Part 12

6 silk robes--red, enamelled, $950 green, blue, yellow, pink, black--with fringes, ruches, velvets, lace trimmings, etc. 1 blue Marie Louise 300 gros-de-Naples, brocaded with silver taken from the looms of Lyons; cost, without a stitch in it Silver bullion fringe tassels and 200 real lace to match 1 rose-colored satin, brocaded in $400 white velvet, with deep flounce of real blonde lace, half-yard wide; sleeves and bertha richly trimmed with the same rose-colored satin ribbon; satin on each side, with silk cord and tassel; lined throughout body, skirt and sleeves with white silk 1 white satin of exceedingly rich 2500 quality, trimmed with blonde and bugles; two flounces of very deep point d'Alencon, sleeves of the same, reaching down to the elbows, and bertha to match, with white bugles and blonde to match 1 royal blue satin dress, 1500 trimmed, apron-shape, with black Brussels lace and gold and bugle trimmings, with one flounce, going all around the skirt, of black Brussels lace; body and sleeves to match; sleeves looped up with blue velvet roses set in lace, to imitate a bouquet 1 dove-colored satin dress, 425 trimmed with velvet, half-yard deep; a long trail with the velvet going all around, with llama fringe and dove-colored acorns, forming a heading to the velvet, and going all up the skirt and around the long Greek sleeves; the sleeves lined with white satin and quills of silver ribbon going around the throat; lined throughout with white silk, having belonging to it a cloak and hood, lined and trimmed to match; made in Paris 1 black Mantua velvet robe, long 500 train, sleeves hanging down as far as the knees, open, lined with white satin, and trimmed all round with seed-pearls, as well as all round the top of low body--the seed-pearls forming clusters of leaves going down front of skirt and all round the skirt and train 1 rich moire-antique dress, 400 embroidered in gold from the body to the skirt and sleeves and all round, taken up and fastened up with gold embroidery to imitate the folds and wrinkles of the dress, trimmed round the edge with white Brussels lace, having an underskirt of amber satin trimmed with Brussels lace, to show underneath; lined throughout with silk 1 large Brussels shawl, of 700 exquisite fineness and elegance of design, to go with it 1 crimson velvet dress, lined 400 throughout with rose-colored silk; train very long, trimmed with rich silk, blonde lace covering the entire train, being carried around and brought up the front of the dress and body, forming the bertha; and sleeves looped up with white roses; turquoise fan and slippers to match 1 blue mercantique (lined), low 200 body, trimmed with Honiton lace, body and sleeves; one piece of silk to match, unmade, intended for high body, and bons; sleeves slashed open and lined with white satin 1 rose-colored robe, with $250 flounces; high and low body, having fringe and trimming woven to imitate Russian fur; both bodies trimmed with fringe ribbons and narrow lace 1 mauve-colored glace silk, 180 braided and bugled all around the bottom of skirt, on the front of body, around the band of Garibaldi body, down the sleeves and round the cuffs of Garibaldi body; the low body, with bertha deeply braided and bugled, with sleeves to match; long sash, with end and bows and belts, all richly braided and bugled with thread lace 1 vraie couleur de rose 300 gros-de-Naples, with flounces richly brocaded with bouquet in natural size and color, made to represent the same in panels, trimmed with gimp and fringe to match; also, high and low body, with bertha and trimmings to match 1 pink morning robe, very superb, 250 trimmed down the side with white satin a quarter of a yard wide, sleeves trimmed to match, satin-stitched, with flounces in pink silk on edge of satin, passementerie cord and tassels 1 gold-colored silk aersphane, 100 with three skirts, each skirt trimmed with quillings of yellow satin ribbon, looped up with pink roses: body to match, trimmed with silk blonde; white blonde round the neck; satin quillings; silk blonde on the sleeves, and lace and yellow satin; rich underskirt to match 2 very richly embroidered French 100 cambric morning-dresses, with bullion and heavy satin ribbons running through; one lined throughout with pink, the