OCR Text |
Show L'j ii Li l-i Jit J '.-Lj.J 'LlJ:v They have an Insatiable appetite for gold, and the writer sarcastlcallUKS'eats that perhaps that la why they always have fold teeth. There la Tarely anything- original Or amusing - about .' the extravagances -of young American spendthrift, who do not possess the wit which would make such extravagance picturesque and amusing In Frenchmen. The Americans are nothing but brutal sensualists and senseless squanderers of money. An example ts quoted of the sort of entertainment that excites the senses -of the American golden youth. At the close of a supper an enormous enor-mous pie la brought Into the room, the host cuts it, and out steps a young girl wearing nothing but a film of diaphanous drapery. She puts her bare feet in the plates, which greatly delights the company. com-pany. At another entertainment of this character char-acter the host gives a signal, and out of pianos, closets, baskets and other receptacles recep-tacles spring girls, who. In anticipation of the contagious warmth of the banquet, had come In the scantiest attire. Very often American men of fashion can think of nothing more amusing than the brutal destruction of property. For instance, in-stance, they frequently collect all the fine Slass and porcelain that has beeri used uring dinner and pile- it up in one corner of the room. Then each guest tafcps a certain number of empty champagne bottles bot-tles and has a shot at the porcelain and glass. This sport goes on until practically everything breakable In the room Is smashed. The American judges the value of his entertainment solely by Its cost. For instance, in-stance, he will say: "I had ten thousand, dollars' worth of fun last night." To dassle the world with the display of gold is the only1 aim of the American millionaire. At a great ball given at Newport New-port In 189s the cotillon favors were brought In by a vfhlte donkey, who was shod with gold and harnessed with gold adorned with precious stones and fine pearls. The sisters of these young spendthrifts Indulge In amusements that would shock a well-brousrht-up Frenchwoman Inexpressibly. Inex-pressibly. The American glrla carry flirtation to the utmost possible extreme. This Is a subject into which the modest writer finds It disagreeable to enter too deeply. He points out that American girls are allowed to amuse themselves practically without restraint from their mothers , or' elders. At balls i PAXXS, March 27. Count Bonl . de , Castellan a, as many peopje know, has become a Paris Journalist in order to make a little money. lie Is obliged to do something to save himself from starvation, star-vation, now that Anna Oould's bullions bul-lions have been removed entirely beyond be-yond his dutches. Some of Boni 's articles have appeared ap-peared OBder his. signature in the Fi- garo and Gaulois. It is understood that e is also contributing articles, which he does not care to sign, to other publications. pub-lications. He is seizing the opportunity oppor-tunity thus afforded him of venting his rsge and disgust on American society, i He is writing a series of malicious, extravagant, ex-travagant, mendacious libels on American Ameri-can women as sweethearts, wives and mothers, and upon American social life in general. These articles are appearing in a high-class illustrated weekly which is a favorite organ of the women of the Parisian haute monde. Their statements state-ments are believed Implicitly ,by French people, both because the writer has had an . intimate personal experience experi-ence of the matters of which he treats, and because they agree with the preconceived pre-conceived French notions of American life. Tells of "Little Sausage. First, the writer deals with the American young man of wealth . as - a debauchee, as if he were trying to prove how much worse others are than himself. He assures us that Lebaudv, the famous French spendthrift, sometimes some-times known as the "Little Sugar Bowl,'" who spent $3,000,000 and ended his' life before he was 21, was the quietest and most serious young man imaginable compared to the typical young American spendthrift, who mar be styled the "Little Smoked Ham" or the "Little Sausage." "While the. papas build trusts st Chicago or steel - railroads in New York," sars the author, ' their sons scatter millions with an amazing recklessness. reck-lessness. It frequently happens that a supper to which a few (Jibson girls from the music halls are invited costs two or three hundred thousand francs. Needless to sav, 'embalmed beef does not figure on the menu." The American nendthrift. we learn. begins his career at a very early age. Manv a millionaire gives a present or a hundred thousand dollars or more to his son when he is 10 years old. At 20 the youth requires at least a million a year for his pocket money. The history of a young millionaire named Robert Livingston is cited as a typical example of life among the moneyed classes in the United States. At an age when innocent inno-cent little French boys are trnndling their hoops, young Robert was enabling several members of the chorus to live in luxury. Robert Learned Early. At 15 Robert took parties of sc-tresses sc-tresses for cruises or carouses on his palatial yacht. To celebrate the birthday birth-day of one of bis fair friends, he had every inch of the rigging hung with exotic flowers, which were also fes-v tooned along the sides of the vessel. This caprice cost $3000 for flowers alone. At other times he ' showed the brutality toward women which always comes out sooner or later in the American Ameri-can man. One night, after he had drunk enormously of champagne, he pushed a girl into the water and forbade for-bade anyone to rescue her. A sailor went in and saved her, and for this was discharged. At 18 the budding Nero burned down a house worth $500,00tf. with all Its furniture and horses, merely to amuse himself. The servants escaped alive with difficulty. In his house In New York he had, among many unusual luxuries, a private theater. Here, to amuse 'his friends after dinner, he gave ballets and theatrical performances per-formances often costing as much as $100.-000. $100.-000. On one occasion a gorgeous tableaux vlvant, reproducing the famous picture, "Diana at the Bath," was given on this stage. One feature of this -remarkable house was a bar as perfectly fitted and supplied with as great and varied a collection col-lection of wines and liquors as any hotel bar In New York. It was young Robert's delight to put on a bartender's dress and go behind the bar and serve cocktails and other refreshments to his friends. At 20 this Interesting young man, after one last great debauch, blew out his brains. A servant, going to clean up the traces of the orgy after the guests had departed, came upon his lifeless remains. Willing American Olrls. American girls are always ready to help the young Croesus squander his millions. |