SOCIETY AS I HAVE FOUND IT.
[Illustration: very truly yours, handwritten:
Ward Mc Allister]
_Society_
_As I Have Found It_
BY
WARD McALLISTER
NEW YORK
CASSELL PUBLISHING COMPANY
104 & 106 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK
COPYRIGHT,
1890,
BY WARD McALLISTER.
_All rights reserved._
THE MERSHON COMPANY PRESS,
RAHWAY, N. J.
“This book is intended to be miscellaneous, with a noble disdain of
regularity.”--_Obiter Dicta._
“How then does a man, be he good or bad, big or little, make his
Memoirs interesting? To say that the one thing needful is
individuality, is not quite enough. To have an individuality is no
sort of distinction, but to be able to make it felt in writing is
not only distinction, but under favorable circumstances,
immortality.”--_The Same._
AUTHOR’S NOTE.
One who reads this book through will have as rough a mental journey as
his physical nature would undergo in riding over a corduroy road in an
old stage-coach. It makes no pretension to either scholarship or elegant
diction.
W. McA.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
My Family--My Mother an Angel of Beauty and Charity--My Father’s
Nobleness of Character--Building Bonfires on Paradise Rocks and flying
Kites from Purgatory with Uncle Sam Ward--My Brother the Lawyer, 3
CHAPTER II.
My New York Life--A Penurious Aunt who fed me on Turkey--My First Fancy
Ball--Spending One Thousand Dollars for a Costume--The Schermerhorns
give a ball in Great Jones Street--Sticking a Man’s Calf and Drawing
Blood--A Craze for Dancing--I Study Law--Blackstone has a Rival in
lovely Southern Maidens--I go to San Francisco in ’50--Fees Paid in Gold
Dust--Eggs at $2--My First Housekeeping--A faux pas at a
Reception, 13
CHAPTER III.
Introduction to London Sports--A Dog Fight in the Suburbs--Sporting
Ladies--The Drawing of the Badger--My Host gets Gloriously Drunk--Visit
to Her Majesty’s Kitchen--Dinner with the Chef of Windsor Castle--I
taste Montilla Sherry for the First Time--“A Shilling to pay for the
Times,” 31
CHAPTER IV.
A Winter in Florence and Rome--Cheap Living and Good Cooking--Walnut-fed
Turkeys--The Grand Duke of Tuscany’s Ball--An American Girl who Elbowed
the King--What a Ball Supper should be--Ball to the Archduke of
Tuscany--“The Duke of Pennsylvania”--Following the Hounds on the
Campagna--The American Minister Snubs American Gentlemen, 41
CHAPTER V.
Summer in Baden-Baden--The Late Emperor William no Judge of Wine--My
Irish Doctor--His Horror of Water--How an American Girl tried to
Captivate Him--The Louisiana Judge--I win the Toss and get the Mule--The
Judge “fixes” his Pony--The “Pike Ballet,” 55
CHAPTER VI.
Winter in Pau--I hire a perfect Villa for $800 a year--Luxury at Small
Cost--I Learn how to give Dinners--Fraternizing with the Bordeaux Wine
Merchants--The Judge’s Wild Scheme--I get him up a Dinner--General
Bosquet--The Pau Hunt--The Frenchmen wear beautiful Pink Coats, but
their Horses wont Jump--Only the General took the Ditch, 65
CHAPTER VII.
My Return to New York--Dinner to a well-known Millionaire--Visit of Lord
Frederick Cavendish, Hon. E. Ashley, and G. W. des Voeux to the United
States--I Entertain them at my Southern Home--My Father’s Old Friends
resent my Manner of Entertaining--Her Majesty’s Consul
disgruntled--Cedar Wash-tubs and Hot Sheets for my English
Guests--Shooting Snipe over the Rice Lands--Scouring the Country for
Pretty Girls, 77
CHAPTER VIII.
A Southern Deer Park--A Don Quixote Steed--We Hunt for Deer and Bag a
Turkey--Getting a Dinner by Force--The French Chef and the Colored Cook
Contrasted--One is Inspired, the Other follows Tradition--Making a Sauce
of Herbs and Cream--Shooting Ducks across the Moon--A Dawfuskie
Pic-nic, 89
CHAPTER IX.
I Leave the South--A Typical British Naval Officer--An Officer of the
Household Troops--Early Newport Life--A Country Dinner--The Way I got up
Pic-nics--Farmers throw their Houses Open to Us--A Bride receives us in
her Bridal Array--My Newport Farm--My Southdowns and my Turkeys--What an
English Lady said of our Little Island--Newport a place to take Social
Root in, 107
CHAPTER X.