other with blue silk 1 rich black silk glace, trimmed 200 with bugles and black velvet 1 blue-black Irish silk poplin, 125 made in Gabrielle style, trimmed with scarlet velvet all round the skirt; sleeves and body-belt and buckle to match 1 Cashmere, shawl pattern, 100 morning-dress, lined; sleeves and flies lined with red silk, cord and tassels to match; not twice on 1 white Swiss muslin, with double 90 skirt and ribbon running through the upper and lower hems of each skirt, of pink satin; body with Greek sleeves to match 1 straw-colored silk dress, 80 trimmed with black velvet, and body of the same 1 white Swiss muslin robe, with 95 one plain skirt and one above, graduated by larger and smaller tucks to imitate three flounces; the sleeves with puffs, and long sleeves with tucks, down and across to match skirts, and Garibaldi body made to match; one pink satin under-body to go with it 1 white Swiss muslin dress, with 90 three flounces, quilled and tucked, graduated one above the other, with headings of lace on the top of each flounce; low body, with tuck, bretelles and broad colored sarsnet ribbon 1 India muslin dress, very full, $110 embroidered to imitate three flounces; and Greek body and sleeves, also embroidered to match sky-blue skirt and body to go underneath 1 India muslin dress, double 90 skirt, richly embroidered, with high jacket and long sleeves embroidered to match 1 pink satin skirt and bodice, to 25 go underneath 1 white long morning dress, 60 embroidered round the skirt and up the front, in two flounces, one hanging over the other; sleeves and cuffs to match 1 white muslin, with white spots, 80 skirt and bodice trimmed with bullion and narrow real Valenciennes lace 2 white cambric morning-dresses, 275 one very richly embroidered, in wheels and flounces; and jacket to match 1 white Swiss muslin jacket, very 100 richly embroidered; skirt and bodice to match 3 cambric tight-fitting jackets, 120 with collar and sleeves very richly embroidered, to imitate old Spanish point 5 Marie Antoinettes, made 300 entirely of French muslin, with triple bullion and double face; pink satin ribbon running through. Cost $60 each 1 pique morning dress and jacket, 75 richly embroidered 1 pique skirt, richly embroidered 50 6 fine Swiss muslin skirts, four 55 yards in each, trimmed with two rows of real lace, to set in full, finely finished 2 very rich bastistes, for 120 morning-dresses 2 very fine cambric skirts, 60 delicately embroidered, to wear with open morning-dresses 2 fine linen skirts, embroidered 40 in open work 2 silk grenadine dresses, trimmed 200 with Maltese lace and velvet; two bodices to match, blue and green 2 silk bareges, trimmed with 200 velvet and fringe, and bodice to match 1 Scotch catlin silk full dress, 100 Stewart, trimmed with black velvet and fringe, made to match colors of dress 3 Balmoral skirts, very elegant, 90 embroidered in silk 1 ponceau silk dress, trimmed 250 with llama fringe and gold balls; body and sleeves very richly trimmed to match 1 blue silk to match, trimmed 250 with steel fringe and bugles; body and sleeves richly trimmed 1 French muslin jacket, with 40 lapels and sleeves to turn back, very heavily embroidered 1 set point d'Alencon, consisting 120 of shirt sleeves, handkerchief, and collar 1 point d'Alencon extra large 100 handkerchief 1 set Honiton lace, consisting of $80 handkerchief, collar, and sleeves 1 set Maltese lace, consisting of 300 handkerchief, collar, velvet cape 1 set Irish point lace, very 80 rich, consisting of wide, deep sleeves, handkerchief and collar 1 cape of ditto, going up to the 35 neck and shut at the back 2 black lace mantillas 40 1 black lace jacket 15 1 cape, composed of Valenciennes 75 lace 2 dozen very rich embroidered 120 cambric chemises, with lace 6 ditto, with puffed bullions in 100 front 18 Irish linen chemises, with 200 very rich fronts 7 Irish linen, embroidered 40 1 dozen night-dresses, very rich 216 fronts 3 linen ditto, very rich 75 1 dozen embroidered drawers 72 2 very rich ditto 50 11 new pairs silk stockings, in 40 box 1 dozen Lisle thread stockings 20 9 pairs boots and shoes 45 3 pairs embroidered slippers, 40 very rich, in gold 1 pair Irish point lace sleeves 30 (extra) 1 black velvet embroidered 450 mantilla, imported 1 