Mr. Ward McAllister once said that good society in New York only included about 400 people. After saying this Mr. McAllister has relapsed into silence, allowing every New Yorker to guess as much as he likes who the lucky 400 are. The results within is a very serious middle, so that even to this day New Yorkers do not know who is included in that 400 and who is not__a truly appalling situation, relieved only by a gleam of sunshine from the consideration that some gentlemen and ladies who are now happy in the belief that they belong to the good society of the Metropolis would be very unhappy if Mr. McAllister made his list public.

Brooklyn's good society, her really and truly good society, is a different affair. There is nothing vague about it, nor does its claim to eminence rest upon the unsupported assertion of a gentleman whose claims to confer or withhold social distinction have never been passed upon by any jury of competent matrons.

Brooklyn's good society is material, palpable, visible. it is known to everybody who chooses to read the papers: it can be subjected to analysis: it will submit to every kind of test and under all circumstances: it is prepared to prove that it is the genuine article, all wool and a yard wide, warranted not to shrink, crock or glaze. Once a year it comes out where everybody can see it, without any trouble, through the mediumship of the newspaper reports. It assembles to gleam and glisten, and glint and shine, and sparkle and brilliant, bedazzling, and then it is seen that Brooklyn's good society comprises less than three hundred people. The proof is simple. If a person is in good society he goes to the Ihpetonga: if he is not he cannot get there. There is sadness for the excluded ones, but such things must be. If the walls of Paradise fell down all kinds of unpleasant folks would get in: some would be rude enough to bring hoofs and tails maybe. Then paradise would not be itself at all. Consequently, it would be some other place. So the wall must be kept up and good society to remain good society must be exclusive. Every now and then some unhappy individual who goes to Ihpetonga balls falls in love with one who does not and agony ensues. Several sad cases of this kind have happened during the past year and ashes of dead hopes and fragments of broken hearts and a lot of other things of that unpleasant description are littering up the pathways of some young lives. But these things must be.

As everybody in the city probably knows, by reason of the singular phenomena attending it, the Ihpetonga Ball for 1889 took place last evening. It was the fifth and the most brilliant of its kind. It illumined the city like the gas explosion, and was much more steady. People who saw the reflection of its radiance against the western sky imagined it was the Aurora Borcalis transplanted,, and argued long concerning its portent. From 9 o'clock till 10 carriages rolled up to the canopy that stretched from the door of the art rooms of the Academy of Music to the curb stone. From 9 o'clock till 10 good society kept coming and marching up the stairs till the gathering was complete, and Brooklyn's best people were assembled, the crème de la crème, the doubly refined, like Professor Friend's electric sugar.

The scene was very pretty. Stub's orchestra sat behind a bank of white and red and pink azaleas at the head of the room on a platform fronted with rich maroon and old gold brocatelle. Above the heads of the musicians a great circular plaque stood out from the wall. It bore the crest of the Ihpetonga, the pipe of peace, war club and quiver of arrows in red and pink flowers on a background of yellow immortelles framed in smilax. Avove this was the name of the society in red and white immortelles. The platform was flanked by towering banks of palms, among which immense calla lilies in full bloom appeared. Four huge tapestries "The Meeting of Paris and Helen." "A Wedding Feast" and "Nymphs at the Tomb of Apollo," hung on the walls, interspersed with groups of ancient armor, bright stars and circles of immortelles and snow shoes filled with flowers and large floral panels. The door to the ladies parlor was arched and curtained with salmon pink, red and yellow brocatelle, and the main entrance was similarly draped. The little passage between the dancing room and the supper room was hung with Persian rugs. The supper room, as last year, looked like a glade in a thicket of evergreens. The walls could not be seen at all for a dense growth of firs, among which appeared an occasional group of palms. The doorways were arched with Georgia Pines, with needles fully a foot in length. Balls of roses hung from the gasoliers and rays of mistletoe stretched overhead from the center to all parts of the room. As usual, after dancing the company sat down to small tables, four persons at each table, to a supper which Pinard had struggled to make a masterpiece.