Society’s Leaders--A Lady whose Dinners were Exquisite and whose Wines
were Perfect--Her “Blue Room Parties”--Two Colonial Beauties--The
Introduction of the Chef--The Prince of Wales in New York--The Ball in
his Honor at the Academy of Music--The Fall of the Dancing
Platform--Grotesque Figures cut by the Dancers--The Prince dances
Well--Admirable Supper Arrangements--A Light Tea and a Big Appetite--The
Prince at West Point--I get a Snub from General Scott, 123
CHAPTER XI.
A Handsome, Courtly Man--A Turkey Chase--A Visit to Livingston Manor--An
Ideal Life--On Horseback from Staatsburg to New York--Village Inn
Dinners--I entertain a Fashionable Party at the Gibbons Mansion--An Old
House Rejuvenated--The Success of the Party--Country Life may be enjoyed
here as well as in England if one has the Money and the Inclination for
it--It means Hard Work for the Host, though, 139
CHAPTER XII.
John Van Buren’s Dinner--I spend the Entire Day in getting my
Dress-coat--Lord Harrington criticises American Expressions--Contrast in
our way of Living in 1862 and 1890--In Social Union is Social
Strength--We band together for our Common Good--The organization of the
“Cotillion Dinners”--the “Smart” Set, and the “Solid” Set--A Defense of
Fashion, 155
CHAPTER XIII.
Cost of Cotillion Dinners--My delicate Position--The Début of a
Beautiful Blonde--Lord Roseberry’s mot--We have better Madeira than
England--I am dubbed “The Autocrat of Drawing-rooms”--A Grand Domino
Ball--Cruel Tricks of a fair Mask--An English Lady’s Maid takes a
Bath--The first Cotillion Dinners given at Newport--Out-of-Door
Feasting--Dancing in the Barn, 165
CHAPTER XIV.
The first private Balls at Delmonico’s--A Nightingale who drove
Four-in-hand--Private Theatricals in a Stable--A Yachting Excursion
without wind and a Clam-bake under difficulties--A Poet describes the
Fiasco--Plates for foot-stools and parboiled Champagne for the
thirsty--The Silver, Gold, and Diamond Dinners--Giving Presents to
guests, 181
CHAPTER XV.
The Four-in-hand Craze--Postilions and Outriders follow--A
Trotting-horse Courtship--Cost of Newport Picnics Then and Now--Driving
off a Bridge--An Accident that might have been Serious--A Dance at a
Tea-house--The Coachmen make a Raid on the Champagne--They are all
Intoxicated and Confusion reigns--A Dangerous Drive Home, 191
CHAPTER XVI.
Grand Banquet to a Bride elect--She sat in a bank of Roses with
Fountains playing around her--An Anecdote of Almack’s--The way the Duke
of Wellington introduced my Father and Dominick Lynch to the Swells--I
determine to have an American Almack’s--The way the “Patriarchs’” was
founded--The One-man Power Abolished--Success of the Organization, 207
CHAPTER XVII.
A Lady who has led Society for many years--A Grand Dame indeed--The
Patriarchs a great social Feature--Organizing the F. C. D. C.--Their
Rise and Fall--The Mother Goose Ball--My Encounters with socially
ambitious Workers--I try to Please all--The Famous “Swan Dinner”--It
cost $10,000--A Lake on the Dinner-table--The Swans have a mortal
Combat, 221
CHAPTER XVIII.
How to introduce a young Girl into Society--I make the Daughter of a
Relative a reigning Belle--First Offers of Marriage generally the
Best--Wives should flirt with their Husbands--How to be
fashionable--“Nobs” and “Swells”--The Prince of Wales’s Aphorism--The
value of a pleasant Manner--How a Gentleman should dress--I might have
made a Fortune--Commodore Vanderbilt gives me a straight “Tip,” 239
CHAPTER XIX.
Success in Entertaining--The Art of Dinner-giving--Selection of
Guests--A happy Mixture of Young Women and Dowagers--The latter more
appreciative of the Good Things--Interviewing the Chef--“Uncle Sam”
Ward’s Plan--Mock Turtle Soup a Delusion and a Snare--The Two Styles of
cooking Terrapin--Grasshopper-fed Turkeys--Sourbet should not be
flavored with Rum--Nesselrode the best of all the Ices, 255
CHAPTER XX.