ditto, silk, embroidered with 100 bugles, imported 1 glace silk, tight-fitting 65 basque, with black zeplore lace cape; trimmed in every width with narrow lace to match 1 black silk Arab, with two 25 tassels 1 dust-wrapper, from Cashmere 18 4 magnificent opera-cloaks 175 1 red scarlet cloth cloak, 12 trimmed with yellow cord 1 cloth, drab-color cloak 8 1 cloak, with hood lined with 10 silk 2 dozen cambric, embroidered, 24 with name Fanny 1 set Russian sable muffs, cape 100 and boa 1 tortoise shell comb, made in 50 one piece and very rich 6 fancy combs 30 1 very rich mother-of-pearl, gold 85 inlaid, and vol. feathers beautifully painted by hand 1 fan of mother-of pearl, inlaid 45 in gold, with silk and white and Job's spangles 1 blue mother-of-pearl, with 35 looking-glass; imitation ruby and emeralds 6 other fans, of various kinds 25 1 parasol, all ivory handle 100 throughout, engraved with name in full, covering of silk and Irish point lace, very fine, covering the entire parasol Several other parasols $25 1 real gold head-ornament, 100 representing the comet and eclipse appearing About twenty hair-nets, silver, 40 gold, and all colors and pearls 4 ladies' bonnets, some 100 exceedingly elegant 1 box marabout feathers, for 50 dressing the hair 1 box artificial flowers l5 1 lot new ribbon, for sashes; 35 velvet, silk, and satin 1 small miniature model piano, 50 played by mechanism, from Vienna 1 lady's writing-desk, inlaid 200 with tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl, lined with silk velvet, with compartments and secretary; carved mother-of-pearl paper-knife, gold seal, gold pencil, case full of fancy writing paper; made in Paris 1 bula work-box, elegant; inlaid 125 with silver and lined with ci-satin, fitted with gold thimble, needle, scissors, pen-knife, gold bodkin, cotton winders; outside to match French piano 1 long knitting-case to match the 40 above, fitted with needles, beads and silk of every description 1 papier-mache work-box, and 5 fitted up 1 morocco work-bag, ornamented 3 with bright steel; fitted up with scissors, thimble, etc 1 lady's Russia leather 15 shopping-bag, with silver and gilt clasps for chain and key 1 18-karat gold filigree 20 card-case 1 set gold whist-markers, in 50 hands on little box, a present unto her 1 lady's small work-bag, silk 5 fittings 1 solid silver porte-monnaie 19 1 little blue porte-monnaie; 3 velvet, and cords and tassel 1 ladies' companion, with fixings 45 in silver; a present 1 hair-pin stand; a small 14 book-case, with small drawers and mirror 1 basket of mother-of-pearl, and 35 gilt and red satin, full of wax-flowers 1 elegant Bible in gilt, edge 30 mounted in gold 43 volumes various miniature 100 books, bound most elegantly in morocco, and brought as a present from Europe 1 silver pin-cushion and sewer 23 for fastening on the table 1 elegant, richly carved ivory 400 work-table, brought from Mexico, inside fitted up with silk and different compartments, standing three feet high 1 lady's solid silver rutler, 25 from Mexico 1 gilt head-ornament, 3 representing a dagger 1 lady's English dressing-case, $250 solid silver fittings, English make and stamp, rosewood, bound with brass and gilt, fitted and lined with silver 1 pair rich carved ivory hair 155 brushes, engraved with name and crest 1 ditto engraved and crest 55 1 small ivory hair-brush 12 1 ebony hair-brush, inlaid with 20 mother-of-pearl 1 Berlin-wool worked cushion 50 1 sewing-chair, elegantly 75 embroidered seat and back 1 Berlin-wool Affghan 100 1 fire-screen, Berlin work, 125 beads, representing Charles II. hunting 1 large sole-leather trunk, about 250 four feet long and three feet deep, lined with red morocco, handsomely ornamented in gold, embossed on the red morocco, with seven compartments; very scientifically constructed for the necessities of a lady's wardrobe, with springs to hold open each compartment; and the lace compartment could, at pleasure, be rested on two steel legs, covered with gilt embossed morocco, representing a writing table, with a portfolio, containing writing materials; it had two large French patent locks 1 lady's travelling trunk, with 73 cover, containing a quantity of worn dresses, zouave cloth and gold, druided jacket cloaks, woollen ditto, opera cloak, etc Total $21,000

