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Show I 1 "THE INSIDE STORY" I I DOINGS OF THE "SMART 5 I SET" IN NEW YORK J j .H-H-M-HK-nrH-H:K-H-H- M EW YORK, Jan. 0. Dear Muriel: l 1 At Hbc-thJrty, when my valiant 1 maid was hantllns mo out of black vclvt and um ami into pink tullo ! and baro-skln. last Saturday, I marveled at how thoy do it: tlio "thoy" being1 oo- cloty, ami tho "it" being- tho paoo tvo lead. Tho especial "they" of tbla particular i. wonderment wore tho chaps who wore at i that tlmo struggling with neckties In pro- paratlon for H. Colcnnan Drayton's fare well bachelor dinner that ovonlng. I had managed to pot In bIx toas In sixty raln- utes, with tho aid of an cloctrlc cab and breathless personal activity, and was dressing In panting: hast for a dinner that promised to bo uncommonly dull, which may have been tho lmmediato cause for my montal astonishment at tho ox-haustlng ox-haustlng whirl of Sashlonablo llfo In Now York In midwinter. I might Just aa woll havo marveled at It at any other tlmo, today, to-day, for Instance, or next Thursday. But I confess I was a good deal "riled" at not bolng asked to this son-of-the-Astora farewell blow out, though I could hardly tako tbo omlGsIon as a direct slight as no womon aro asked to such functions. That's what makes them so IntcroEtlng to us girls. There Isn't a woman who doesn't onvy Blrdlo Vondcrbllt what Bho saw when sho played her famous triok on WIllIo K. Nono of tho chaps at tho goodbye good-bye suppor would over talk about It, but tho story was very generally accepted that Birdie Vandexbllt or Virginia Fair, ns eho was thon blackened up as a nogro waitress and, mingling with tho servants. got more than a bird's oyo vlow of her husband-olcct'n farewell to freedom, t All this Is wandering a Jong way from tho thought I suffered between black velvet vel-vet and pink tulle. But the pace of this town In January Is cortnlnly tho ono that kills. I won't clog up your mind with details de-tails of the hundred and ono lesser affairs of tho last sovon days. I'll only touch tho "high places." First, to get rid of tho mattor of weddings, wed-dings, I may toll you more or less tearfullythat tear-fullythat tho last of my Christmas prca-onts prca-onts wont to tho brides of thlB wo.ek. If any moro girls marry till after my birthday birth-day they'll havo to do with cotlllan favors. fa-vors. I shall bo In good trim for tho Drayton-Knower marrlago tomorrow. Havo been In training with a wedding Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. None of 'cm could bo cut. Monday It was Flo-ronco Flo-ronco Lounsbcry at St. Thomas's, Incidentally, Inci-dentally, sho married a man named Frederick Fred-erick Bca3ley Aloxandcr, but meroly incidentally; in-cidentally; It was tho Lounsbcry family fact that mado It Important. Tuesday the Row Morgan Dlx's daughter (eho Is Catherine with both the Morgan and tho Dlx left In) married William U. Whool-ock, Whool-ock, Tho reverand doctor Is rector of old Trinity, and tho swcllest thing In clergymen. clergy-men. Wednesday wo all trapsed back to St Thomas's (whero tho Actor wedding will take uo tomorrow) to oco Gladys Chllds and S. Morgan Barkor "made ono." Gladys's grandmother played a mean trick on her father that mado me rcmombor tho Chlldsos from tho first tlmo I over heard of them. Thoy'ro nlco people; you get to llko them If you don't laugh yourself your-self to death at their name. Tou seo. this unfortunate baby meaning Gladys's father when ho was an mfant-wao, having hav-ing been born Chllds. named Chlldo. Ayo. and worso his gray wag of a mother, reckless In her morry mood, called that poor, hulplcss kid Chlldo Harold Chllds. My, my, myl