IfSTCflPTSl
ESHBBni
f?T5S
THE KEJG OF K&BEA.
Frank G. Carpenter Meets His Majesty
" in the Bojal Palace of Seoul.
HOW HE LOOKS, ACTS AKD TALKS,
The King's Positive Character and His Pro
gressive Ideas.
v
EE BEADS AMERICAS
KEWSPAPIES
tntOa OCR TIU.VXI.IXa COItKESPOXDEST.3
SEOUL, Korea,
November, 188S.
JubUOO years before
Columbus dis
covered America,
geucrations before
Shakespeare was
born, more than 200
years before Luther
stirred up Germany
with his preaching,
a hundred years be
fore the first Bible
was printed, when
nil England was
sleeping on straw, and when pins had yet to
be known, the present dynasty of Korea &at
upon its imperial throne and governed its
cream-faced, almond-cjed subjects. The
blood that flows in the veins of Li-Hi. the
present King of Korea, is of the same con
tinuous roral stream which has flowed over
the Korean throne since 1392. During that
time 29 kings have reigned, and the power
of each has been more despotic than that of
the Czar of Russia. The royal blood has not
weakened in its flowing, and His Majesty
of to-day has the best qualities of his an
cestors, and is one of the most progressive
of the Asiatic rulers.
I had an audience and an interview with
him to-day. It was at the royal palace and
I was presented by our minister, Mr. Hugh
A. Dinsmore. "Ve rode to the palace in
state. Our conveyances were two Sedan
chairs, each borne by eight big-hatted
Korean coolies, and the whole escorted by
12 of the King's soldiers. "Winding our
w ay through the narrow streets of the capi
tal we were carried out into the broad ave
nue which leads to the palace and which
runs through Seoul from one end of it to the
other, dividing it almost in halves. Groups
of white-clad, almond-eyed, yellow-faced
men squatting on the streets stopped their
smoking as we passed.
A EOrAL PROGRESS.
Women with green cloaks thrown over
their heads scurried along to get out of the
way, and a noble or two propped upon his
horse by Ins feudal retaincrs,told the groom
leading the beast to halt and did us silent
.honor as we went by. "We stopped amoment
Wall of City of Seoul.
by the two mammoth stone lions, which,
on pedestals perhaps 20 feet high, guard the
front entrance to the palace inclbsure. And
our kesos all the while yelling out in Ko
rean to the people in the streets:
"Get out of the way, you villains. Don't
you see these great men coming?"
At least this was Minister Dinsmore's
translation of the cry and it was irom him
that I learned that the admiring worUs of
"vans banl yang ban!" uttered by the men
as they ran signified that they considered us
as belonging to the nobility. "We were told
that we would be received at the other gate
of the palace and our escort carried us "by
what seemed to me more than a mile of
palace wall. The palaces of the King of
Korea, in which he has now his residence,
cover as much ground as a good sized farm.
They comprise about 100 acres and a high,
well-built wall of stone tiled with bine
Korean tiling shuts them out from ordin
ary gaze. The gates to this wall are of fine
niasonary. They have roofs large enough
to cover a good sized cottage and upon these
are figures of Korean gods, or of the sacred
animals. Each great stone gate has three
entrances and the central one is never used,
except by the King himself or by the repre
sentative of royalty. Minister Dinsmore is
perhaps the only American who has ever
gone through the great front central gate.
He did this when bearing a letter irom
President Cleveland to the lung oi Korea,
and was thus accorded an honor which in
this cauacity as Minister he could not have.
THE KING'S PALACE.
Leaving our chairs and our soldiers at the
outside, tor no one rides into the palace
grounds, we were ushered to-day past the
gorgeous royal guards, and escorted by the
two greatest Generals of the Korean army,
were taken into what might be called the
hall of foreign entertainment. It was a
long, one-story, tiled building with great
overhanging roof upheld by massive beams,
which showed in all tne natural beauty of
the.wood. A brussels carpet covered the
floor, tables like those you eat from at home
were ii the center of the hall and upon
'these were plates of cakes, which might
have been made at at American baker shop,
and ranged around the table were glasses of
champagne. Here I was introduced to the
King s Prime Ministers, and I drank wine
and clinked glasses with the Secretary of
State and the Generals of the Korean army.
I talked with them through our interpreter,
who, by the way, was one of the best in
Korea, and I found them both intelligent
and polite.
" "They were all clad in their court dresses
and the head of each showed a top-knot,
shining through its fine Korean cap of
Horse hair, with great wings napping out
at the sides. They had gowns of fine ma
terials of various colors, which fell from the
neck nearly to the feet, and their feet were
shod with great Korean boots, which made
each look as though he had the gout and
had wrapped up has feet for the occasion.
The most striking feature of their -costume,
however, was a stiff hoop-like belt which
ran around the body just belowthe armpits,
and which was so big that it came out about
six inches irom the dress. These belts are
emblems of rank. They ware about three
inches wide, and they were plated with a
great number of small squares, fastened by
joints. On some of the belts these squares
were of gold, on others they were of silver,
and on others they were of green jade or
other precious stones. Each quality had its
significance, and Mr. Ho, the American in
terpreter, who is of noble blood, had one of
these court emblems about his person.
AJT EMBLEM OP BASK.
Another emblem of rank was the button
behind thcright ear, which fastened on the
hats of the Ministers. This was of irold in
some cases, and I noted also that each of
these royal dignitaries had a square piece of
embroidery about as large as a lady's lace
handkerchief sewed to the front and back of
his gown. These squares rested between the
shoulders and on the breast, and the figures
upon them were tigers, inthe case'of the
xnilitarv officers, and storks, in case ot high
civil officers and Ministers of state. The
hats were especially fine, and as we sipped
our champagne, I was told that the big flap
ping wings at the back of them, which look
like ears, represent the quick receipt of the
orders ot the King and the desire of the own
ers to fly in response to them. As for the
Minister and myself, we were of course in
full evening dross, and I had a gentle hint
before we went to the King that I must re
move my eyeglasses as spectacles are in
Korea an emblem of rank, and no one pre
sumes to rank beiore the King.
Oar audience hid been fixed for 4 o'clock
in the afternoon, an especially xearly hour,
on account of a stress of business and of my
desire to depart for China on the morrow.
The business day of the King of Korea is,
to use an -Irish expression, at night. He be
gins his work at 3 o'clock in the afternoon
and closes at about 3 in the morning. His
most important consultations are now held
under the rays of the electric light, and his
hours are practically the same as those of a
hard working new'spaper man. It was
promptly at 4 that our procession walked
out ot the Foreign Entertainment Hall, and
with measured tread and sober faces, solemn
ly moved on toward the audience chamber
of the King. The royal palace is a laby
rinth ot passages and massive one-story
buildings. WVwalked 'through long pas
sage wavs, walled with stone by red capped,
red gowned servants, past soldiers in gor
geous uniforms and on to the gate of a large
court vard. As we neared this, the yellow
laces of the ministers grew more solemn;
their heads were bent over and their eyes
were cat upon the ground. "We had taken
oil' our hats and walked behind. "We thns
parsed through the gate and stood in pres
ence of the King.
