Poor  as  it  was  intellectually — and  it  was  poor — it  contained
an  entire  section  of  highly-coated  paper  devoted  to  actresses,
the  stage  and  scenes  from  plays,  and  still  another  carrying
pictures  of  beauties  in  society  in  different  cities,  and  still
another  devoted  to  successful  men  in  Wall  Street.  It  breathed
mostly  of  New  York,  its  social  doings,  its  art  and  literary
colonies.    It  fired  me  with  an  ambition  to  see  New  York.
A  third  paper,  Town  Topics,  was  the  best  of  all,  a  paper
most  brilliantly  edited  by  a  man  of  exceptional  literary  skill
(C.  M.  S.  McLellan).  It  related  to  exclusive  society  in  New
York,  London  and  Paris,  the  houses,  palaces,  yachts,  restau-
rants and  hotels,  the  goings  and  comings  of  the  owners ;  and  al-
though it  really  poked  fun  at  all  this  and  other  forms  of  exist-
ence elsewhere,  still  there  was  an  element  of  envy  and  delight
in  it  also  which  fitted  my  mood.  It  gave  one  the  impression
that  there  existed  in  New  York,  Newport  and  elsewhere  (Lon-
don principally)  a  kind  of  Elysian  realm  in  which  forever
basked  the  elect  of  fortune.    Here  was  neither  want  nor  care.