But to got on! "Silent" Smith burst forth loet week with a mo3L rcmarkoblo cntcrtainmnnt. and what with a big dinner din-ner for tonight and a dinner-dance booked for early In February, It appears to havo been only a prelude. Jamoa Honry of tho Smiths In tho wealthiest bacholor In Now York society. Ho la tho groat catoh, or would bo but that mothers havo about given up hone. A fow years ago a rumor was about that Bthol Barrymoro had ac-coptcd ac-coptcd him, and ho cortalnly played tho heavy devoted. But Silent Jim Is still froo. In 1301 ho took a most attractlvo house In Flfty-ficcond street, thrco doors weflt of Fifth avenue, but It wasn't largo enough for tho entortalnmonta he Joyed In giving, and he bought a cornor on Fifth avenuo to build lloavon only known what It cost him tho Bernard Baruchs havo Just purchased his former "slmplo" homo for $120,000. Tho plot ho Intended building on was the sight of the old Lang-ham Lang-ham hotel, across tho avonuti from William Wil-liam K. Vanderbllt's houso, which, by tho way, Wllllo KJb former wife, now Mrs. Bolmont, designed herself But mattoro had gotten no further with tho Smith placo than tho digging when William C Whitney died, and tho hospitable bacholor bacho-lor bought the Whitney palace (really palaco Is tho only word) at 671 Fifth avenuo. Jamos Henry's solrco muslcalo was tho houso-wormlng, although I couldn't seo that Whitney's splendid furnlshlnga had been to any extent displaced. I hcsltato to go too particularly Into description, meroly becauso it Is eo much tho samo thing with theno gorgeous January entortalnmonta, entor-talnmonta, and I want to toll you nil about Mrs. Ogdcn Mills's ball Tho Whitney Whit-ney house Is absolutely perfect for entertaining. enter-taining. Tho ballroom rivals Mre Astor's. It Is on tho second floor and opening from It are two drawing-rooms done in Italian Renaissance It wna In the first of theso that Silent Jim received his guosts. A temporary stago had been orocted at tho further ond of tho ballroom, which was by no means overloaded with decorations Sevoral hundred gold chairs were arranged ar-ranged In Irregular rows, and aftor tho miiHlc waiters hastily placed them about table, which thoy boro In for supper. It wa.s a splendidly managed entortalnment, and rnthor dull. Everybody was thereto there-to nnmo them would bu meroly a dull ropotltlon Of Vnuderbllls. Oclrlchaoa, As-tors As-tors and that net Nobody was loft for a danco Mr. nnd Mrs. Isaac V. Brokaw gavo at their house, on the corner of Fifth avonuo nnd Sovonty-nlnth strcot, to Introduco their youngest son. His name Is George, I think. Tho Brokaws used to llvo further down Fifth avenuo, where Shorry'.i now stnnds. Thoy mado their money In a men's clothing store. Caruso, tho grand opora tenor, sang at Silent Smith's muolcato. nnd Edith Walker, Walk-er, Wotzler. and Eugcn d'Albcrt woro tho other soloists Of courao, wo woro all Interested especially In Caruso, who got $5000 for tho "Job." Seems extraordinary, extraordi-nary, doesn't it, but you would be surprised sur-prised how singers and actors pilo on tho price for private entertainments. It looked for a fow minutes as If Caruso wouldn't arrlvo in time. He was at a burlesque show host of a box party, my doar and clear forgot about Silent Smith and tho Whitney ballroom nnd tho whole affair. Suddenly ho romcmbcred and dashed from the theater and Into an automobile, au-tomobile, which whlakcd him to 871 In short ordor. Ho "did his bit" and thon went back to sec tho llnlsh of tho extravaganza, ex-travaganza, ?5000 richer. Imaginol As the boys say should think tho drinks wcro on him. Bobbie Collier mado a Joke, and It must bo placed quite apart. Not only does It deserve oo much on Its morlt3, but also becauso you must appreciate that Bobblo Isn't often father of a Jest. This genial friend of clever peoplo Is moro Joked against than Joking. It may have boon In roturn for Pctor Dunn's famous lino when Colllor was courting Mr. Astor's granddaughter; and "Dooley" Dunn, being be-ing asked whero his chum Bobblo wan, remarked, re-marked, "Oh, dining with Mrs. Astor and I warming his feet on the social register." I . 