IN THE AUDIENCE CHAMBER.
"Wc were still, however, in the open air.
The King was in his audience chamber
across the court. It was a low room, per
haps 50 feet long, raised about 5 feet above
the ground and reached by 3 flights of steps.
It was open at the front and was not more
than 25 leet deep. At the back of this room
and in the center, in front of a screenand
behind a small table his Royal Majesty
Etood. The Ministers preceded us, their
heads going lower and lower; walked up the
left steps until they reached the" floor ot the
room when they got down on all fours and
bobbed their blaek-winged heads against
the matting. They then took their station
on each side of theKing holdingtheir heads
bent over, for it is against the law to look
upon the face oT the King, and during the
whole of our interview there noble Minis
ters raised not their heads once. It used to
be that no ordinary mortal ever touched the
King, and in the writing of his name a
stroke had to be omitted out of respect to
His Majesty.
Minister Dinsmore followed the Korean
ofneers and I walked directly behind. As
we mounted the steps we solemnly bent over
and bowed to the King. "We walked ten
steps across the floor, then bowed again and
then on until we stood directly in front of
and not more than three feet away from his
majesty, and here we made our third and
last bow. As we talked we did not bend
our heads like the Koreans, but looked
straight into rovalty's eyes, smile answering
smile and a Korean laugh now and then
coming from his majesty uponhearing
some of our sentiments which were
especially pleasing to him.
The conversation was carried on by means
of our interpreter, Mr. Ho, who bent him
self over in the shape of a right angle and
thus bending, in low tones translated the
words which went back and forth in the two
languages during our half hour's talk.
THE KING AND HIB MINISTERS.
The scene was an impressive one and
thoughts of the past and the present crowd
ed themselves fast upon one another's heels
in our minds as we glanced about us. At
the right and left of the King stood General
Han and General Ye, each with a great
sword still sheathed in his arms, and behind
the table and on each side of his Majesty,
holding him, as it were, by the arms, were
two dull-eyed, stolid-faced, black-gowned,
flap-hatted eunuchs. Thesejmen said noth
ing during our visit They arc, I am told,
among the advisors of the King and are
with him in accordance with a custom
which comes down from the Asiatic past.
They are a part of the centuries gone by,and
as I looked at them my eye caught the Edi
son electric light globes hanging overhead
and the French cloth upon the table be
neath. It was the civilization of the "West
and the East coming together, and I won
dered whether the Mongolian and the
Christian would not soon be kissing each
other. 1 wondered the more, as in low
tones I talked with this ruler, the most
progressive Korean in Korea, and heard
him ask questions which showed that he
knew that a big world existed outside his
own and which evidenced a desire to know
the best that was in it.
But let me tell you howtheKingloooked.
He is a man that would attract attention
anywhere; not over f",ve feet high. He
weighs perhaps 125 pounds and his bright,
black almond eyes sparkle with intelligence.
He has, like "most Koreans, a very thin
mustache and straggling chin whiskers of
black. He has a pleasant smile, good, well
kept features and his face is oval and the
color of a rich Jersey cream. His hands are
very small and delicate and he has no
pompous airs about him. His hair was
combed in a Korean top-knot and upon his
head was the royal cap of dark blue color.
This was of open work and I did not notice
that it hadthebutterflyflapsof hisMinisters.
His costume was a gown of brilliant red or
scarlet satin which came up clo.se around
the neck and which bore upon the breast a
square of embroidery, in gold, of the royal
dragon. He stood easily during the talk
and he did not look to be over 32 years of
ace. though lam told he is S6. He talked
in a simple manner, in one of the sweetest
voices I have ever heard. His tones were
low but impressive, and I oould see from
the expressions which came and went across
his countenance and from the answers which
he made, that he is indeed the King of
Korea, and that he is a man of more than
ordinary ability.
GLAD TO SEE A REPORTER.
Our Minister introduced me, and the
King replied that he was glad to see me in
Chosen, which is the Korean name for this
country and which means the land of
"morning calm." He asked me how long I
would stay, which route I had come, and
was anxious to know the names of the coun
tries I expected to visit. He complimented
me by saying that he knew I was a writer
for the newspapers, and had learned that
my wife was with me, for he asked, was she
well and was she pleased with his country.
He was sorry I could not stay longer, and
he asked as to the health of PresidentCleve-land-and
whether I had seen the President
lately.
I replied that I had heen at the Execu
tive palace shortly before I left; that our
ruler was well and robust, and that in the
grand East Room of his palace I saw the
Minister from Chosen, whom the President
delighted to honor. As the King heard
this he smiled, and I told him that Pak
Chung Yang and his suite were thought
much of at our capital, and that the Ameri
cans and their President hoped that the re
lations between .them and Chosen would
grow better and better.
The King replied that this was also his
hope. He liked the Americans and the peo
ple of his country liked them. He had been
pleased with their action toward his king
dom.and the relations between the two coun
tries had been strengthened since the Presi
dent had sent ont such an able man as Mr.
Dinsmore to be his representative.
At this Mr. Dinsmore bowed, and the
King went on to pay a high compliment to
hiB ability and to his work in Korea, and
asked me to thank the President for sending
him thither.
I replied that our President was well
aware of Mr. Dinsmore's abilities that he
looked upon him as one of his ablest officials,
and it was for this reason that he sent him
to Chosen.
Tne King appreciated this compliment
and bowed. Newspapers were then referred
to and the King said that he was glad that
a writer had come to his country, and then
a cumber of international compliments were
passed in which Minister Dinsmore paid an
excellent tribute to the King, showing him
self an Accomplished diplomat. .The King
had said that America was rich but that
A Pleasure Parly on the Water.
Chosen -was poor, when the Minister replied
that he thought Korea a fine country and it
had all the elements of great growth. He
had no doubt if the King continued to rule
it and should live to carry out his ideas," it
would at some time be rich and great, too.
A GRACIOUS KING.
The King, toward the close of the audi
ence, told me that he had fixed the time for
meeting me on the morrow, but upon learn
ing that I was anxious to go in the morning
had changed the time to to-day. In an
Asiatic country where a King's mind is
supposed to never change, and where such a
concession would never be granted to a
Korean, I appreciated the compliment con
veyed in these words. After thanking the
King for the audience we backed out, dow
ing three times in about the same positions
as at our entrance. "Wo backed down the
steps and again bowed, and then with digni
fied tread were ushered out of his majesty's
presence.
"We next took a walkthrough the palaces,
going by buildings which looked like Japa
nese temples, and the outside of which were
decorated with carvings. The royal Cabinet
accompanied us, each one of the Ministers
having two servants to hold up his arms as
he walked. We were taken to the center of
a beautiful little lake over rustic bridges,
where the King has a pagoda-like summer,
house, and where the Queen and her ladies
come and smoke on a hot summer evening.