The Ihpetonga this year has the following members: S.W. Boocock, John T. Martin, Teunis G. Bergen, Charles E. Bill, John Notman, Thomas B. Bowring, H. D. Brookman, Frederic Cromwell, Amory S. Carhart, S.B. Chittenden, James L. Morgan, Jr. Henry J. Cullen, Henry B. Cromwell, W.B. Dickerman, Courtlandt P.l. Dixon, Jr., Jasper W. Gilbert, T Mortimer Lloyd, Crowell Hadden, David M. Morrison, Joseph Haslehurst, Arthur Melvin Hatch, William H. Husted, B.P. Kissam, Seth Low, Edward H. Litchfield, E.H.R. Lyman, A. Augustus Low, Peter W. Lynch, Frank Lyman, Samuel McLean, Thomas S. Moore, Samuel E.Huntington, Henry L. Brevoort, Latham A. Fish, J. Jay Pierrepont, Henry D. Polhemus, William S.P. Prentice, Frank J. Goodnow, Charles Albert Robbins, Henry K. Sheldon, J.A. Hewlett, William C. Sheldon, William Cary Sanger, Franklin E. Taylor, William C. Sheldon, Jr., George B. Moffat, J.F. Talmage, F.P. Bellamy, Thomas E. Stillman, Alfred T. White, Charles W. Ide, Henry E. Pierrepont and Alexander M. White.

Each member of the above had five tickets issued to him. One of these admitted himself and whatever lady he escorted and the other four he gave away. The full list of the company that assembled last evening is as follows:

Mr. and Mrs. S.W. Boocock, Mr. and Mrs.. Teunis G. Bergen, Mr. and Mrs. F.P. Bellamy, Mr. and Mrs. E.D. Brookman, Mr. Henry P. Brookman, Mr. Jonathan Bulkley, Miss Grace Bulkley, Mr. John Eliot Bowen, Miss Grace Bowen, Mr. Clarence Bowen, Mr. G. Augustus Bicknell, Mr. Franklin D. Bowen, Mr. F.L. Baker, Mr. C. Cochrane Broome, Miss Blake, Mr. Blake, Mr. and Mrs. Frank L. Abbott, Mr. Charles W. Bangs, Miss Benedict, the Misses Brookman, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Arnold, Mr. and Mrs. George B. Abbott.

Mr.. Benett, Miss Benett, Mr. and Mrs. Charles L. Benedict, Miss Cromwell, Mr. and Mrs. S.B. Chittenden, Jr., H.B. Cromwell, Mr. Walter Curtis, Mrs. Cornwallis, Miss Chittenden, Mr. James Colby Colgate, Mr. Thomas O. Callendar, Miss Converse, Mr. Arthur S. Clapp, Miss Clapp, Mr. George Cromwell, Mr. Edward L. Dickerman, Mr. Eugene A. Dyke, Miss Dickinson, Miss Bartlett, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Cromwell, Amory S. Carhart, Mr. Henry J. Cullen, Miss Grace Curtis, Mayor and Mrs. Chapin, Miss Chapman, Mr. Henry Calhoun, Mr. William S. Cross, Mr. Banyer Clarkson, Miss Sarah P. Colton, Miss Anna Caldwell, Mr. and Mrs. W.B. Dickerman, Mr. and Mrs.. Horace C. Duval, Mr. and Mrs. Francis E. Dodge, Mr. George Dow, Miss Kate Dow, Miss Drier, Mr. Guy Duval, Mr. Stanley Dwight, Mr. and Mrs. David Dows, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Latham A. Fish, Mr. T.L. Frothingham. Miss Fellowes, Mr. and Mrs. Almon Goodwin, Mr. William T. Gilbert, Mr. Charles W. Gould, Mr. Frederic A. Guild, Miss Gardiner, Admiral Gherardi, Mr. Drier, Mr. Abbot L. Dow, Mr. Gherardi Davis, Mr. Forward, Miss Emily Ford, Mr. and Mrs. Gordon L. Ford, Miss Anabel Green, Mr. and Mrs. Frank J. Goodnow, Mr. Charles Gould, the Misses Guild, Miss Giberson, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Howell, Miss Houghtaling, Mr. Jabez Holmes, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. J. Augustus Hewlett, Mr. Crowell Hadden, Mr. and Mrs. S.E. Huntington, Miss Haselhurst, Mr. Halsey, Miss H. Herriman, Mr. F. Thornton Hunt, Mr. A.A. Hand, Miss Hicks, Miss Leida M. Heinze, Miss Halsey, Mr. and Mrs. David Houghtaling, Miss Holmes, Mr. and Mrs. William Husted, Mr. J. Monroe Hewlett, Mr. Crowell Hadden, Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Haselhurst.