1 Perhaps, though, it was tho atmosphoro , of tho Whitney houso that suggested a I conversation about the brilliant Peter's valuable knack of getting chummy with influential men. Whitney fairly depended , I upon him to breathe, you know. Now, it seems, Poter Is "old collego chums" with Presldont Roosevelt. Bobblo listened wistfully to all this for a time, and thon looked up and Innocently said, "Oh, yea, I understand Pctor Is entirely Whlte-Houso Whlte-Houso broken." 0 "JCIm" (behind a fan I'll whisper that that Is the nnmo In our sot for tho Duko of Manchester, though I haven't tho first Idea why) anyway, "Kim" had been standing In a cornor gazing blankly Into space. "Tills Isn't bad." ho drawled. "I generally dread muslcnlcs so. This Is tho first ono I over went to whero aomo contralto con-tralto or other didn't Insist on singing 'The Rosary,' and usually with llvo or six bends missing." Then ho sunk Into his stato of coma again. But It wan Mrs. Herman Oclrlchs who told tho best story of tho lot naturally It would bo up to Tesslo to hand out tho prlzo. "Hopo Silent Jim won't bo too considerate con-siderate of Caruso's feelings In paying him his $3000," sho said. "It's all vory woll to try not to bo sordid In paying por-formorn, por-formorn, but It's Bnfer to pass tho cash ntralght out I tried to bo pollto to May Irwin tho other night, and slipped hor a thousand-dollar bill In a sandwich. Well, my dear, 8ho ate It! Sure, yes had swallowed swal-lowed JS12 before sho realized what sho was doing." Two "small dances" havo stood out from tho endless round of balls, and woro distinguishable dis-tinguishable especially bocauso thoy woro larger and moro elegant than tho "big dances." On Monday ovonlng Mrs, John Jacob Astor gavo hor "small danco" In tho ballroom whoro her mothcr-In-law had given her great ball last week. Wo simply sim-ply entered from tho south Instead of tho north, from tho Jack Astor houso Instead In-stead of Mrs. William's. Mrs. Ogdon Mills gavo tho other "small" dance. Her houso, at tho cornor of Fifth avonuo and Sixty-ninth street. Is one of tho most boautiful in Now York, indeed, In tho wholo world, I think It's safo to say. Its great marble staircase and lta suporb ballroom are absolutoly dazzling. Both of theso dancos wcro given on opora night, bo tho formula of showing oneself In a box for an hour, between dlnnor and tho ball, was gonerally gone through. Mrs. Mills and her twin daughters received re-ceived tho guests at tho head of tho great whlto marble staircase. Thoy looked llko tho thrco graces, or somothlng evon moro suggestive of a Christmas pantomime. Mrs. Mills woro white tulle and BlWer, and Beatrice and Gladys whlto chiffon and silver, nnd In front of thorn swept tho whlto marble stops and In back the whlto and gold ballroom, and tho wholo thing looked llko a birthday cake with gold and silver frosting. It was all too lovoly. and when Mrs. Charllo Otdrlchs camo in In black satin and evon blacker Jot I folt llko sending her home. Evon Mrs. Rockefeller (Mrs. William G.) hurt the palo pleasure-of pleasure-of tho picture and her black was striped with white. Mrs. Rpbort Goolot woro roso pink satin, and uo did Gwendolyn