BROADBRIM'S NEW YORK LETTER.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12120, 10 June 1895, Page 3

BROADBRIM'S NEW YORK LETTER.

(Special to Chronicle.) The clouds are breaking-the season of sorrow and mourning is euded. lhe Easter lillies that consecrate tho seconi most sacrod and glorious holiday in tho year, are every wheie mingled with roses, carnation pinks, owileaß, and multitudes 4»i»er beautiful flowers, and mako one Toallse more than tho offering of gold and silver and precious stones the spiritual purity and splendour of Him who said, *» l am tho Resurrection and the Life," The stone is rolled away from the Tomb; The earth has swallowed all that was earthy of the frail Tabernacle, and the disembodied spirit of the Son of Man walks forth into the day. Is it any harder to believe in such a resurrection than it is to see seed which we plant in ( the ground sink into absolute roUennPßs and decay before i* springs foith to add | its pawn of ioy and praise. j In these North lands it comes Vo us with a more forceful realisation and a more Bplendid benediction. Winter is "^ past and the advancing spring has Bhaken offitbicy chains of .winter; tbe plants aio bursting from the ground ; the trees and bushes show signs of coming life ; and with these signs is the hope of Nature's resurrection in a new and glorious life, The Lenten season of forty days is not likely to cause much buffering, even among pioui Christian foil's, by tho penance and mortification they have undergone. The outward eigns of moumin» were vety few, and tho inward inflictions were less. . . It has been a matter of surprising interest to note the amusements of this Lenten season. For years it has been a reproach to tho American stage that we have had no distinctive classic American drama, but this reproach attaches to us no longer-, for within the past few weeks our metropolitan stages have been occupied by dramas so distinctively American tbat tbe most cranky carper must And something to his taste oscillating between the "extremes of tha Muses, from Choctaw ••■ Gentleman Jack," as illustrated by the champion slugger James Corbett, has a deoided American flavour about it. tinged, it ia true, with tbe women of Whitechapel and redolent of two ounce or skin-tuht gloves, and the Marquis of Qoeensberry's ruleß. An additional ctasßio venture was " In the Tenderloin, which figured the notorious Tom Gould, Ihe keeper of the most villainous dive in or out of the Island of Manhattan, and George Appo, the most successful green goods steerer that was ever engaged in the green goods business. I fear me that I was a little too previous when I announced the conversion of the great green goods steerer j with sorrow I confess that tho d 1 has a heavy mottesge on this son of his father, nor do I sea tbat there slightest chance of the mortgage being paid off this bide of sheol. Another delightful drama with a ttrong American flavour about it, "Onde Bowery," with the gentlemanly Steve Brody to the fore. There is a beautiful and exciting interest about it that gives it the delightful realism of a living picture. When you talk about Mr Brody you don't have to take him seriously, though a second-rate dummy ; there he is himself large as lifo and twice as natural ; the cut of his van?, his seven Varat diamond, his rings, his chains, all are there, and when he gives one of his noisy customers a paeteron the jaw, restoring peace according to the Marquis of Queenaberry's rules, you realise at laßt that you have a hvroir American drama, and that its ihiet exponent is none other than tho great Brody himself, and with such delightful mental pabrum to feed upon, '' You have no furtbo- us-j for that dull rogue Shakespoie." Bnt the Hale of our Lenten amusements were by no means exhausted with the entcrtainmen's I have named. At Buyer's Murenm the six fat women bicycle riders, whose united weight is 2,000 pounds, give the lovers of athletes an exemplification of physical culture, an intellectual treat not easily forgotten. Hereafter I hope we will have no more about the decline of the American drama. . Another step forward has been made by women here, whon forty-eieht young women graduating from the Law School of the University of Now York, recoivod their diplomas from the hands of Chancellor McCracken, the prosidont, he at the same time expressing the hope that he might live to 6«e every one cf them in active practice. Mias Helen Gould, the eldest daughter of tho late Jay Gould, was one of the Rraduates, but being absent in California her diploma was received by a clasb-raat». She is said to have graduated with the highest honours of her class. The principal incentive to her studying law being a desire to know how to manage her vast estate intelligently. Two deaths occurred here thn wo=k, one in this city and the other in Brooklyn. Their paths were far apart, but each filled a place in the >i»bho eye, which will not be easily filled. Col D. M. Stone was for forty years editor and - publisher of " The Commercial Advertiser" in this city. A man of_ untiring industry, he sought no recreation in all these years, and he may literally have been said to have died in the hnir.eES. Winter or summer, sunshine or storm, -oha never took a holiday, and for thirty years not a line oi editorial was writtpn in his paper except by him, He was a gentleman of the old school, and besides residing in one of the most comfortable homes, he had one of the most beautifnl gardens in that city. In his garden, filled with rare and beautiful plants and flowers, he took his greater delight and pride. A low iron fence was all that stood between his garden and the public, for he desired everybody to enjoy it as well as himself, Though his garden at times was despoiled of costly flowers and plants, be could never be induced (;o put a high fence around it which would shut it out from the- public gaze; and often when informed by his gardener of his iosp, would say that he hoped the thief would enjoy it. His life was long and honourable, and he dies honoured and lamented by all who knew him. The other notable death was that of Mrs Pavan Stevens. For a number of years she had been a prominent figure in our fashionable society, an object which seemed to be the sole desire of her life. To that end sho strained every nerve and exhausted energy, and whilo Bhe, in a measure, accomplished her desire, she never reached thetopmost round of the ladder, and died, like the prophet of old, in sight of the / Promised Land. With' the working \ classes or caneillt, as nhs ca'Ud 5 them, had neither sympathy nor fealina —her adoration and worship being people of title,' Lor 3b, Dukes, Earls and Ooupts, no 'matter how notorious their character or how infamous their lives, if they only had a title, that was suDioient for her. Onthe arrival of the disreputable Duke of Marlborough in this country, knowing his infamous record, she invited him clown to her cottage at Newport, and entertained him there for two weeks. Whether the old lady expected to wpture the Marlborough coronet is not known ; but after the Duke met the beautiful Mrs Haminersloy, she abandoned all hope. In her treatment of her servants and tho tradespeople, with whom she was brought inoonneotion.she was haughty and overbe aring j but with persons of rank and title she was the embodiment of suavity and grace. She appeared to have only one supreme idea, and that was her elevation in fashionable society, ol which she aspired to bo the leader. If she took a dislike to a servant or any of the numerous tradespeople with whom she dealt, she would refuse to pay sums ive to them, and in her suits at law she frequently paid ten times as much for lawyers' fees as the original amount of tho ar claim. She always lowing. She spent thousands and thousands of dollars on suits that could easily have been settled for hundreds, and she derived tho greatest satisfaction svhen she had beaten some milline-r, dressmaker or servant out of thenbills, although the law expenses were ten times tho amount. Hers was a remarkable case of breaking in through the adamantine walls that entrench the Four Hundred ; but she did break through, as a burglar r— cracks a bank safe, and despite every effort to oust her, she maintained hei position up to the hour ot her death. In one sense she was a vety remarkable woman. After the death of her husband, Mr Pavan Stevens, who had no sympathy with his wifes ambitions, she soon discovered that money a'one would entitle hor to no special consideration; so, after passing middle life; -ho ** hsrself to work to .remedy a: vary

