The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-08-25

imprint upon New York society to ,
larger extent than it has been the cas-,
in Philadelphia. or Boston. They al
| contribute to the glittering show o
Vanity Fair, In which New York hal
now only two successful rivals-PariI
and London. Man must be Of som,
use, and the shoddy was created to en-
uven the park with carriages; to fl
the boxes In the Academy Of Music
to beautify the city with new brown
stone residences, and to turn money
into the pockets Of European hote
keepers. All special providence makes
them flower off from society, anC
come everywhere to the surface. We
owe it to them that it now costs $25, ,O0(
to live "respectably,n that Is to say or
Fifth avenue. In this gum we do moi
include the rent of the house, which
would certainly swell the amount te
$50, 900. How this enormous sum-on
the interest of which many . family
Of refined tastes could subsist-is eX-
pended, is easily demonstrated. A first
class establishment on Fifth avenue
has eleven or twelve servants; man
cook with three female assistants,
scullery-maid, &c.; a man that waits
on the table; a laundress; coach
man and a footman-the latter may
help waiting on the table as bis du-
"a stable man two or three girls iol
ttiffaufsas .fiirne. iharny,sa q fhrflse::H fffe
outlay in carriages and horses alone
amounts to SIC, 900 year. The three
or four carriages which these families
keep, one for morning, one for after
noon one for evening, one for the drive,
the park, ETC., want renewing very
often in New York, where the differ
ent styles succeed each other just as
rapidly as fashions In dress do, and
where carriages are not kept so long
in the family, as In Europe. There
my lady's coach that was bought ten
years ago is good enough still now;
here Mrs. SnOoks wants at least one
every year. Then comes the change
in horses. Every one wants to have
a faster span of horses, and fancy
prices are paid for horses, which are
enormous. II anything, s., 600 will be
6eiOt0 the average spent, the change In
horses, and the same amount for stable
expenses, renewing of carriages, buy
ing new ones, ETC., is quite reasonable.
With regard to the other expenses,
they depend on individual tastes and
habits but they all have the best
masters for their children; at least
half a dozen big parties In the winter;
the most fashionable dressmakers for
the young ladies; their country seat
or their three months trip to Europe
they have to feed twelve servants, and
where will the $4,000 be when they
come to the end Of the Year,
THE UPPER FIVE OF THE UPPER TEN.
Of such families-families thatspend
between $4,000 to $4,000 a year
there are about a thousand in New
York. 1t would be impossible to as
certain the exact figures, but the above
figure is the result of considerable re-
search, and TO be relied on as very near
approIimating the fact. Easier 1t Is
to give close figure as to the families
spending between $50, ,0O0 and $500
q year. There are about sixty or sew
enty such families. Our figures, then,
would stand thus: 10,000 or 1900
families that spend $4,000 year
1,OOO that spend between 81, 900 and
$50, 900 year, and so or 40 whom it
costs $50, 900 year to live. Here are
figures for the gods. These are the
figures that explain those gorgeous
dresses you see at parties those
princely apartments with all the luxu-
ries OF the East and the West; the
endless tide of magnificent carriages
and horses that flows in the park
that gay and splendid life that has
made New York the Paris OF America
a city of luxury and frivolity, in which
man begins at 100000. The dazzling
sight is, OF course, too much for many
a poor fellow who has to work up his
way, and who, one fine morning, bids
his friends goodbye and starts for the
West, where he will not only find
luxuries of the rich, but also comforts
of the poor. 4. PULIT8aR.