"We then went to an audience with the
Crown Prince, whom we found in a palace
more gorgeous than that of the King. He
is a young man of about 16, though he is
full grown and is taller than his father. He
was gorgeously dressed in a gown of crushed
strawberry silk, and he had two eunichs be
side him just the same as the King. His
face had not the strength of the King's, and
as yet the young man has hardly shown? I
am" told, the ability of his father. Our in
terview was rather tame. The Crown Prince
asked after tne President, and expressed
a kindly feeling for our country,
and the audience lasted but a few momenta.
We did not see the Queen, but I doubt
not she saw us, for I am told she often sits
behind the screens in his Majesty's councils
and views the proceedings through the
cracks. At a dinner given to the foreign
ers not long ago one of the guests ,sat very
near a latticed wiodow separating the din
ing room from the one behind, and he tells
me that the King and the Queen sat behind
this and that the Queen had punched a
hole through the paper with her finger, and
that he heard the King laugh at some of the
jokes which he passed about the Korean
omcials.
THE QUEEN OF KOREA.
The Queen of Korea is by no means a
"figurehead. She belongs to one of the great
est families of the country, and it is an open
secret that she has at times her voice in the
councils of the King. She is one yar older
than the King, and is said to "be a very
bright woman. She has an establishment
of her own inside these palace grounds, and
the King, the Crown Prince and the Queen
have each their separate households. The
Queen is never seen by men, but she has
several hundred court ladies about her, and
there are a number of eunichs among the
regularly appointed officers of the court.
The Queen dresses, of course, in Korean
costume. She wears fine silks and she has
bsautiiul diamonds. She carries a chate
lain watch which is diamond studded, and
she smokes American cigarettes by the
thousand. All Korean women smoke, and
the majority of them smoke pipes. The
country is, in fact, a land of smokers, and
the boys and men are seldom seen without
pipes in their mouths. The King of Korea
has but one Queen, and he his only one law
ful wife. The Queen is the only woman
who rules in the palace, and she has a court
of her own.
A PBOGBESSITE MONARCH.
There are in this palace from 1,500 to
2,000 servants, and these acres of buildings
comprise quite a village. Thirty palace
pages attend the lving day and night, and
the women servants of the Queen are a host.
They have a most extraordinary way of
dressing their hair, nnd by the adding of
great rolls of false locks to their natural
growth they make a headdress bigger than
the head which it covers.
The King seldom goes out of the palace,
though he is by no means so secluded as he
was in times past "When he does the streets
are all swept well beforehand and a grand
procession accompanies him. He sometimes
rides on horseback, and not long ago he paid
a visit to his ancestral tombs 15 miles away,
which is still the talk of Korea. He is a
man of progressive ideas and his relation to
China, which I may further discuss in an
other letter, is the subject of much talk in
Asiatic political circles. Li. Hung Chang,
the Viceroy and Bismarck of China, accuses
him of being weak and unfit to rule. From
my own observation I know this to be false,
and the foreign colony at this Korean cap
ital unite in saving that he is far in advance
of his race". He is clogged with a feudal
nobility and with family tactions which may
break out in rebellion, and he has to go
slowly. Still he has pushed Korea far to
the front, and I see in his work the begin
ning of a revolution which may in timo
materially change his people. With a royal
school for the instruction of young Korean
nobles in the sciences of Christendom, with
a line of telegraph connecting his country
with the rest of the world, with his at
tempted reorganization of the army and his
sending out his embassies to foreign courts,
he has certainly taken some steps to the
front. He has, I am told, the American
papers translated for him and under his
directions "Wheaton's Treatise on Interna
tional Law" is being translated into the
Korean. Frank G. Carpenter.
MRS. HARRISON WRITES POLITICS
To a Little Girl Who Named Her Spaniel of
Illnstrlons Descent Ben Harrison.
San Diego Sun.
Mabel Whaley, the 6-year-old daughter
of JohnWhaley, has a keepsake that came
to her on Christmas Eve which by and by
she will prize above her dolls and toys. It
is an autograph letter from the wife of
President-elect Harrison in reply to
one from Mabel, in which she wrote:
"I want to tell you of my namesake
for our next President, He is a beautiful
brown, curly-haired, thoroughbred water
spaniel, with a long pedigree; and, like our
President-elect, he, too, Las a grandfather.
He was born at the time of .General Harri
son's nomination, and we named him Ben
Harrison right off, because it was the best
name we could give him." Mrs. Harrison's
reply is as follows:
Mlsa Mabel Whaley.
My Dear Little Friend Your littleletter
was received. The General and I bath have a
warm spot in our hearts for the little folks.
The General will, of course, be complimented
that you should name your pet dog for him, as
it was the best name vou had to give, I am
glad you are a little Republican cirl. and Ihope
you will be the means of converting jour
father to the grand old party. Some day I hope
you will be in Washington, and if you are I
shall De glad to have j ou call. I thank you
very much for your littlo Christmas card, and
I wish you a Merry Christmas. Your friend.
Carrie S. Harrison.
Romantic Death of a JIIone.
Hartford Time.
A few evenings since as a young lady of
Bridgeport was dressing for a party, a
mouse put in an appearance and, naturally
enougExcreated considerable confusion, but
finally disappeared. After the lady had re
turned from the party, and while disrobing
for the night, what was her astonishment to
find the poor mouse in her bustle, but the
place of fancied security it had sought in
the excitement of the chase had proved a
death trap. At some time during its pres
ence there it had been crushed to death.
The young lady's feelings can better be im
agined than described.
What n Baby Has to Pat Cp With.
America. 1
Did you ever think what a baby has to put
up with? The father rumples its clothes
and i-pitches it up to the ceiling. The
mother smothers it, hugs it and squeezes it
until its little face is as red as a berry, and
the nurse well, the nurse, especially if
she's fat and wheezy, sticks her fingers in
its mouth, rams her thumb down its throat.
and "tootsey-wootsevs" in its face till the
poor child must wish it was where it came
from.
THE PITTSBURG- DISPATCH,
DRAMATIC AUTHORS.
Some Successful Writers of Plays
and Their Methods of Work.
BELASCO IN THE ACT. OF WEITING.
Maurice Barrymore, the Athlete,
and Playwright.
Actor
SOMETHING ABOUT BRONSON HOWABD
rwHITTZH FOR THI DISPATCH.! f
COVTR10nTED.-lS39, BY THE AUTHOR.!
, ONCE saw David Belasco in
the act of writing a play. It
was an odd sight to people
who have preconceived no
tions concerning play-writing.
Mr. Belasco's hair was
touseled over his brow. He
was gnawing his nether lip
with-an air of intense ab
sorption, his cravat was loosened, his coat
cast aside, and his legs were wound around
his chair with nervous sinuosity. I had run
in on him unawares and did not know that
he-was at work. A large table at which he
sat was littered with all sorts of curious
odds and ends. There was a huge sheet of
paper before him covered with cabalistic
signs and marks, and he held a blue pencil
tightly clenched in his right hand. Ink
wells, match stands, calendars, pens, books,
newspaper clippings and half a dozen other
small objects were arrayed onopposiugsides
of the table. , .
