Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1866-11-14

! was DRAWN the 0tnef Jay, mo very
large house near the avcnue-thc Fifth ~
enue, mean, Of cours.-by the spectacle
Of red iisg raised from the door post, and
. miscellaneous and not very arist0cratic
looking lot Of persons who were going in
and out ~ IL they held the right. ! 500"
discovered il Was an auction ss)s Of house
held effects, and that the ill-clsd people On
the streets were dealers in second nand fur
niturc.
Il vas -four STORY, high.stoop, brown
front house, 70 by 80 feet" believe that
il the technical classification 81 the house
agsusa. There are hundr d. Of such houses
scattered I'll up and down in sloost every
new street In this city, which makes one
inquire what sort Of persona live in them
and how do they manage to pay such rentsf
Understand, the most Of the best houses
ere let with the furniture in them, and near
ly every New York house is elegantly fur
nished inside. They may be nothing but
the universal brick aud morter outside, the
paved streets, the rafting vehicles, and the
house very nearly covering the los on
which il stands but inside there 10 n very
complete outfit of fittings and furnishings.
There arc few or no cottages, but there are
some very cheerful looking houses when
you arc once inside the walls. Again this
problem rises up How do people live who
pay thousa and dollars month for shelter
another Thousand, let US say, for food, and
servants, aud hospitality another thousand
for dress, and wear and tear and another
thousand for carriages, recreation, including
church dues, Newspapers, books and char
tiles % or total Of t5O, 900 . year p
What must be the income, and what 10 the
business that yields 10 much
The furniture Of New York house, such
% have described, 10 worth from Ave ID
fifteen thousand dollars, exclusive Of works
Of art and literature; that 10 to say. the car
pets, beds, chairs. tables, mirrors, cutlery,
glassware, and curtains, excluding, how
ever. the important item Of plate. Many Of
the houses have plate waics especially con
stvucted for the safe preservation Of plate
costly jewclry, and treasure. In works o.
art, one may travel long way up in til,
figures. August Belmont and W. II. As
pinwsll have the hest picture galleries q
yet, though A. L. Stewart will have his ne~
mansion fitted with some two hundred
thousand dollars worth Of paintings and
stAtuarv. They are, however, more costly
aud SNOWY than excellent. Il 10 not unusual
for house 20 contain fivc thousand dollars
worth Of pictures, with few hundred dol
lars worth of bronxcs. statuettes, vases, and
ths like. lis astonishing how many and
how expensive trinkcts il takes 20 equip
moiern household and take 1t 10 be 4
mark Of the advance in our theory OF civili'
ration. that the ornamental ~ far outweigh,
the useful. Il is like Falstan's penny
worth Of bread 10 an intoler ,ble quantity 0
sack" 1t costs but little 20 get the bar,
ncccssasics Of life, but il costs an iniinit,
sum TO provide the numerous supernui-
ties which art. and taste, and luxury re
quire.
Tho first thing put up after my cntranc,
was an inlad ebony table. The carving nv,
mosaic work upon 1t we're elaborate; ant
this work OF art. which was good for moth
ing but 60 support a pile Of Sevres china o,
a Hover basket. was knocked down to q
Jew 1T $75. although it rad cost, n fcs
years before, 81 400. Then followed Pa.
rlan vase, which had cost &75, and which
sold for 500 A s,a.uette which was yer,
pretty, and cheap At 500, went CT to
boarding Eo"se landlady at t25, and by thi,
time 10 probably gracing some BECKER street
M|ndyr.
A couple Of little cut glass perfumer y
bottles were put up along With two or thrc,
articles Of the toilette, about which knew
nothing. II WAS evident thst these hat
been the personal effects Of the daughter ii
the former occupant, and were expressed II
exquisite caste. From this little medallion
cup the self satisficd beauty had taken he,
pearl powder; from these little glistcnin,
walls she had poured the ambrosial odors
and nov they were 10 pass. under the ham
mcr, into the possession Of some base peas
ant ola woman. Then followed Bsussel.
carpets at $l.o5 a yard, which cost SIS -
broca,cllc sofas and chairs At $50, which had
cost, when nov, 81, 800 and so on, in the
same way, I'LL ! should suppose the $50. coo
worth Of household goods realized abou,
$d,0uo. not very profitable investment,
snrely.-Nnc YORK Correspondence Of Chi
rJc,, Ji,.s