Burden. Bur-den. Natlca Rives appeared In roso pink, also, but hor gown was of chiffon velvot Lord Fairfax gazed at hor tho whole time, ns he did at tho opera, whoro sho sat in tho Arthur Isolln's box. Fairfax Is our only American nobleman, you know. Tho "ancestral halls" nro In Maryland, but the title Is Scotch. Shouldn't an American lord soli his title to a South African mil-llonalross mil-llonalross to square things up? Everything wna harmoniously pink and whlto, with hero nnd thoro a dashing dash of black, when Mrs. Ruthorfurd Stuyvo-snnt Stuyvo-snnt swept In and knocked tho wholo color Bchomo Bquo-gca. Sho wore tho most scarlet of scarlet gowns, with popples pop-ples all ovor hor. Still, I supposo when your husband'H family had two city squares named after thorn you can wear any old color you like. Ruthorfurd placo and Stuyvesant nquaro will excuse a lot. I nover heard pf so much as an Innorly alley, eo I appeared In tho shades of tho modest violet. That gavo all tho followB a chance to say, "Ah a dash of lavonderl" and then chucklo themselves bluo In tho face. I haven't any Idea what It means. It may bo horribly insulting. But apparently appar-ently tho smartest thing you can say nowadays now-adays Is, "Ah, a dash of lavondor," and as theso silly little cotillon and teas flght Johnnlo must say something, it might as well be that Worthington Whltehouse led tho cotillon, co-tillon, which was danced after supper in the Louis XV. ballroom, a divinely lovoly apartment In whlto and gold, porfectly set on with dull gray brocado hangings. Mrs. MUIb had orchids, lilies, roses and carnations carna-tions in vases, but no elaborate decorations. decora-tions. Tho room la too beautiful to spoil with frippery. Tho flowors camo from the Mills country scat at Staatsburg, on tho Hudson. Madamo Mills gathered up her whito and sllvor self and led the cotillon co-tillon with Whltohouso. I'd hnto to toll you nil tho favors wo got. It lonUni J JtJ ono tlmo as If tho party would hJvf-'' fl disperse in delivery wngons insu.,1 '? IM broughams, Each of us had 2 o ?H open a wellstocked five-and-ten-ceni .7 10 H1 Everything from Dlrectolro bntrs nf V re- H endo to lltllo roso trees wero given L1"0 U In ono of tho numbers we stood in X- H length frames and tho men danced hi J I solcctcd tho "prettiest picture ot I all." I'm glad to say It wasn't anv 1:1 potant for poverty-stricken nrt that choso mo, but a good old i. c sighted millionaire, who wouldn't knS II Michael Angelo from a picture nn ? a II of Omega Oats I have an Inborn II nuns for tho rich, and fairly fell out V k" 11 frumo with joy. Thon, of course x&EX ill to go through a "Florodora" sex'tcttA 'II uro-thoy'ro not dead yet Bt-lc"A "ff- rJ At breakfast time a second sunnnr w .M sorvod. Wo always get two sit-down H pars theso days, but tho debutantes ?,P" 11 ally sond tholr mothers homo beforn n?" H second. Walt for that last laugh tLe HI famed aa tho best Tho pothers don't Li! Wl home. ko .1 Boforo T cloao up-and I've really r0t i right hero and now I must tell yD, , V 1 latest wrinkle In announcing that von-, I on speaking tormH with your husband ? E coplc lot's call 'em Dr. and Mra BWt I used to live in a happy llttlo dovVTrJ I with tho doctor's sister. But thoy foil 5 It and have been "residing" apart f or C I a yoar Lately it got about that thoyft mado It up. and now an official announe mont comes In the form of a card "rir Blank. Miss Blank, at home, SaturdrS" January 23, I until 7." Saturday, . i Good-byo, Murlol dear. I must get fnri i wlnkB for beauty's sake. I'm booked Si a dinner, a danco. tho opera and tI Knickerbocker Charity ball tonh,' That's all. Your loving. lmsnt , IDA INNERLT. A |