"I am tiring to work out a situation,
said the dramatist thoughtfully, "but some
how I can't get it right."
"What sort of a situation?"
"The end of the third aot."
Then he went into the question more in
detail, and explained to me that the match
safes and other objects around the table rep
resented characters in the play, and that he
wns trying to group them so as to make an
effective tableau for the close of the third
act. I believe that the idea was subse
quently utilized in "XheVife."
BELASCO'S SYSTEM.
Mr. Belasco explained his system of
writing plays to me then and I have never
forgotten his explanation. I think very
likely it is original. His plays are always
constructed before a line is written. He
depends entirely on the situations for suc
cess, and is a great believer in strong
dramatic contrasts. His ingenuity in this
respect has dwarfed his literary faculty to &
certain extent, and his plays, though of a
strong dramatic force, are seldom distint
guished by literary finish. At the sugges
tion of Daniel Frohman, Belasco has asso
ciated himself with DeMille, and the two
now make a perfect working team in the
production of plays. A few years ago
Belasco was in exceedingly needy circum
stances, and DeMille earned his living as a
private tutor, having given up preaching
after a short experience in the pulpit. The
firm of Belasco & DeMille is now more or
less famous. Their income from the royal
ties on their various plays is considerably
over 40,000 a year, and their.hands are full
of work. Belasco with his matchboxes,
inkwells and other paraphernalia constructs
the dramatic part of the plays, and DeMille
fills in the dialogue and does a lot of the
character writing. Then the two men get
together and gradually polish the play off
until it is ready for presentation.
I onee surprised another dramatist at
work. A majority of the people are' not
aware that he writes plays at all, though
he has written some remarkably good ones.
It is Maurice Barrymore, ex-champion
middle-weight of England, an amateur
athlete, a capital actor,, and a man of varied
attainments. He has had an extraordinary
experience all over the world, and he is al
together1 a very remarkable character. He
has written one of the most remarkable
plavs that has ever seen the light in Amer-
produced originally at Wallack's old thea
ter in New York by Madam Modjeska.
The piece was revolting and horrible to an
intense degree, but of such great dramatic
force that no student of the drama who saw
the play has been able to forget it, Bern
haratjsubsequently took the piece to Paris,
and kept it there for a long while.
"LA TOSCA" AND "NAJEZDA."
When Sardou produced "La Tosca" the
play presented such a striking similarity to
"Najezda" that Barrymore immediately be
gan a suit against the American owner of
the play. It happened that I was familiar
with "Najezda," and when I saw "La
Tosca" in Paris on its production I was im
mediately struck with the similarity of the
pieces, though I knew nothing then of Bar
rymore's claim. I had some conversation
with Sardou on the subject. One day short
ly after I had arrived in New York I went
to look Barrymore up and have a talk with
him about the matter. It was about 4
o'clock in the afternoon. The actor was
then living in rooms over a small restau
rant in Twenty-sixth street. The boy who
opened the door told me to go right up
stairs, and wnen I arrived at the top I
pushed open a door that was ajar, looked in
and saw a pair of athletic shoulders that
were humped excitedly over a table. Mr.
Barrymore was writing a play. It is to be
produced, by the way, in a week or two by
Frederick Bryton.
There were no match boxes or ink wells
on his table, bnt the entire floor was strewn
with sheets of paper, and the playwright
was tossing off fresh leaves with a celerity
that would have astonished an expert ste
nographer. 1 subsequently discovered that
he was writing only about seven or eight
words on a page. He had just rewritten
half an act, and-before I had been there two
minutes, he stood up and acted .the entire
play through with a vividness and dash
that suggested great things. If , Bryton
gives it half the lorce that the author did in
his impromptu rendition that day it will
add materially to his fame.
People frequently ask how plays are writ
ten. I give tliis illustration of two of the
most successful and capable of the young
Elaywrigbts of America. Probably it "would
e difficult to imagine two men more utterly
unlike in their manner of working than
Barrymore and Belasco, and yet it is easy
enough to pick out a third dramatist whose
methods are thoroughly and fundamentally
distinct irom both of these writers.
CLEVERNESS IN DIALOGUE.
Bronson Howard's cleverness lies mainly
in his dialogue, His method of writing is
studious and thorough. He is probably the
most famous of American playwrights, and
his fortune is large. He received $10,000 in
cash, for instance, for "One of Our Girls."
'in which Helen Dauvray failed with great
brilliancy at tne Lyceum Theater. He has
written a great many powerful plays, and
not the least among them is ".The Henri
etta," with which Robeson and Crane made
so much money. The value of a good play
may be estimated from the fact that when
Bobeson and Crane dissolved partnership
Crane sold his half of "The Henrietta" for
$30,000. Bronson Howard is bald, small,
solemn and rather exclusive. When he
hears a good bit of dialogue or thinks of
something clever he sets it down. By the
time he gets ready to write a play he has a
great store of short dialogues, specimens of
clever repartee and grotesque bits of conver
sation, He carefully studies the actor to
whom he intends to sell the play, and
utilizes all his material in building the work
up. The literary finish of Howard's work
is invariably its most striking feature.
Take a fourth instance, that of Edward
Harrigan. Here is a man who writes play
after play as the years go by and nearly
every one is a great success. He does not
construct a play after the fashiou of Be
lasco, nor alter the hot-headed method of
Barrymore.
"No play," Mr. Harrigan said to me
nearly eight years ago when he was located
in lower Broadway, "can ever succeed un
less it touches a man under his shirt."
HAjtRIGAN'S PLATS.
He laid his hand impressively on his
heart, to illustrate his meaning. That was
Pwvic '
JFg
STJtfDAY, JANTJART 6,
the theory he pinned his faith to then and it
is the guiding principle on which he steadily
works now. Six years ago the plays which
Harrigan produced were roaring farces and
nothing else. Little' by little he has man
aged to introduce an element of pathos and
a touch of heroism in the plays, until to-day
he turns out dramas that are fit to be judged
by the highest canons of dramatic art. That
he slips up occasionally in the pathetic part
of his pieces is natural enough, for his com
pany is essentially a comedy one and he
writes to fit his actors. Little by little,
however, he is introducing plays oi the se
rious school, and a man cannot be far out of
the way who makes the prophecy that as his
powers of invention and character portrayal
increase he will eventually assume the place
of the leading playwright of America. 1
There are no plavwrichts in America like
Bobertson, Grundy, Beeves, Harris, Sims
or Pettit of London, or Sardou, Ohnet, Du
mas or D'Ennery of Paris. The stage is
further advanced there than here in that it
draws its material from its own people.
Here, except in very few instances, we steal
our plays from Prance and buy them fifom
England. The result is we have developed
very few dramatists who are not also actors.
The men I mentioned above are notable
figures both in London an Paris. They are
perpetually discussed in the papers, are
popular in the clubs and in society, and
their fjaccs are so familiar to the public that
if an eminent playwright takes a beat in a
theater box he is as eagerly pointed out as a
great statesman would bo in America.
