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The fin de siecle society man is dis
cussed by "A Former Society Girl" in u
1 K! yfllfl communication to the New York Herald,
I lftk JW She says: "Ever sinco the engagement
of one of our heiresses to a French
nobleman was announced endless criti-
vV -J5 cism both for and against these inter
national marriages have appeared in the press. One able article,
which argued that tho New York society girl did not meet the self
made stalwart American man in society, but was entirely surrounded
by men of social prominence, who were naturally not
bo attractive to her as the man of the same typo who was 'a finished
product of the Old World courtliness,' has been refuted by the
counter argument of a society woman whose pen has given the
world many little stories. This woman says that, with few excep
tions, these great social events, on a single one of which thousands
of dollars are spent, are all paid for by the hard working business
man, the husband and father of the society belle; also that Amer
ican girls meet constantly the rising men of the age; wbile in a
pharagraph later on she says that the sons of toil are unablo to
accept invitations save for Friday and Saturday evenings, and that
hostesses have had trouble to till their places at entertainments
given on other nights.
"lias not our loyal friend contradicted herself and refuted her
own argument? What becomes of the society girl the other live
nights of the week? From this standpoint, during five sevenths of
her time she is surrounded by the dandies of society. Juring the
last season tho same complaint has come from everywhere. Tho
male element of society is largely made up of boys, and older men
will not fight for a place against such striplings. The New York
man has begun to be a beau at any age from seventeen to twenty
during the last ten years, and five years of teas, dinners, balls, &c,
rind him surfeited, and he retires to the quieter, moro satisymg life
with a few intimates, some special line of study for the spare hour,
and stricter attention to business. This man is certainly a more
attractive companion than he who finds pleasure forever in a life
made of 'seasons.'
"And can the average man find any attraction jn the average
society girl? Hardly, for she, in her turn, has been trained to
regard society as the one and only thing to be desired, small alk
tho only conversation. Thus, many a tender, true heart, combined
with common sense and ability, is hidden under a mask of flippancy
worn with such natural grace that only the keen observer will
detect the real nature beneath. Sometimes the habit of worldliness,
at first only assumed, becomes the real nature, conquering all the
sound worth of the woman, while many high principled women,
after two seasons, drop out to take up the burden of life. And it is
these girls, met at the home of a friend, accidentally encountered on
some Journey, who attract and are married by tho self-made, stal
wart American. The worthy, fine men do not fascinate the average
women as do the young men who are sowing their wild oats. This
is ancient history, but the fact that business or professional men do
not find time or inclination to be constant votaries of society is
present truth. The late hours, the late suppers, dull the brain for
the problems to be met the next day, and therefore society cannot
Smith's neckwear is correct. 1137 O street.
boast among its real members tho brainy men of this country.
Society is necessary; far be it from me to run it down. We all neod
it, men and women, but if there were tho same indopendenco of
action and freedom from attempt to copy foroign, especially English,
customs that there was in our forefather's time, life would bo moro
real, more profitable and moro healthy, morally and physically, in
this country.,'
William Dean Howells has written Bomo verses on society. Ho
treats tho subject seriously
I.
I looked and saw a splendid pageantry
Of beautiful women and of lordly men.
Taking their pleasure in a flowery plain.
Where poppies and tho red anemone,
And many another leaf of cramoiBy
Flickered about their feet, and gave their stain
To heels of iron or satin, and the grain
Of silk-n garments floating far and free,
ABin tho dance they wove themselves, or strayed
By twos together, or lightly smiled and bowed.
Or courtcsied to each other, or else played
At games of mirth and pastime, unafraid
In their delight, and all so high and proud.
They seemed scarce of the earth whereon they trod.
II.
I looked again and saw that flowery space
Stirring, as if alive, beneath the tread
That rested now upon an old man's head.
And now upon a baby's gasping face,
Or mothor's bosom, or tho rounding grace
Of a girl's throat, and what had seemed th.i red
Of flowers was blood, in gouts and gushes ahed
From hearts that broke under that frolic pace.
And now and then from out the dreadful floor
An arm or brow was lifted from the rest,
As if to strike in madness, or implore
For mercy, and anon some suffering breast
Heaved from tho mass and sank, and as before
The revelers abovo them thronged and pressed.
Some beautiful old dances wero revived at the Twelfth night
entertainment given in New York Thursday under the management
of Mrs. Henry Clews, Mrs. Berryman and other woll known society
leaders, on behalf of the Free Home for Incurables. A feature of
this festival was the many old time dances in antique costumes and
settings. Saraband, Canarie and Eergomasque dances wero given
for the firat time in many years. The Saraband is a stately dance
once popular in Spain, France and England. Fuertes in his history
of Spanish music, published in Madrid in 1859, says that the dance
was invented in the middle of the Sixteenth century by a dancer
called Sarabanda, a native of Seville. It was introduced at tho
French court in 1553, when Richelieu, wearing green velvet, knee
breeches and with bells on his feot danced it in a ballet before
Anne of Austria. In England it was soon transformed into an
ordinary country dance, to be danced "longways for as tnaDy as will,"
like the Sir Roger de Coverly. Bach and also Handel, in his opera
of "Almira,'" composed Sarabands with a strangely accentuated and
majestic rhythm. Bergamasca, or Bergomasque, is an Italian
dance, deriving its name from the well known city of Bergamo, the
birthplace of Tasso, Donizetti and other eminent Italians. It is
danced by two er&ons in masks. Mendelssohn has the dance in
his setting of "Midsummer Night's Dream." The Canarie is an
antiquated dance, deriving its name from the Canary Islands,
whence it is said to have been introduced into Europe. It was
greatly in vogue during the time of Louis XIV and is a species of
Jig, the distinct pecularity of which :s that the first note of the bar
is nearly always dotted.
Tan shoes at Webster & Rogers.
Ice cream and ices for parties at Sisler's.133 South Twelfth street. Dunlop hats at Smith's 1 137 O st-reet
Telephone G3U.
Have your watch repaired at Fleming's 1224 O street.
Gasoline stoves at Frank Lahr's.
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