The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1859-04-13
From the N. Y. Independent.l

Co. 4 r.
From the N. Y. Independent
We have once or twice, recently, alluded to
practice prevalent among business men, Of
IfiUing beyond Hier meuns-and tins bringing
upon themselves failure which was no fault
of their mode of business, but only of their
manner of living 1t is not safe TO look only
at mans store to know his standing in busi-
ness; you must look at his honse. His spled
did profits may entirely merge themselves in his
splendid dwelling; so that. if he shoald sud.
denly fill bis assets wonld be fonnd to consist
chiefly of carpets, mirrors frescoes. pictures,
marbles. furniture. and variety OF similar
ticles, all belonging TO the inside of brown
stone front Now. If what is pouredin at the
Top Of pitcher runs out at a hole in the bot
tom, it will take continual pouring TO keep it g
full; sudden stoppage will leave it empty
and dry. We need hardly say that il tokes
large business 10 support fine house; and
when the fne house taxes the business to the
utmost, a small reverse. which utber~ise man
would hardly have felt, may now occasion his
ruin The foundation of mans foatune is
laid on two CO ner stnnes-one in his store, the
other in bis house. IF he build 100 heavily on
either of these, he will have the whsle roof
down upon him Many a man who has been
known as the architect of his own fortune has
! built unwisely upon one or other of these
I foundations. and has at last been surpr sed
with worse fall thar the tumbling of the State
Arsenal
i 1t is true the line Of difference between liv-
ing within ones means aud living beJ oad them
may sometimes be difficult to draw so as to
give the greatest proper limit 10 free expena-
ture. For instance, man may be able to
keep horse aud buggy. and live within his
means. who. if he were to keep two horses and
a carringe, would be living beyond them.
man may keep fine honse in the city. and be
able 10 afford it, who, as soon as he builds an.
other in the country, is going farther than his
money will follow. A man may give an ice
} cream party and not feel it, who. when he
; gives fancy dress ball, will suffer for it a
, month afterwards. A man may pick bis teeth
on the steps of the St Nicholas, and be living
frugally within his means. who, if he were once
to pay for his dinner at the hotel. would not
have cent left for his supper! When man
! is conscious that he is straning a point for
!. 6ue honse, or fast horse. or grand soiree,
, or an extfavagant table. he may be sure that
: he is the man who is living beyond his
tmeansr
r The temptations to such extravagance. in.
, such city ss this. are very great. In this
respect, the improved architectural tas,e ex.
hibited in our modern dwelling houses has
exertt q favorable and also an unfavorabIe
: influence on the commnnity-favorable so far
r as the progress of art and the culture of peo.
f pie are concerned; but unfavorable in having
iLcited desire for ambitious display. in which
!; men seek to iudalge themselves beyond their.
: means What would have been called an ele-
CANT residence twenty years ago, is row re.
garded as a mere common three.story house.
Compare old, aristocra,c Bleecker Street with
new. aristocraiic Fifth Aveune The best
e bouses in Bleecker S,reet-whieh were the
e finest that our fathers or elder brothers ever
# thought of buiIding-are now mere respecta-
/ BILE brick ffonts-nothing more But the least
e pretentjous houses on Fifth Avenue are solid
he brown stone. or solid white marhle-nothing
d less This change is on the whole. an i'm
le provement in the increased beauty of the
a CITY; yet it cannot be denied that the rage for
T luxurous and ostentatious living, melted aud
h. rostered by the introduction of this new, ee
d, nlent into our private srchiiecture, has never
/ hofs, In Fact -nipn
b out of every ten opinions given in accounting
d. for the late commercial crisis, alleged this gen
I'D eral extravaganza as the cause OF the revul
of sion When one third OF the merchants of q
rs great city hang one third of their fortune.
tn upon the lace mantes of their wives; merely
q to make glitter by gas light at grand sorees
nd it is not at all surprising that the ghost Of {
ne mercantile cri>is should be seen stalking be
en- hind the guests afier they leave in the deas
nl- hours of night! The expense Of well dress
ry ed wife or dang hter, in the simple article o
of iewelry, for single evening. is ofientines d
ty, much as would originally have bought the en-
1t tire island Of Manhattan. before the times o
py Peter Stuyvesantl When the little bills 70
ILL., these tries are sent in and paid, the crisis ma
I'd, be imagined as bringing up the rear like Ban
ne quo's Ghostl jsd H a
'ht We write true epitaph when we say tha
TX many mans failure has resulted, not from
he losses in his business, but from losses TO whic
it'll he is blind because they are hidden in parlo
'nt carpets, enamelled furniture and gilded CO,
SIX nices, or in pearl necklaces, topaz brooche
the and diamond riugsP ..,,,.a.... ,5..,a