Postering native talent has had the effect of
lifting these playwrights into their present
eminence. With ns' the writing of plays is"
a secondary matter with the whole of Eu
rope to steal from.
GUNTER'S SUCCESS.
Probably.the American who has achieved
the greatest success of recent times is A. C.
Gunter, and his success might almost be
called the result of a fluke. Gunter is a
thick-set, neavy and sturdy sort of a man
whose ideas are well defined. He has pro
duced a great many plays with disastrous
results, but on the other hand one or two of
his pieces have made distinct hits. These
successes encouraged him in the face of a
good many failures. He wrote a play finally
of rather a nielo-drama tinge and tried very
hard to have it produced. Week after week
he tramped from one theater to another only
to be rebuffed, and finally the refusals were
so frequent that he gave up Uie idea of
doing the piece in dramatic form and re
wrote the play into a novel. Then he took
the novel around to a lot of different pub
lishing houses, but they were quite as ready
with negative answers as the theater mana
gers had" been. I met Gunter frequently
about this time and he talked with a good
deal of feeline about the manner in which
he was treated. He said he knew he had a
good thing, but there was no chance for a
man without a literary reputation having a
novel accepted.
In sheer desperation he finally scraped to
gether a few hundred dollars and printed
the book himself. It fell flat and staid so
some months. -Then it jumped aloft like a
skyrocket. Orders began to pour in from
all" quarters of the globe, and up to the pres
ent time more than three-quarters of a mill
ion books have been printed, and the
presses are still hammering away, rapidly
turning out copies of "Mr. Barnes of New
York." The whole of Europe is sprinkled
with the book. After it had achieved suc
cess, every theatrical manager in New York
ran after Gunter in hot-headed haste to
produce the play which had been refused by
all of them, but he dictate! his terms then
and probably will forever continue to do so,
as his personal income from his publishing
business alone is now more than $60,000 a
year, and he is at work on a new novel en
titled "Mr. Nobody, of Nowhere." Mr.
Gunter might have designated himself by
this title two years ago, hut it's "Mr. Some
body, of New York" to-day.
Blakely Hall.
WOMEN IN WAR ,AND POLITICS.
Some Historical Examples Worthy of
Remembrance.
London Telegraph.
History is' full of the dangers that attend
the interference of royal wives in their hus
band's politics. Beigning Queens have
been successful enough. Elizabeth, of En
gland, Maria Theresa Catharine, of Bussia,
and our present Queen, have shown that
they can select wise counselors and guide
the destinies of realms but the Queen Con
sorts of history, when they have interfered
with thepolitics of their husbands' Cabinets,
have done a great deal of harm. Henrietta
Maria exercised an unfortunate influence
at the Court of Charles I. Marie Antoi
nette made her hsuband additionally un
popular. The last King of Naples was
married to a high spirited Bavarian princess
who enconraged his resistance to constitu
tional demands. In 1-879 the Empress
Eugenie declared to her intimate friends,
"Bemember, this is my war;" and it is
likely enough that the Emperor, ill, weak,
andhardly'ableto mounta horse, would have
deferred ithe struggle had not his impetuous
and spirited consort urged him on. It is
sometimes said that the influence of women
on the politics of the world would put an
end to war; but while they remain non-combatants
we greatly doubt it. They are able
to realize some of the results of war the
empty chairs, the "desolated homes, the
widowed lives; but they never see its coarser
consequences. "
They never witness a battlefield after the
fight is won the wounded, the dying, the
anguish of untended men, the fearful
spectacle of human life trampled in the
mire, and all the grim 'and disgusting inci
dents of the shambles of war, from the
bloodshed of the day of victory to the
spectacle) later on of unburied bodies
moldering in the sun. They read novels
and poems that throw a halo around it ali;
they hail as heroes the men who return;
they listen to the rnusic of the triumphal
entry; they watch jhe waving plumes and
the flaunting banners, and they invest with
interest every man in the victorious array.
It is in this spirit of unreasoning enthusi
asm that beautiful women on thrones send
brave men out to slay and to be slain
stinging with their taunts the princes who
hesitate, and rewarding with their smiles
the rash kings who stake their crowns on
the issue of a day. Queen Natalie, of
Serviaj is only the last of a long list of
illustrious ' ladies who have burnt their
fingers playing with the fires of politics and
war.
HER IDEA OF BUSINESS.
Ten Per Cent Royalty on the Novel Not
Xnoncu to Dlvido Among Fivo Authors.
The Book Bayer.
A publisher told me the other day a bit
of business experience which is mildly en
tertaining. A young woman brought him
a manuscript which after due consideration
he expressed himself willing to publish in a
paper, 50 cents series, paying the usual 10
per cent royalty. The young woman ex
pressed herself willing to accept this offer,
although die frankly said that she had
hoped for better terms.
"But," she added, thoughtfully, "if it
costs much to make the hook,' I should not
think 25 cents would leave you a great deal
of profit." "Twenty-fiyn cents?" repeated
the publisher, not at all understanding.
"Why," explained she, ''there are five of
us girls who wrote this together. Ten per
cent of 0 cents is 6 cents' and five
times five is twenty-five. It it takes a
quarter of a dollar to pay us five girls our
royalty, that leaves vyou just the same
amount."
The naivete of the proposition so amused
the publisher, that' he declares he was
tempted to leave the error unexplained. Hi
Baid, however: "But of course you can see
that we shall not lose so much as we should
if there had been ten of you, for then we
should have to make the book for nothing
and lose the bookseller's discount beside.
Beally, though, I fear you will 1)0 obliged
to do with 1 cent a piece." And his prop
osition was rejected with indignation, the
amusing part of the story being that the
lady who conducted the negotiations de
clared if there were only one author, 10
per cent wpuld do very well, but that any
body could see that it would not amount to
anything divided amongfive people.
,1889.
CLAEA BELLE'S CHAT.
She Seeks a Change of Scene in the
Bowery and Finds It.
A PEEP AT FUTURE CITIZENS.
Mrs. William Astor to. Inaugurate a Series
of Elaborate Dinners.
ONE TITLED MARRIAGE HOT A FAILURE
rCOKEESPOOTENCE OFTHX DISPATCH.?
EW YOBK, JanuaryB.
Let us go to the Bow
ery for a relief from the
fashionable belles of
Fifth avenue. The Bow
ery! What a savory
word that is! Suggestive
of shade trees, twitter
ing birds and bubbling brooks. And the
time was when birds twittered and brooks
bubbled in sure enough fashion, when red
and beefy Knickerbockers idled away the
soft summer evenings with the green turf
and foliage to set off their silver buckles
and afflorescent noses. The erstwhile grassy
lane should now be called the Powwowery.
It is the noisiest place in the world, to be
gin with, and in the matter of dirt holds a
royal flush. Yoa will find no restheticism
there, no low-toned greens. and dreamy
music, but you will find life,howling, whirl
ing, tawdry life. It is indeed a mess..
The elevated trains snort through the air
exactly over the sidewalks, by windows
where glimpses of a dreadful life are caught.