Such lavish expenditure is a natural consequence of a state of society where wealth is the main distinction. Mrs. John Smith's position as a leader of the _ton_ is due exclusively to her great riches and her elaborate displays. Mrs. Richard Roe will naturally try to outshine her, and thus rise above her in the social scale. Many persons seeking admission into such society, and finding wealth the only requisite, will make any sacrifice to accomplish their end. If they have not wealth they will affect to have it. They could not counterfeit good birth, or high breeding, but they can assume the appearance of being wealthy. They can conduct themselves, for a while at least, in a manner utterly disproportioned to their means, and so they go on, until their funds and credit being exhausted, they are forced to drop out of the circles in which they have moved, and the so-called friends who valued them only for their supposed wealth, instantly forget that they ever knew them. No more invitations are left for them, they are not even tolerated in "good society," and are "cut" on the street as a matter of course.

Not a year passes but records the failure of some prominent business man in New York. His friends are sorry for him, and admit that he was prudent and industrious in his business. "His family did it," they tell you, shaking their heads. "They lived too fast. Took too much money to run the house, to dress, and to keep up in society." Only the All Seeing Eye can tell how many men who stand well in the mercantile community are tortured continually by the thought that their extravagance or that of their families is bringing them to sure and certain ruin; for not even in New York can a man live beyond his actual means. They have not the moral courage to live within their legitimate incomes. To do so would be to lose their positions in society, and they go on straining every nerve to meet the demands upon them, and then the crash comes, and they are ruined.

Those who dwell in the great city, and watch its ways with observant eyes, see many evils directly attributable to the sin of extravagance. These evils are not entirely of a pecuniary nature. There are others of a more terrible character. Keen observers see every day women whose husbands and fathers are in receipt of limited incomes, dressing as if their means were unlimited. All this magnificence is not purchased out of the lawful income of the husband or father. The excess is made up in other ways--often by the sacrifice of the woman's virtue. She finds a man willing to pay liberally for her favors, and carries on an intrigue with him, keeping her confiding husband in ignorance of it all the while. She may have more than one lover--perhaps a dozen. When a woman sins from motives such as these, she does not stop to count the cost. Her sole object is to get money, _and she gets it_. It is this class of nominally virtuous married and unmarried women that support the infamous houses of assignation to be found in the city.

The curse of extravagance does not manifest itself in dress alone. One cannot enter the residence of a single well-to-do person in the city without seeing evidences of it. The house is loaded with the richest and rarest of articles, all intended for show, and which are oftentimes arranged without the least regard to taste. The object is to make the house indicate as much wealth on the part of its owner as possible. It makes but little difference whether the articles are worth what was paid for them, or whether they are arranged artistically--if the sum total is great, the owner is satisfied. It is a common thing to see the walls of some elegant mansion disfigured with frescoes, which, though executed at an enormous cost, are utterly without merit or taste. Again one sees dozens of paintings, bought for works of the old masters, lining the walls of the richest mansions of the city, which are the merest daubs, and the works of the most unscrupulous Bohemians. Not long since, a collection of paintings was offered for sale in New York, the owner being dead. They had been collected at great expense, and were the pride of their former owner. With a few exceptions they were wretched copies, and in the whole lot, over five hundred in number, there were not six genuine "old masters," or "masters" of any age.