Madeira the King of Wines--It took its Name from the Ship it came
in--Daniel Webster and “Butler 16”--How Philadelphians “fine” their
Wines--A Southern Wine Party--An Expert’s shrewd Guess--The Newton
Gordons--Prejudice against Malmsey--Madeira should be kept in the
Garret--Some famous Brands, 267
CHAPTER XXI.
Brût Champagne--Another Revolution in treatment of this Wine--It must be
Old to be Good--’74 Champagne worth $8 a bottle in Paris--How to frappé
Champagne--The best Clarets--Even your Vin Ordinaire should be
Decanted--Sherries--Spaniards drink them from the Wood--I prefer this
way--The “famous Forsyth Sherry”--A Wine-cellar not a Necessity, 279
CHAPTER XXII.
Assigning Guests at Dinner--The Boston fashion dying out--The approved
Manner--Going in to Dinner--Time to be spent at table--Table
Decoration--Too many Flowers in bad taste--Simplicity the best
style--Queen Victoria’s table--Her Dinner served at 8.15, but she eats
her best meal at 2 P.M.--Being late at Dinner a breach of good
Manners--A Dinner acceptance a sacred Obligation--A Visite de
digestion, 291
CHAPTER XXIII.
Some practical Questions answered--Difference between Men and Women
Cooks--Swedish Women the cleanest and most economical--My Bills with a
Chef--My Bills with a Woman Cook--Hints on Marketing--I have done my own
Buying for forty years--Mme. Rothschild personally supervises her famous
Dinners--Menu of an old-fashioned Southern Dinner--Success of an
Impromptu Banquet, 305
CHAPTER XXIV.
The “Banner Ball”--How to prepare a Ball-room Floor--A curious Costume
and a sharp Answer--The Turkish Ball--Indisposition of ladies to dance
at a Public Ball--The Yorktown Centennial Ball--Committees are
Ungrateful--My Experience in this Matter--I discover Mr. Blaine and
introduce Myself, 323
CHAPTER XXV.
A Famous Newport Ball--Exquisite effect produced by blocks of Ice and
Electric Lights--The Japanese room--Corners for “Flirtation couples”--A
superb Supper--Secretary Frelinghuysen in the Barber-shop--I meet
Attorney-General Brewster--A Remarkable Man--I entertain him at
Newport--A young Admirer gives him a Banquet in New York--Transformation
of the Banquet-hall into a Ball-room, 335
CHAPTER XXVI.
New Era in New York Society--Extravagance of Living--Grand Fancy Dress
Ball in Fifth Avenue--I go as the Lover of Margaret de Valois--A great
Journalist at Newport--A British Officer rides into a Club House--The
great Journalist’s masked Ball--A mysterious Blue Domino--Breakfast at
Southwick’s Grove to the Duke of Beaufort--Picnic given President
Arthur--His hearty Enjoyment of it--Governor Morgan misjudges my “Open
Air Lunches”--The Pleasure of Country Frolics, 349
CHAPTER XXVII.
I visit Washington as the guest of Attorney-General Brewster--A Dinner
at the White House--Amusing arrangement of Guests--The Winthrop
Statue--The memorable Winters of 1884-85--A Millionaire’s
House-warming--A London Ball in New York--A Modern Amy
Robsart--Transforming Delmonico’s entire place into a Ball-room--The New
Year’s Ball at the Metropolitan Opera House--Last Words, 367
MY FAMILY.
SOCIETY AS I HAVE FOUND IT.
CHAPTER I.
_My Family--My Mother an Angel of Beauty and Charity--My Father’s
Nobleness of Character--Building Bonfires on Paradise Rocks and
Flying Kites from Purgatory with Uncle Sam Ward--My Brother the
Soldier--My Brother the Lawyer._
In 1820 my mother, a beautiful girl of eighteen years, was introduced
into New York society by her sister, Mrs. Samuel Ward, the wife of
Samuel Ward, the banker, of the firm of Prime, Ward & King. She was a
great belle in the days when Robert and Richard Ray and Prescott Hall
were of the _jeunesse dorée_ of this city. In my opinion, she was the
most beautiful, Murillo-like woman I have ever seen, and she was as good
as she was beautiful;--an angel in works of charity and sympathy for
her race. Charlotte Corday’s picture in the Louvre is a picture of my
mother. The likeness arose from the fact that her family were descended
on the maternal side from the Corday family of France. This also
accounts for all my family being, from time immemorial, good Democrats.
No one was too humble to be received and cared for and sympathized with
by my mother. Her pastime was by the bedside of hospital patients, and
in the schoolroom of her children. She followed the precepts of her
mother’s great-grandfather, the Rev. Gabriel Marion (grandfather of Gen.