The bare. rooms of Scent lodging bouses
swarming with 5 cent humanity; hopes
with halt dressed families pushing food into
themselves, mostly on knives; women at
tubs, women on their knees scrubbing,
women spanking squalling babies, women
always at work. The street cars, many of
them carrying out an active impression of
shantytown on wheels, use up nearly the
entire surface of the street, and the awful
dime museums with their hideous canvas
pictures of freaks, and the diseased music
roaring from the tomb-like entrances, are
sufficient to drive a stranger to drink.
One sad sight occasionally on the Bowery
is that of pretty and innocent young girls,
with perhaps nothing on warmer than a
clinging calico wrapper and a bit of shawl
drawn over the head, diving into smoky
barrooms crowded with men .to get great
wash pitchers filled with beer. The news
papers directed a crusade not long aso
against the practice of permitting mere ba
bies to buy beer, but, while it was carried
on with great force, the babies continued to
get their pitchers filled, and are doing so to
day. You can often see a tot of 6 get into a
doorway and take a long pull at the beer be
fore carrying it home to the "old woman."
The Bowery is really the main artery into
which some very unhealthy veins pour their
contents, and without its electric lights, its
swarming crowds, and its plenty of police,
it would not be just the nicest place to se
lect for a quiet promeqade. But uuder the
present condition of things it is only vulgar
and dirty, scarcely dangerous.
I often see a gang of immigrants plodding
up Broadway, awkward, open mouthed,
looking so miserable and poor that it seems
as if they and our country would have been
in luck had the wretches died on the pas
sage over. Sometimes he carries a trunk on
his shoulder, but oftener a handkerchief, a
red one, on a stick, stuffed with tin pans and
bread baked in Europe. This is the new
blood of oar nation. Italians, Swedes,
Poles, Bussians, dirty to a man, ignorant,
poorer than an American can get and exist,
over here expecting to pick gold pieces off
the pavements and raise children for the
presidency. Well, I suppose the latter per
formance is a possibility. How can we
know that some" dusty Swedish boy in can
vas trousers, wearing his hair banged across
the back of his neck and walking with the
rhythmic amble of a kangaroo, won't get a
situation as a barber's assistant, stick to his
trust, get a chair, earn some money, buy a
shop, marry a buxom young woman, have
an heir, -a healthy ambitious boy who will
frow up popular, get elected Sheriff, then
layor, then Governor, then President? I
presume he can do it as well as any one.
But the women are the interesting ones.
A foreign girl is always picturesque, especi
ally if she has a pretty face and figure, as
she frequently has. What, I wonder alt
ways, is to be done by all these women!
Well, I imagine they will be like most of
their sex. They will Iook as nice as they
can in order to attract tne men, no matter
what station they are in. They have come
to quite the proper, shop. They have in
vaded a land where the possibilities are
well-nigh limitless, but, be it remembered,
where one may live just as mean and worth
less a life as he can in any crumbling mon
archy in "Europe. When I see these im
migrant gangs I feel like telling them that
indolence, discontent and envy cannot
bring prosperity here any more than such
vices will in all other sections, but I am
afraid they .may. not understand my
language, sol just "keep quiet and study
their gaits. I do not-think I ever saw a
graceful immigrant. Some of them walk
like ducks, others like camels, and all seem
more or less spavined, rheumatic and tired.
When they have cultivated pride all these
imperfections will be knocked out of them.
As to those, who ride in chaises, while the
poor walk, the handsome and fashionable
wife of the Vice President-elect is noted for
the possession of the most remarkable coach
man. William White, whov sits stiffly on
the high driver's seat of Mrs. Morton's car
riage, was once in the employ of the Prince
of Wales, and was brought to this country
by the Marquis of Lome while that aristo
crat was Governor General of Canada. He
has been in the employ of Levi P. Morton
four or five years, and is a sort of example
to the other family coachmen of Fifth ave
nue in deportment. The manner in which
he tips his hat 'upon being questioned or
answering, his stifi-backed pose on his seat,
his handling of the reins and wnip in
everything he is taken as a model. Even
the livery stable proprietors, in outfitting
equipages that are meant to be mistaken for
tne private turnouts or ineir customers, are
accustomed to point White out to their
drivers as an exhibit of what they ought to
aim at. 'But Mrs. Morton's carriage has
interior comforts that are not for show. A
diminutive clock is set into the Bide
where she can see it at a glance, and thus,
in making a round of calls or keeping other
engagements, she may know the time with
out the bother of taking out a watch. In a
drawer are compactly arranged a hand
glass and a hair brush and comb, to be used
in the carriage whenever the slightest mis
hap of toilet requires attention. A bearskin
rug contains a flat tin receptacle for hot
water, and is thus kept in condition to warm
the feet. Like many of the vehicles made
to order for ladies of wealth, the back seat
of this one is of a height, breadth and up
holstered shape exactly suited to be easiest
for Mrs. Morton. This carriage, although
not singular in its appointments of luxury,
is one of the newest in manufacture, and
nothing more complete is owned by an
Astor or a Yanderbilt.
.
Mrs. William Astor has retaken her
place as almost if not quite the foremost
leader in Fifth avenue society. After a
partial retirement from festivities for two
years, she has started in for 1889 with a
series of dinner parties. There are to be
ten of them on successive Tuesday even
ings, and each will have 22 guests; with no
repetitions as to individuals. That will
figure out 220 persons altogether. Of
course, that may not mean that Mrs. Astor,
who has been accredited as the chief spon
sor for Ward McAllister's judgment in
selectinc: and restricting the "Four Hun
dred," has decided that only about half the
McAllisters'' are fit to put their legs under
her table. Nevertheless, there are bound
to be heartburnings and resentments. Of
,". .
the splendors of these occasions, with the
services of solid gold andsilver, the mar
.velously cut glass, and the profusion of
rarest flowers, society is talking ieforehand
with much vivacity. But there is going to
be competition with Mrs. Astor. This will
occur on ihe Tuesday night of January 15,
when six matrons of millionanism, besides
Mrs. Astor, will give dinner parties, the
guests of which will at midnight assemble
in one of Delmonico's halls for a brief tall.
The wives of Cornelius and William K.
Tanderbilt are among, these hostesses, and
it is safe to count in advance upon both of
them trying to" outdo Mrs. Astor, and
whether they succeed or not will be the
question discussed by the guests when they
get together for the supplemental dance.
For blunt and direct self-assertion Ada
Behan is entitled to the largest cake that
the oven of any New York bakery is equal
to. A version of Sheridan's "The Critic"
is being- performed at Daly's as an after
piece. Like the original, it consists of the
rehearsal of a tragedy, turned into bur
lesque by the ignorance and awkwardness
of the actors. Daly has modernized it, and
has made the performers address each other
by their real names. Miss Behan is the
actress who lately was responsible for the
retirement of a pretty society debutante
irom the company. She is promoted to
public favor by the manager to the utmost
extent. A 1,000 portrait of her adorns one
end of the lobby, while at the other stands
a $500 statue. AVell, in the play mentioned
she is the Tilburnia, and there is no guying
as to her role. She is .magnificently cos
tumed; all the coarseness is expunged from
the language which she has to speak, and
none of the clowning is permitted to be
little her. But what I set out to tell is
that the supposed author of the tragedy, in
introducing her to the. mimic critics, faces
the audience and very distinctly proclaims,
after the idealized manner of a side show
ziian:. "This is Miss Behan, one of our most
charming actresses though x am sure you
don't need to be told that." How does that
strike the reader for a puff direct? The
audience is rather astounded by it.
