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Lincoln society people quite genorally
selected July as tho month in which to
get away from home, and many of them
wera fortunate in escaping the dreadful
hot spell that came just prior to the
close of July. Tho summer exodus
was large, much larger than was ex
pected. In fact there was one time when, apparently, every body was
away. ..August has brought most of the wanderers home, however,
and from now on the number of arrivals will be greatei than that of
departures. Though a large proportion of the people who contribute
to social activity are now at home there is no prospect that the re
mainder of August will differ from tho weeks immediately preceding.
A quiet time is expected until tho annual return of the fair season
which is always accompanied by a movement on the part of the
younger society people, who make tho '"the races," those wretched
exhibitions of equine commonplace, an excuse for showing them-selves.
Mrs. Samuel Shears spent Sunday at Crete the guest of Mr. and
Mrs. Oscar Funke and party.
An imaginative correspondent of the Omaha Exccsior at
Pike's Point, Lake Okoboji, who may or may not be the Excel
siors editor, Clement Chase, gives a glowing account of the
feat performed by Miss Bertie Burr and Lew Marshall of this
city, and Clinton Clark of Des Moines, in swimming across
the lake, a distance of a mile and a half, of which mention was
made in last week's Courier. The account started out thus:
"A slight young girl, whose brunette beauty was enhanced by
the natty black bathing suit which she wore, sat on the bow
of a cedar boat which pushed out from the shoro at 'the point'
this afternoon." It is questionable wflether Miss Burr may
properly be called a brunette; but in an article so glowing one
is not supposed to quarrel over a point of this sort. "When
the small flotilla of which I write,' continues the Excelsior cor
respondent, "had gathered on tho western shore of this beauti
ful body of water, Miss Burr and her companions dropped
quietly into the water and started on their long swim, each
surrounded at a safe distance by three or four boats whose
occupants cheered them on with words of encouragement and
indicated to them the most direct line to the long point
which stretches out here into the lako and whose shallow
water was to be the terminus of the race. Mr. Clark pushed
ahead with long, steady strokes, and having taken the water a
little in advance of the others was soon far in the lead. He
showed himself immediately to be a tine swimmer, choosing
his own course and keeping very steadily to it. Mr. Marshall
came next, swimming first on his side and then with full
stroke, but evidently making more of it than than would be
consistent with an easy accomplishment of the task. But his
courage never failed him, although ho did not have the en
couragement of a pair of bright eyes which were fixed on Mr.
Clark from the boat which followed him most closely. He
probably was thinking of another pair of bright eyes down iu Lin
coln. Lastly come the fair young1 heroine of the occasion taking
her own time, as speed was not in this case the essence of
the contest. Her stroke was beautiful to watch, steady and
graceful, without the slightest deviation in time, except when she
occasionally stopped to tread water and glance smilingly around
at her friends. The water of the lake was moved by tho gen
tlest po33ible ripple, tha s an wa3 to the backs of the swimmers,
and everything was at its best. 'Doesn't she swim beautifully?'
'Oh, she's resting! 'I wish I could do half as well.' "Her back
hair has come down!" 'That's too bad!' 'Oh, no it haun't, that is
Marshall you are looking at. Don't jou see his hair
looks like it?' 'Oh yes, good gracious, just look
at Clark. IIo's turning past tho point, and is going to swim clear to
the dock! Suro enough, as these remarks called from boat to boat
indicated, Clark had 'dono his stint,' but without touching bottom
was making up tho dock further in, as an indication that ho was by
no means done up. Just behind him cumo Marshall and one af tor
the other tho bathers popped into tho water and surrounded him
with congratulations. Then all turned and waited for Miss Burr.
On the very prow of tho row boat nearest her sat her cousin, Miss
Mao Burr, daughter of L.C. Burr of Lincoln, a dashing brunette,
attired in a bright red bathing suit, trimmed handeomefly with
black, with black stockings, and with a cap perched over her black,
closely coiled hair. Her feet hung idly in tho water stirring littlo
ripples pas, as the smart craft pushed along, and tho whole made as
fascinating an aquarelle as was over drawn by Mc. Vickor for the
pages of Life or Vogue. It was tho typical American girl, typically
attired, jaunty and self-reliant and yet quite unconscious of tho
striking picture which sho made. In another boat came Mr. Beman
Dawes, the happy young man whose engagement to Miss Bertie
Burr h.is just been announced in camp, and beside his oar tho
young lady herself, still keeping up that regular, perfect beat of tlo
arms and the steady 'kick' of the legs, while she came nearer and
nearer to shore; until at last sho waved one hand aloft to indicato
that she had touched bottom, when all the boats swung 'round and
there went up a cheer from lusty throats that might have been
heard from beach to beach as far as Arnold's park. Tho feat had
been accomplished. A girl had swam across Lake Okoboji, and the
record would stand forever after to her honor. Miss Burr received
her congratulations gracefully. She did not appear in the least
fatigued and immediately ran over tho dock and entered the water
with the bathers."
Hon. J. E. Hill and daughters, Mrs. J. H. Bigger and Miss Wini
fred Hill expect to leave in a few days for an extended trip east, in
tending to spend several weeks in Atlantic City.
Herbert T. Weston, of Beatrice, was in town several days this
week.
Mrs. George W .' Lowery left Monday for Springfield, III., her old
home, where sho will make an extended visit.
S. L. Geisthardt has gone to New York via the great lakes.
Every few days now sees a thinning out o! tho Lincoln contingent
at Lake Okoboji. By the middle of tho month nearly all of the Lin
coln people will have returned from the Iowa lakes.
A west Farnam street. Omaha, belle, according to tho Omaha Bee.
has been complaining of the scarcity of the summer man at Spirit
Lake, as follows: "The masculine gender here may be classified as
married, engaged, infantile or imbecilic, with the married men in
highest favor." There have been some Lincoln young men at the
Iowa lakes who are neither married nor engaged, and who should
hardly boclassed with infantsor imbeciles; but they, without, I believe
a single exception, were pstablished at various points on Lake Okobo
ji and as tho Omaha belle to referred to Spirit Lake, they escape the
humiliation implied by her classification.
The weddings in prospect for the coming season seem to
forshadow a somewhat radical chango in the personnel of tho
younger element of society. The swelling of the list of
matrons will cause a corresponding thinning out of the ranks of
the unmarried young women, and make imperative the addition
of a large number of buds. Lincoln is different from almost auy
other town of its size in that "coming out is an incident al
most wholly unknown. Young giils are not kept in comparative
seclusion here as in most cities to be formally introduced to so
ciety at the proper age. As it is, they are permitted to receive
attentions even during school days, and if their parents are in
clined that way, they are always, after reaching the age of fif
teen, "in society." In most cases a "coming out," as it is some
times inelegantly termed, would be ridiculously superfluous. For
the young girl ha3 been out some years already. They glide
into society gradually instead of taking their places upon a for
mal debut. The young ladies who will this winter assume prom-
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