York, they say what the Dutch chemist said about cyanogen gas as a remedy for fleas.
The charge has been made so many times that "The Metropolis" is a book of servants' gossip that it might be well to state that there is no detail in the book which was derived in any such way. The newspapers which labored so desperately to discredit the book pointed out that while it was possible for anyone to go into the Stockyards and see what was going on, it was not possible for anyone to go into "society." They saw fit to overlook the fact that I myself had been brought up in what is called "society"—or at least on the edge of it, with the right to enter whenever I chose. My earliest boyhood recollections have to do with young ladies being prepared for début parties or for weddings, discussing the material for costumes, and the worldly possessions of various "eligible" young men, and whether so and so's grandfather was a grocer. I cannot remember the time that I was too young to abhor "society," its crass materialism, its blindness to everything serious and truly sacred in life.
Also, contrary to the general impression, it is not in the least difficult to meet the New York "smart set," if you happen to be a celebrity. As the late John L. Sullivan remarked about Grover Cleveland: "A big man is a big man. It don't matter if he is a prize-fighter or a president." I remember once asking Arthur Brisbane how he managed to hobnob with the Long Island "smart set," when he was attacking their financial interests so frequently. He answered that they esteemed success, and cared very little how it had been gained.
You must understand that the members of this "smart set" are bored most of the time. They go hunting wild animals all over the world; they fly in airplanes, and break their necks chasing imitation foxes; they collect porcelains and postage stamps, Egyptian scarabs and Japanese prints; they invite prize-fighters and vaudeville artists and European noblemen—anything in the world to escape boredom. Do you suppose they would resist the temptation of a novelist whose bloody horrors had sent shudders along their spines?
You have read how hunters on the plains are accustomed to draw antelope to them. They stand on their heads and kick their heels in the air, and the timid, curious creatures