A figure at Delmonico's, and an inevit
able first nighter at the theater, is the Mar
quis Croisic, always accompanied by a stout
and elaborate blonde lady, who is Madame
la Marquise. These two constant compan
ions are entirely unusual in their conduct
and appearance, and during a residence
here of about four years have developed
into a conspicuousness never attained by
people who arc entirely conventional. Such
isolation from all acquaintanceship as they
practice is thoroughly remarkable. While
both have passed that period of their lives
when the entertainment of "spooning" is
food and drink, light and air, they- are so
devoted to each other that they have neither
words nor eyes for their fellow citizens
seemingly content to exist without friends,
themselves being all the world. Such odd
people we are often meeting in New York,
and it is'curious that they usually are made
prominent by attending with complete regu
larity the theaters and Delmonico's restau
rant. 1 A few years ago it was observed that on
the fiist night of every new play, a short,
stout, florid young man, of palpably foreign
air, entered the house with a matronly and
good-looking lady, somewhat older than
himself, and was shown to seats in the front
row of the orchestra on the center aisle.
From then till now not once have these two
failed to occupy exactly the same seats at
any imvortant dramatic performance. They
never look about, recognize no one, and be
tween the acts talk -quietly together in utter
oblivion of the rest of the house. After the
play the lonely pair can be found at a cer
tain table at Delmonico's, eating the
daintiest of viands and drinking choice
wines, ever conversing softly in tuneful
French, and entirely sufficient unto them
selves, scarcely noticing their surroundings.
The Marquise, whii? she is neither very
lovely nor young, has a face which gains a
decided charm in conversation, and her
smile is really beautiful. The young Mar
quis, at least, surely considers her entirely
delightful, for he seldom takes his1 eyes from
her, and hangs upon her words like the bee
upon the flower.
Across the street from Delmonico's is an
apartment house called "The Croisic,"
built by this devoted firm about two years
ago. It is one of the swellest, and, perhaps,
the most expensive places in the city. The
Marquis reserves the privilege jof refusing
all applicants whose' social standing cannot
bear the rigorous examination which will
surely be applied to it. Madame la Mar
quise ia the daughter of a Philadelphia
chemist who left her a fortune when he
died, and she brought her Marquis over
here from Paris four years ago, expecting
to return in a few months. I understand
his house in Paris, which he left in charge
of his servants, still awaits his homecoming,
hut he stays on here as though Paris and
New York were one so long as madame is
near to lend her ample graces to the scene.
And la Marquise accepts all this devotion
with fascinating equanimity, and the two
together succeed in preserving perhaps the
mo3t inexhaustible dual appetite in New
York"; for at least five hours of every day in
their lives is passed at the table in Del
monico's. Clara Belle.
RELIGIOUS SUMMARY.
Tirn Brooklyn. Church Union last year dis-
triDutea ?iz,uzi among churches which
needed aid. It is doing a noble work.
The Jlennonites, a German religious denom
ination, have decreed that no person can
belong to that church If he has a life insurance
policy hanging over his head.
TnE Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society
which had in 1871 only 7 students, andinlSSl
16, had In 1886 170 qualified medical missionaries
in active service. .Within ten years the income
of the society increased fivefold.
The twenty-fifth anniversary of the intro
duction of Sunday schools into Germany was
recently celebrated. There are now mora than
1,000 Sunday schools, with 1,100 teachers and
230.U00 children, in the German Empire.
Eev. W. L. KINO, of Bangalore, India, savs
that nine months ago there were less than 200
in the native Sunday schools. November 5
there were 2,700, and a new mission has been
started. Western Christian Advocate.
It is high time that some of our largest Con
gregational' churches in the oitfes colonized
into new churches of 150 families or more, to
grow into flourishing churches in the process
of time. Religious Herald (Congregational).
The money annually raised for carrying on
Protestant foreign missions is a littf? short of
SU.250,000, or an average of 37 cents per yrar
tor each evangelical church member, or less
than one-tenth of a cent a fay. Missionary
Review. "-
The Kaiserwerth Deaconess Home, Ger
many, has 600 workers in various fields in Eu
rope and Asia. Their hospital at Alexandria
is said to De a model of skillful arrangement
and Christian benevolence. Western Christian
Advocate.
T3ERE are 971 TJniversalist parishes in the
country, a church membership of 38,780, a Sun
day school membership of 53,205, 816 churches,
and church property to the value of $7,915,756.
The denomination supports a dozen educa
tional institution', with 1.281 students and 111
teachers and professors. Christian Union.
New Zealand, as a matter of fact, is
evangelized. Christianity has not failed of suc
cess in a single island. In India and elsewhere
they had to gather the converts one by one.but
in New Zealand a movement set in, and great
numbers came forward; its advance was almost
like a bush fire. The number of native clergy
at present laboring there is quite three times
-what they bad previously been. These are not
supported by money from home, but by the
contributions and endowments of their own
people. Bishop Stuart, D. J)., of Wiapu.
TnE communicants in China, scarcely a score
40 years sinco according to the report of the
American Board, now exceed 3.2,000 and aro in
creasing at the rate of 2.000 a year. TelegraDh
and railroads thread the land, a knowledge of
the English language is eagerly songht, and
the stir of a great movement is felt. A procla
mation lately issued in many provinces de
scribes the missionaries as teachers of virtne,
and their influence as helpful to the State, en
joining all citizens to refrain from violence,
ind to live with them in the relation ot hosts
and guests.
There is a demand growing stronger con
tinually among our Christian business men in
the cities for the efforts of the churches to en
lighten the ignorance of the slums," which are
recognized sources of public danger. The de
structive Socialistic and Anarchistic teachings,
and the unrest of crowded and destitute popu
lations, must be met by Christian teachings
and fellowship. This feeling is finding ex
pression on all sides among our best men, and
they are ready to support any Christian enter
prise which gives promise of good manage
ment and success in that work. The Interior.
H
ETIQUETTE OF CARDS:
Some Vexatious Social Questions
Answered by Mrs. Sherwood. '
THE
j
MOST FASHIONABLE CARD.
Old Fogy Ideas Concerninj Brides That Are
Being Brushed Aside.
VALUABLE HINTS FOR DEBDTADTE8
tWJUTTZJf FOR THE DISPATC1I.J
AED leaving is.. the "
prevailing tenor ot
our questions this"
week, and as so many
questions cannot bo
1 individually answer
ed in the weekly
space which we have
at our command, we
will write our an
swers generally, to
the one end of answer
ing every one.
