainly in the woods and un-
der the most rural circumstances possible,
has, [ trust, given me at least an added year s
lease Of working resource. At all events find
M yself in state, mental moral and physical,
AS much ahead Of those Of my compeers who
exchanged the turmoil of Washington for the
topsy-turvey of the conventional resorts as
the condition of an athlete just out Of training
surpasses that Of the belated hummer STUN
bling homewards at daylight in the morning
AS | have often remarked, / can't see why
people who are worn out with the pursuits
and unnerved by the excitements of urban
life, seek rest and recupe,ation in the hurly
burly of Saratoga hotels and the like; or II
there Ii 81 good reason for such perversity OF
taste 1t Il at least g. misuse of terms TO call
such an experience


'sRUsTICATING."


I am aware that this topic Is one already
worn threadbare and verify picked to pieces
by sharper pens than mine, and SO / will not
pursue it at length. don't suppose that my
personal views and predictions are Of any
interest to the readers Of the DEMOCRAT, eX~
cept in SO far as the expression of them may
embody facts Of observation and truths Of ex-
perience general In their application, and thus
valuable to the community. But have been
led by On appetite for the curious in human
nature to study


OUR GREAT WATERING PLACES


and developments Of our peculiar national civ
iIization, and as symptoms of our peculiar
national failings; and [ have found them at
| once an attractive and instructive subject Of
| observation, So far as | can judge, the ono
trait most rapidly growing upon us as d peo-
pie is the trait OF


sNOBBEBY;


| and the watering places of the fashional type
are, if not the nurseries OF this trait, at least
| the fair grounds upon which the product Of
| home cultivation is exhibited.


| Five Or six years ago, when everybody who
was not factitiously rich expected to become
| so at the next turn Of the wheel Of specuIa-
| tiOn, our leading summer resorts were re-
markable for that development of snobbery
which finds its expression in q strife among
women to see which can obtain and stand up
| under the most enormous load of ill-assOrted
and inconvenient finery, from q mass of hair
stocked up on top Of the head down to q skirt
bottom spread out like q map of South Amer
| lea; while o similar rivalry existed among
| the male mates Of these bedizened danes in
respect to solitaire diamond shirt pins and
outlandsh limitations Of wO-wheeled English
driving carts. | have known one Of these
snobs to pay S1400 for one Of those two
wheeled denominations, simply because it was
| the fashionable thing to do you know, when
| the concern wasn't really worth $3.50 and
didn't cost more than 5000 to build.


| The prevailing hard times and the results
| of John ShermanS finanCiering have reduced
| the numbers and somewhat subdued


THE TASTES OF THIS RACE OF sNOBs;
| 50 that in these later summers the throng to
be encountered at the fashionable resorts Is q
| trie less Ontre lin its demonstrations, not
| q
little more chaste in It's style than were the
old crowds so far as mere externals are con.
| cerned.


| But the same old snobbery is there, differ
ing In direction o little but not in degree anG
no less disgusting, except that it may not be
quite so obtrusve In the flush times the
snobbery Of Northern watering places mani
tested itself, as | have Observed in external
show; but in these times it runs mainly tC
conversation. "Talk is cheap, but it takes
money to buy land was never truer Of any
thing than it is OF the change / have noted ir
the mental and moral atmosphere Of our
great summer resorts at the North. Five
years ago / made the round Of Saratoga
| Newport, Long Branch and Cape May. The
staple topic of thought and conversation


among all classes at those resorts was Wal


street and it's vicissitudes. This Was particu


larly true of the young women, who seemed


to think that wealth acquired by long years
: of honest toll was q disgrace in comparison
: with q fortune won by q lucky turn of stocks


in Wall street. But 50 far as I saw those


same places last year and this Wall street


has fallen into desuetude The snobs have


found new pet topic, which is the marriage


statistics of our women with the poverty


stricken second and third


SONS OF THE ENGLISH NOBILITY.


Mind you, I don't wish to be understood as


sneering at those second Or third sons, The


few of them whom it has been my fortune tx


meet here and there over the world have beer


on the whole the best fellows ever knew;


trifle opiniOnated perhaps on subjects involv
ing the Tepute for prestige Of their country


and lacking charity for the foibles of others
but for the rest generous to q fault, honorable
and courageous in every respect of those
great central traits Of character; robust il
physique and strong of limb. Moreover


these favored young fellows, 50 many of then


as have seen, are the best eXem plars in ths


world OF the mems sa11G in corpOre s0nO


There is indeed every reason why this mag


nificent breed Of young men should captivate


and carry off the best Of American young


women. They are so immeasurably the men


tai, moral, and above all, physical superors


OF all the gander- -shanked, dawdling sons O.


our own rich men, that ordinarily there woull


be no hesitation between them In a matter o
choice.


But unfortunately the considerations have
mentioned are usually the very last things
thought about by our young ladies or by their
ambitious mammas in seeking these alliances
i There would be no snObbery in an American
girl marrying the son OF an English Duke, az


for example, Miss Jerome some years agC
i married Lord Randolph Churchill, because


he was genial, admirable young fellow, who
would have been as irresistible with plain Mr.


in front OF his name as he was with the sonor.
GUS lord. Churchill, as apy one who reads
the, current Parliamentary. reports may
easily discover, was O. young fellow of good
hard common sense. He had Travelled and


observed; he was soldier Of no mean qualifi.
cation in his rank, and to the grace of mill.
tary bearing inherited from the victor
Of Blenheim and Families, he added
the charm Of the man of fashion, the power Of
the orator and the polish of the scholar
There was no obstacle then in the way Of any
young woman loving him, and certainly there
was nothing to prevent him from fancying
Miss Jerome, who was one of the most at.
tractive young women both in body and
married Miss Jerome in the American fash
ion, and though her father gave her about
half million, as property was then rated, ii
was done also In the American way and not
| nv DreliFninapv deed of enftiorrcDt Tn oh