Francis Marion) as expressed in his will to the following effect: “As to
the poor, I have always treated them as my brethren. My dear family
will, I know, follow my example.” It also contained this item: “I give
her, my wife, my new carriage and horses, that she may visit her friends
in comfort.” This ancestor came from Rochelle in a large ship chartered
for the Carolinas by several wealthy Huguenot families. The Hugers and
Trapiers and others came over in the same ship. He did not leave France
empty-handed, for on his arrival in Carolina he bought a plantation on
Goose Creek, near Charleston, where he was buried.
While a belle in this city her admirers were legion, until a young
Georgian, in the person of my father, stepped in, and secured the prize
and took her off to Savannah. He was fresh from Princeton College, cut
short in his college career by a large fire in Savannah (his native
city), which burnt it down, destroying my grandfather’s city property.
The old gentleman, when the fire occurred, refused to leave his
residence (now the Pulaski Hotel), and was taken forcibly from the
burning building in his chair. He then owned the valuable business
portion of the city, and at once went to work to rebuild. His relatives
would not assist him, and so he sent for his only son, then at college,
and got him to indorse all his notes, and in this way secured from the
banks the money he wanted for building purposes. He undertook too much,
and my father bore for one-third of his life a burden of debt then
incurred. Nothing daunted, he went to work at the bar and commenced life
with his beautiful, young Northern wife.
At that time, there was a great prejudice against Northern people. My
father’s mother never forgave my mother for being a Northern woman, and
when she died, though she knew her son was weighed down with his
father’s debts, insisted on his freeing all the negroes she owned and
left him by will, enjoining him to do this as her last dying request. It
is needless to say that he did it, and not only this, but became the
guardian of those people and helped and cared for them so long as he
lived. Being repeatedly Mayor of the City of Savannah, he was able to
protect them, and so devoted were the whole colored population to him,
that one Andrew Marshall, the clergyman of the largest colored church
in the city of Savannah, offered up prayers for him on every Sunday, as
is done in our Episcopal church for the President of the United States.
Blest with five sons and one daughter, struggling to maintain them by
his practice at the bar, this best of fathers sent his family North
every summer, with one or two exceptions, to Newport, R. I., which at
that time was really a Southern colony.
It was the fashion then at Newport to lease for the summer a farmer’s
house on the Island, and not live in the town. Well do I remember, with
my Uncle Sam Ward and Dr. Francis, of New York, and my father, building
bonfires on Paradise Rocks on the Fourth of July and flying kites from
Purgatory. The first relief to this hard-worked man was sending his
oldest son to West Point, where, I will here add, he did the family
great credit by becoming, being, and dying a noble soldier and
Christian. Fighting in both armies, one may say, though I believe he was
in active service only in the Mexican War, having graduated second in
his class at West Point and entered the Ordnance Corps; so in place of
fighting, he was making arms, casting cannon, etc. His pride lay in the
fact that he was a soldier. His last request was that the Secretary of
War should grant permission for his remains to be buried at West Point,
which request was granted. My second brother, Hall, grew up with the
poet Milton always under his arm. He was a great student. At the little
village of Springfield, Georgia, where my family had a country house,
and where we occasionally passed the summer in the piney woods, I
remember as a boy of fifteen years of age, reading the Declaration of
Independence on the Fourth of July from the pulpit of the village church
to the descendants of the old Salzburghers, who came over soon after
Oglethorpe, and it was before an audience of these piney woods farmers,
that, with this brother, at a meeting of our Debating Society in this
village, I discussed the question, “Which is the stronger passion, Love
or Ambition,” he advocating Ambition, I Love. I well remember going for
him, as follows: “If his motto be that of Hercules the Invincible, I
assume for mine that of his opponent, Venus the Victorious. With my
sling and stone I will enter this unequal combat and thus hope to slay
the great Goliath.” The twelve good and true men who heard the
discussion decided in my favor. To the end of his days this brother of
mine was guided and governed by this self-same ambition; it made him
what he became, a great lawyer, the lawyer of the Pacific coast; his
boast to me being that he had saved seventeen lives, never having lost a
murder case. I let ambition go, and through life and to the present
moment swear by my goddess Venus. This brother, after entering the
Georgia bar, started for a trip around the world. On reaching San
Francisco he heard of the discovery of gold, and Commodore Jones, then
in command of our Pacific Squadron, urged him to prosecute some sailors
who had thrown an officer overboard and deserted, and it was this which
caused him to settle down there to the practice of law.
LAW AND HOUSEKEEPING.