Mr. Arthur Hinckley, Mrs. J.F. Harriman, Mr. E.T. Hunt, Mr. William V. Hester, Mr. Hicks, Mr. Arthur Heinze, Miss Hewlett, Miss Sadie Hall, Mrs. Rosman, Miss Healy, Mr. Abbot Ingalls, Mrs. Henry E. Ide, Mr. and Mrs. Almet F. Jenks, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin P. Kissam, Mr. John B. King, Mr. William B. Kendall, Jr. Miss Littlejohn, Mr. and Mrs. Seth Low, Mr. and Mrs. E.R.R. Lyman, Mr. and Mrs. A. Augustus Low, Mr. and Mrs. W.T. Lawrence, Mr. and Mrs. George E. Ide, Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Ide, Mr. William B. Ingalls, Mr. Raymond Jenkins, Mr. James Duane Livingston, Dr. and Mrs. T. Mortimer Lloyd, Mr. and Mrs. Edward H. Litchfield, Miss Laqueer, Mr. Lea II. Luqueer, Miss Lacy Low, Mr. J. Edward Lawrence, Mr. Howard Mansfield.

Mr. Daniel Mangum, Mr. Samuel McLean, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas S. Moore, Mr. and Mrs. George B. Moffat, Mr. Frank B. Martin, David M. Morrison, Mr. Lawrence Morgan, Mr. John B. McCue, Mr. Charles B. Moran, Dr. John L. Moffat, Mr. Charles K. Mount, Miss Luisa S. Lenox, Miss Lacy, Dr. Leonard C. McPhail, Mr. Allan McCulloh, Mr. R. Burnham Moffat, Miss Moore, Mr. John T. Martin, Miss L.P. Martin, Mr. and Mrs. James L. Morgan, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. George I. Malcolm, the Misses Malcolm, Mr. Anson B. Moran, Mr. and Mrs. Morris Meredith, Hon. Alexander McCue, Mr. and Mrs. John Notman, Miss Notman, Mr. Clyde Notman, Miss Poratt, Mr. and Mrs. H.D. Polhemus, Mr. and Mrs. M. Pyne, Mr. W.W. Parker, Miss Quartley, Miss Lucy E. Russell, Mr. E. Ira Richards, Miss Rockwell, Mr. Roswell Skiel, Mr. Max E. Sand, Dr. and Mrs. Segur, Mr. Grant Notman, Mr. Charles P. Notman, Miss Polhemus, Mr. F.P. Pratt, Mr. and Mrs. William S.P. Prentice, Mr. Frederick Parker, Mr. Louis Praeger, Mr. W.A.Mead, Miss Donalds, Mr. R.K. Richards, the Misses Sand, Miss Shepard, Mr. Thomas W. Stiles, Miss Seaman, Mr. Henry K. Sheldon, Miss Sheldon, Miss L.C. Smith, Mr. and Mrs. William C. Sheldon, Jr., Mr. William Sheldon, Mr. and Mrs. George R. Sheldon, Mr. William Cary Sanger, Miss Stillman, Mr. B.P. Seaver, Mr. Lloyd Saltus, Mrs. Joseph H. Seaman, Mr. and Mrs. Richmond M. Smith, Miss Stockwell, Miss Marion S. Smith, Dr. Clarence W. Sheldon, Henry S. Snow, Miss Bessie B. Smith, Alden S. Swan, Miss Swan.

Mr. and Mrs. J.S.T. Stranahan, Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Tucker, Mr. N. Askew Tucker, Dr. J. F. Talmage, Miss Talmage, Mrs. Franklin E. Taylor, Mr. Wyllis Terry, Miss Terry, Mr. Howard Van Sinderen, Mr. R.W. Van Boskirck, Mr. and Mrs. Von Benkendorff, Mr. Richard Van Wyck, Miss Van Wyck, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Walker, Mr. and Mrs. Frederic A. Ward, Miss Green, Miss Hayden, Mr. Howard O. Wood, Mr. James A. Waters, Mr. and Mrs. William G.Wilson, Mr. Coleman G. Williams, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred T. White, Miss Wood, Mr. John Francis Williams, Mrs. Frederick Wesson, the Misses Wiman, Mr. Charles P. Walker, Mr. Frank Winslow.

The committees were:

Ladies' Reception__Mrs. William H. Husted, Mrs. A. Augustus Low, Mrs. Edward II. Litchfield.

Executive__A. Augustus Low, Frank Lyman, Amory S. Carhart, William Carey Sanger.

After the supper came the cotillion, with leading couples in the following order: Amory S. Carhart and Mrs. A. Augustus Low, William Carey Sanger and Miss Danforth, Mr. A. Augustus Low and Mrs. William S.P. Prentice, Mr. William Sheldon, Jr., and Miss Brookman, Mr. R. Burnham Moffat and Miss Lacey. Large conventional figures were in order, nothing startlingly new.

Envious people who have struggled fruitlessly for months to obtain tickets to the exclusive affair may make what remarks they please, the Ihpetongas enjoy themselves thoroughly. They are not perceptibly crashed by their load of social distinction. Their ball has several advantages, chiefest of which is the fact that it is limited to a particular set of people, who know each other very well. Consequently it is delightfully informal.