Entertainments are given in the most costly style. From ten to twenty thousand dollars are spent in a single evening in this way. At a fashionable party from twelve to fifteen hundred dollars' worth of champagne is consumed, besides other wines and liquors. Breakfasts are given at a cost of from one to three thousand dollars; suppers at a still higher cost. This represents the expense to the host of the entertainment; but does not cover the cost of the toilettes to be provided for the family, which make up several thousand dollars more.

Suppers or dinners are favorite entertainments, and the outlay required for them is oftentimes very heavy. The host frequently provides nothing but viands imported from foreign lands. Sets of china of great cost, or of silver equally expensive, or even of gold, are displayed ostentatiously. Sometimes the supper-room is entirely refitted in red, blue, or gold, everything, even the lights and flowers, being of one color, in order that the affair may be known as Mrs. A---'s red, blue, or gold supper. Some of the most extravagant entertainers will place at the side of each cover an exquisite bouquet inside of which is a costly present of jewelry.

All this reckless expenditure in the midst of so much sorrow and suffering in the great city! "The bitter cold of winter," says the Manager of the 'Children's Aid Society,' in his appeal for help, "and the freezing storms have come upon thousands of the poor children of this city, unprepared. They are sleeping in boxes, or skulking in doorways, or shivering in cellars without proper clothing, or shoes, and but half-fed. Many come bare-footed through the snow to our industrial schools. Children have been known to fall fainting on the floor of these schools through want of food. Hundreds enter our lodging-houses every night, who have no home. Hundreds apply to our office for a place in the country, who are ragged, half-starved, and utterly unbefriended."

III. FASHIONABLE FOLLIES.

We have spoken of the women of fashion. What shall we say of the men? They are neither refined nor intellectual. They have a certain shrewdness coupled, perhaps, with the capacity for making money. Their conversation is coarse, ignorant, and sometimes indecent. They have not the tact which enables women to adapt themselves at once to their surroundings, and they enjoy their splendors with an awkwardness which they seek to hide beneath an air of worldly wisdom. They patronize the drama liberally, but their preference is for what Olive Logan calls "the leg business." In person they are coarse-looking. Without taste of their own, they are totally dependent upon their tailors for their "style," and are nearly all gotten up on the same model. They are capital hands at staring ladies out of countenance, and are masters of all the arts of insolence. Society cannot make gentlemen out of them do what it will. As John Hibbs would say, "they were not brought up to it young." They learn to love excitement, and finding even the reckless whirl of fashion too stale for them, seek gratification out of their own homes. They become constant visitors at the great gaming-houses, and are the best customers of the bagnios of the city.

If men have their dissipations, the women have theirs also. Your fashionable woman generally displays more tact than her husband. She has greater opportunities for display, and makes better use of them. If the ball, or party, or sociable at her residence is a success, the credit is hers exclusively, for the husband does little more than pay the bills. Many of these women are "from the ranks." They have risen with their husbands, and are coarse and vulgar in appearance, and without refinement. But the women of fashion are not all vulgar or unrefined. Few of them are well educated, but the New York woman of fashion, as a rule, is not only very attractive in appearance, but capable of creating a decided impression upon the society in which she moves. She is thoroughly mistress of all its arts, she knows just when and where to exercise them to the best advantage, she dresses in a style the magnificence of which is indescribable, and she has tact enough to carry her through any situation. Yet, in judging her, one must view her as a butterfly, as a mere creature of magnificence and frivolity. Don't seek to analyze her character as a wife or mother. You may find that the marriage vow is broken on her part as well as on her husband's; and you will most probably find that she has sacrificed her soul to the demands of fashion, and "prevented the increase of her family" by staining her hands in the blood of her unborn children. Or, if she be guiltless of this crime, she is a mother in but one sense--that of bearing children. Fashion does not allow her to nurse them. She cannot give to her own flesh and blood the time demanded of her by her "duties in society;" so from their very birth the little innocents are committed to the care of hirelings, and they grow up without her care, removed from the ennobling effect of a mother's constant watchful presence, and they add to the number of idle, dissolute men and women of fashion, who are a curse to the city.