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The New Rich Of New York

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Parent Issue
Day
2
Month
July
Year
1884
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The third circle of New York society is based on rnoney- money alone - and go frcshly made as to contain a elinging odor of the marmer of its making - not always fragrant. lts members are apt to be vulgar, if from no other cause from their pecuniary ostontation and love of display. Tliey havo not had wealth long enough to beeome accustomed to it; consequently they are restless in thcir desire to tulvortiso a ïacf. which afl'ords them so muchshallowimportance. As a rule, they are but halfeducated, and their manners are deieotive. They tend to noise, self-assertion, nnd boastfulness; they rehearse their H-r-co, Doldoin ( ii a& ont cimr thev Btrut and swaggar from conecit and cori6ciousness of what they havo accomplished. As money is their sole test of worth and signiíicance, they aro not Bqueamish as to the melhod of its oblainment, and they do not inquire, therefore, too closuly inlo the anteeedents and record of the members of their set. They form a kind of buflo company whoso pretensions and extravriganeo would be diverting, if not repellent. They liave llio showiest carriages in the park, the costliest clothes, the biggest diamonds, the highest voices, and the worst pronunciation. They are forever advertising themselres in every possible way by word of mouth and by paragraphs in the newspapers. Tlieir dearest ambition is to be thought fashionablo, and they aro &o diligent to this end lliat outsiders are oftea made to believo them all that Ihey assume to bc. They are very fond of f lequenting the watering places, notably Saratoga - Ihcy do not affect Newport, where Knickerbocker or Mayllower blood, baeked by a big income, asserls iLself - ¦ and of attraeling altenlioji by their gaudy turnouls and their miscellaneous prodigality. The members of other circles rigorously avoid these shoddyites, :is they axa eommonlj' oallcd, and the shoddyites have, therefore, little society save of their own sort. This always annoys them, and they spend more lavishly than ever when they make an advance that is repclled, being under the impression that cash is social as well as ünancial capital, and that its reckless disbursemeut is a passport to a better circle they are always trying to enter. It is their misfortune that they can conceive of nothing higher or holier than money, and the blunders they comrnit from this misunderstanding are manifold and momentous. Iftheywere fashionable the prejudice against fashion would not be without reason, for they are odioiis to every one possessed

Article

Subjects
Ann Arbor Courier
Old News