!only woman in fashionable society here who could entertain her guests in six different languages. She spoke fluently French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian » and English, aud was never so happy as | when she was showing off her lingual ac- | coinplishmenls in a miscellaneous company. The marriage of her daughter to Lord Alfred Paget was a tremendous social hit for her, and sho constantly spoke ot "my daughter, Lady Paget, and my son-in-law, Lord Alfred," and one of ths reflections that embittered her life was that her husband was what an English acquaintance of hers called him an innkeeper, although he left her the millions which made her fashionable ambitions possible, and behind herself there was no family tree. Notwithstanding this fact fho triumphed over every obstacle, and almost obtained the life object of her ambition. Her death leaves no vacancy that cannot be easily filled, and with her interment her name will soon be forgotten. Tho shocking result of tho Marquis of Queensbury libel suit in London has been more than a nine days' wonder, and has been the talk of the town It is fifteen years ago since Oscar Wilde made his first appearance in New York, posing as the prophet of a new aesthetioism which was going to revolutionize the intellectual world. Being a well shaped, good-looking fellow, who spoke ss one authorised and inspired on the new cult, it was not long till among the brainless idiots, male and female, that form the fringe of society, he found a considerable following. He appeared on the lecture platform here in knee breeches, sporting an immense sunflower on the lapel of his coat, and announced that hereafter the sunflower Bhould be regarded as the symbol of the cult of which he was the royal representative. The fever spread, and there might be seen on our promenades and in our parts, brainless girls and stupid fops sporting sunflowers as big as a cabbage, and putting on those lackadasical airs which filled plain going people with wonder and contempt. It was at this timo that Mrs Frank Leslie met him, and ' the acquaintance ripened into friendship whiuh led to the acquaintance with tho Wilde family in London. While there she formed the acquaintance of Oscar's brother, William, whom she afterwards married, and from whom she was speedily divorced. Mrs Leslie, who probably knew Oscar Wilde better than any woman in America, would refuse to believe in Wilde's guilt if it were not for his own admissions. The majority of decent poople had a very poor opinion of Mr Wilde while he wai here, and tint opinion is now confirmed. Broadbrim.