Year: 1873

don't care. The rich old ladies ART
your aunts you forgive the crusty mil
lionaries who stump around on gout,
toes, grumbling at your cigar smoke
for not being related to you, and would
let them consider you as one of the fam
lily if they choose, anything to obligt
them. Doing the society business be
comes less irksome to you than it could
be under any other conditions. Here
are all your friends within Il stones
throw; but as one doesn't want tc
throw stones at ones friends, perhaps !
had better say that your enemies arc
within that distance if You want to SHY
rocks at them. Making calls is nc
trouble at all, and you regret that
New-year's does not come off while
you're up here ; it would be so nice, too,
to go round drinking congress water in.
stead of wine.


"Picture it, think Of it,


Dissolute man.


The combination of business and
pleasure shadowed forth in this suggcs-
ton must commend itself to the most
dissipated and disordercd intellect.
Much has been said of the extravagant
charges at Saratoga Have lnOt shown
conclusively that nothing could bemorc
reasonable, all things considered
People putting up here forget that4thoy
really stop at half-a-dozen hotels, and
are not expected to pay any more than
if they stopped at only two or three,
But, seriously, there is something to be
said counter to the charge of eXtraya-
giant charges. The proprietors OF the
Grand Union, for instance, pay rental
of $4,000, and even at That rate the
property probably does not pay fair
interest on its value. The house is only
open four months Of the year, and of
these four months, two are sort Of
dead open-and-shut ON the prOprietors,
so far as profit is concerned. July and
August are really all that the lessees
have to get their money in. They make
long reaches for it in those eight weeks,
and do pretty well, taking the Difficult
ties of the case into account; but !
don't believe any one could get me to
take hand at the game, notwithstand-
ing that I'm not averse to turning an
honest penny. I'd rather be boarder.
Very much the same may be said of the
other hotels, fancy, though | have
made no "deep scrutiny " into the cX-
penses they are under; the fact is, !
have given up all idea of going into
the summer-hotel business. And so
far have not circulated around much.
finding it pleasanter to sit in room
and write from imagination than to be
ont in the rain without an umbrella
gathering facts.


In Congress hall, however, l remark
no changes the furniture is about as it
was. / thought, indeed, that / dctec-
ted new spittCOn or two, and Il boot
Jack that was not there last year. But
one never can be certain about spit
toons sometimes you think it a new
one, and It's only the old one washed +;
and the boot-jack [ have since learned
belongs to guest, and was left lying
around inadvertently. It may be that
he set ont to catch pair of boots that
he had lost, for good deal of leather
gets adrift over there. Five years ago,
the first year the house was opened, |
rashly set out pair Of shoes in the hall
to be cleaned. In the morning they
were gone. Next night ] set out pair
of boots, aud in the morning the shoes
were there and the boots were gone.
As I had rater lose the shoes than the
boots, L next night set ont the shoes,
and, as delicate intimation of my read
mess for a trade, also set out a pair of
old slippers. Next morning, both slip
pers and shoes were gone. / had moth
ing left for bait. and the proprietor
said he was only responsible for things
deposited i'll the safe at the office. l
always put on my oldest feathers now
when / go across the way, apprehensive
that the same boot-and-shoe fiend may
be about.


The Clarendon has new parlor suite,
I notice, in exquisite taste. There is
quiet elegance about this house, which
comments it to those who wish to be
in the world and yet not of the world.
The guests are of the serene kind they
don't read newspapers, or bother them
selves about what is going on ten rods