The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1859-06-01
Nsuspaper-Deuoed to the DissenaaiOn Of Iseigenel,
VOLUME vI.---NUMBER 10.

caution, 6tly spoken. to persons engaged inI
any business pursuits. The article is entitled
Living Beyond Ones Means ziis s'
( Z We have once or twice, recently, alluded to
a practice prevalent among business men, cfl
liping beyond their Heans--snd thus 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 also at bis house. Hisi
splendid profits may entirely merge them
selves 10 his splendid dwelling; so that If he
should suddenly fail. bis assets would be found
to consist chiefly of carpets. mirrors, frescoes,
similar articles, all belonging to the inside Of
ia .brownstone 'front.' Nownif what is pour
ed into the top Of a pitcher runs out thfough1
the hole in the bottom, it viii take contin-
nal pouring to keep it full; sudden stoppage
will leave it empty and dry: We need hardly
say that it takes a large business to support a
ine house; and when the fine house taxes the
business to its utmost. small reverse, which
otherwise a man would hardly have felt, may
now occasion his ruin. The foundation of a
mans fortune is laid on two corDer.sfones-
one in bis store, the other in bis house. If be
builds too heavily on either of these, he will
have the whole roof down upon him. Many
man who has been known as the architect
of his own fortune has built unwisely upon
one or other Of these foundations. and has at
last been surprised with worse fall than the
ltumbling of the State Arseaall
1t is true, the line Of difference between liv-
ing within ones means and living beyond them,
may sometimes be difficult TO draw, SO as to-
give the greatest proper limit to free expendi-
ture. For instance, a man may be able to
keep a horse and buggy. and live within his
means, who, If he were tc keep two horses and
a carriage. would be living beyond them. A
man may keep fine house in the city, and be
able to afford it, who. as soon as be builds
another in the country, is going farther than
bis money will allow A man may give an
lice.cream party, and not feel ii, who, when he
gives fancy dress ball. will suffer for it a month
afterwards. A man may pick his teeth on the
steps of the ST. Nicholas, and be living fru
gally within his means. who. it he were
once to pay for his dinner at the hotel would
not have a cent left for his supper. When a.
man is conscious that he is straining point
for splendid house. or fast horse, or grand
soiree. or an extravagant table. he may be sure
that he is the man who is living beyond his
meansp
The temptations to such extravagance, in
such city as this, are very great. In this re;
spect the improved architectural taste exhib
tied in our modern dwelling houses has exert
ed a favorable and also IN unfavorable infiu'
ence on the ommunity--faverable,s SO far as
1.-THE progress of art and the culture of the peo,
1 pie are concerned; but unfavorable in having
melted desire for ambitions display, in which
men seek to indulge themselves beyond their
means. What would have been called an ele-
CANT residence twenty years ago, is now re-
fgarded as mere common three-story house
Compare old, aristocratic Bleecker with new.
aristocratic Fifth avenueI The best houses in
BIeecker street. which were the finest that our
fathers or elder brothers ever thought Of build
iisg-are now mere respectable brick fronts
Inothing more! But the least pretentious hous
es in Fifth avenue are solid brown stone. or
lsolid white marble-nothing lessi This change
! is, on the whole. an Improvement in the in
rcreased beauty OF the city: yet il cannot be
denied that the rage for luxurious and osten-
;ro;tad ond f.,sfarad- tr +he, in
.itroduction of this new element into our ,pri
lvate architecture, has never before been SC
great as nowl In fact, nine out of every ten
i opinions given in accounting for the late com
] mercial crisis, alleged this general extraya
i gance as the cause Of the revulsion. Wher
one-third of the merchants of a great city
thapg one third of their fortunes upon the lace
J tmantles Of their wives. merely to make gilt
q ter by gas light at a grand soiree, it is not a
! all surprising that the ghost Of mercantile
!. crisis should be seen stalking behind the guest
E after they leave 10 the dead hours sof th,
A night The expense of awell dressed wife o
! daughter in the simple article of jewelry, for,
. single evening, is ofientimes as much as woult
e originally have bought the entire island 0
J, Manhattan, before the times OF Peter Stuyve
' SAINT! When the little bills for these trileI
e are sent in and paid, the crisis may be imag
? ined as bringing up the rear. like Banquo'
Ghosti ssas ra-
b We write a true epitaph when we say tina
many mans failure has. resulted, not fror
d losses in his business. but from losses to whic
y he is blind because they are hidden in parIo
a carpets, enamelled furniture and gilded cornit
3 es, or in pearl necklaces, topaz brooches an
y diamond ringsP #
e Politsness,' as7ar. 81 ls7s
4 May yssafelysbe recommended as a branchs
9 family economy. We take il for granted ths
: in this world of competition, and in countr
4, of fabundapt, if not otsuperabundant labor, ther
l. must and will be different degrees of snccei
D and consequent prosperity, and that .th
IS weakest go to the wall, Skill. honesty, and .,
as tbriety must be the main Recommendations
y jail whose subsistence depend upon the labt
0-leither of hands or head; but all things eli
ne being equal, the greater probability of we
< doing is theirs who. by attention to the cou
a tesies Of every day life. avoid all. grounds
ss just ofeuse, and bespeak for themselves d
Oh favorable regards of those to whose good "
re they must look: for an opportunity of dist
ne, gushing themselves as workiug men. n
en- should be very glad for this aspect of true p
sle liteness to- be well studied by all whom it m
ZEN tcopcarp Fo, .,,a I,,r.,, xLo..1s....