One gentleman asks: "If seven or eight
ladles are staying in one house, say Mrs. Tay
lor and two daughters, Mrs. Brown and three
daughters, and the Misse3 Sinclair, suppose I
wi3h to call on them all, shall;I leave seven or
eight cards, or shall I simply call on the host
ess?" Simply call on tho hostess and ask for the
others, wo should say. or possibly on tho two
married ladies, inquiring for the others. There
is common sense in etiquette as there is in
everytmng else, ana a gentleman must aeciao
these questions for himself, nor leave cards in
packs. A card is one's self, and must bo
treated as such. It is the beginning and the .
end of etiquette, the alpha and the omega of
social intercourse. Tho-cardis the first intro
daction and the final lsave taking. These little
pieces of whito pasteboard, if imperishable,
will.ln their amount, their many inscriptions,
puzzlo the New Zealander who disinters New
York, aftor 4.000 years, as the Schllemanns of
to-day are digging up old Troy. "What are
they?" they will ask. "Do they represent the
money of that buried people?"
"John Thomas" wntes: "What ia tho most
fashionable style of card?"
Decidedly plain cardboara, not glazed, and
the name should bo engraved in script. Some
few people cling to old Roman letters, some to
oldnglisb, and now and then we see a dash-
ing fac simile of the handwriting. These are
not in the highest; fashion, which reduces all
these things to the simplest form. A lady's
card should be larger than that of a gentle
man. The card of a gentleman in England has
almost invariably the address In the left band
comer.
F "Jlrs. Brownlow" asks: "In leaving cards
doe3 tho lady of the house leave her own. her
husband's separately, and those of, all hersocs
and daughters,or can she have it all put on one
card, asllr. and Jlrs. Brownlow, the Misses
Brownlow, the Messrs. Brownlow?"
She can. if she wishes, have ".Mr. and Mrs.
Brownlow, the Misses Brownlow" on one cara,
but her grown up sons should each have their
separate cards
In giving an entertainment a lady incloses
her husband's card to all who are unknown to
bim and are asked for the first time. It is
equivalent to a call on his part.
Miss "Cornelia Wright" asks a difficult ques
tion: "I have received an invitation to a lady's
ball which I do not wish to attend. I consider
it an act of presumption for ber to aslcme, yet
I do not wish to be unladylike. What shall
I do?"
First invitations should always be responded
to courteously, cards left, and a proper recogni
tion be made of the civility, even if we do not
wish to keep up the acquaintance. Let it be
manifested carefully to the lady who has in
vited you that you are obliged and compli
mented by her kindness, even if you cannot
avail yourself of it. It will be quite easy for
you not to know her. You can stay at home
from the ball, but you would never forgive
yourself, if you are a lady, if you bad hurt tho
feelings of some one who only erred on the side
of kindness. A little civility costs nothing
and it goes a great way.
Another difficult question from H. F.L: "I
have lived in New York all my life. I know a
certain lady in a fashionable set very well at
charity, but not socially. Now, who should
call first? There is no reason whyshe should
not call on me, we are both in about the same
position in society.';
We can only say that the younger should call
on the elder, and the sending of a card hurt -no
one's self respect, and if it is not returned
no one is killed. The native delicacy of a real
lady will prevent ber intruding upon a social
queen whose position is known to be fashiona
ble and. whose visiting list is generally fnlL
Hence, people who are on the same social,
plane need not fear to call first. It is generally!
regarded as a compliment. The person who
has self respect will have an inner monitor who
will tell her.
"Cicero" asks: "How soon should a card be
returned?'
In Europe calls are returned within 21 hours.
Thercareno exceptions to this rule. Some
times a foreigner is startled and wounded if
his card is not returned immediately. But
Americans are satisfied if they return a card fa
a week. It is never too soon to return a card.
Cards should be left in person on hearing' of
illness in the family, or a death, or any of those
troubles with which society can sympathize.
Good breeding being the foundation of eti
quette, and a card Detngits exponent, this at
tention can never wound. The kindness of
heart which is the foundation of good manners
will suggest to every person oi sense nowmuca
more they1 can do to assnage the trouble to
which all the children of men are bora as'to
an inheritance.
"Marianne" writes: "1 ara to be marriedin
three weeks, and my cards are ont. Can I make
any visits or go to the opera during that three
week3?"
It is an old-fashioned idea that a prospective ,
bride cannot be seen in public after her cards
are out. Why we could never understand. "We
are glad to see that some independent people
think better of this.
"Count d'Orsay" writes: "I am asked to din
with a family whose acquaintance I dq not wish,
to keep. Now, should I go to the dinner and
then cut them afterward, as some do? It seems
hardly fair. Or snoum I go to the dinner' and
then laugh at my hostess? Had I not better stay
away from the dinner?"
Decidedly. The gentleman whose name you
have borrowed would tell you that when you
have broken bread in a man's house you
are bound to be civil to. hm and his family
and to speak well of the lady at the head of bis
table. Dinner invitations should only be ac
cepted from those whose acquaintance you de
sire to keep. Be careful to be punctual at the
dinner hoar, to enter quietly, without formal
ity or stillness, and if your hostess does norin
troduce. enter into conversation with the per- "v
son next to you. ,
"Harry Smith" writes: "I am a young mar
ried man just beginning to give dinners. Now,
which arm shalll give a lady when I take her la
to dinner?"
We should say the right arm if the lady is to
sit on your right haad, but there is no law on
thiB subject.
Again bo asks: "How long shall I wait for a
tardy guestf
Fifteen minutes is the canonical time, but
hospitable hosts wait until they come.
Another question: "Where must the hostand
hostess sit?''
Generally at the head and foot, bnt a round
table, now so mnch the fashion, obliterates all'
necessity of head and foot, and if the uumber Is ,
nnpnnal the host and hostess can mintrln with '
their guests. , '
not tne principal jaay guest must sit at her
host's right hand, and the principal gentleman
guest has the seat of honor at the lady's, right
hand.
"Delmonlca" writes: "This Is my first
season out. and I see that many of my partners .
wish to get rid of me after dancing, and yet
they feel afraid to leave me alone. 1 fear I
spoil their evenings. Nothing is so uncomfort
able to a girl than to see that a man is talking
to her and secretly hoping that some one will
come along and relieve him. Sometimes, too, I
desire the society of somebody else as mnch as
he does.''
We should not have supposed the pretty
debutantes of this season hid any such trial as
this. Could she not say, "Do not startd talking
to me. I beg of you. I do not mind being alone,
I assure you." or there is the universal remedy
of the seat and the chaperon. This lady onght
to help Delmonlca out of her difficulty.
If men could get over their fear of being
"cornered" at ball they would be more agree
able. Still less should a young man be too offi
cious at a ball, or annoy a lady by sticking too
closely to her. If he does, she has a right- to
facilitate his departure by looking a little dis
trait and allowing him to see by her manner
that he is taking up too much of her time. But
this is one of those delicate shades which must
be left to an artist like Delmonlca to put in.f or
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