Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1876-09-01
EHerr naY Luxuries.

In an article upon every Day Luxu-
ries, the Liberal ReUieU says:
1t is interesting to watch the processes
through which passes man who rises from
the state of priYatiOn to that of luxury,
Perhaps, in the first instance, he has been
IN the habit of dining at a low ehOp-house.
As he has been accustomed to nothing bet
ter, the dishes that he there procures are
all that is necessary to satisfy his palate,
and for time he eats them contentedlY.
By and by, however, his means improve.
and he is inveigled into a more pretentious
dining place than the low chOp-house, and
partakes Of viands which to him appear lit
tie short of perfection, and for which he
pays price which, startles him. In due
course, however, he comes to thiplE EllIishftEIli llIishftEI
OF the good things that are set before him,
and ceases to feel qualms of conscience
when he pays his score. If his thoughts
wander to the low ehOp-hOuse, he is filed
with wonder how he managed to endure its
various denominations, at the thought Of
which he shudders, and feels that, come
what may, he will never be able to 90 back
there again. If he continues prosperous,
the chances are that in the matter of dining
he rises from stage to stage, all of which
awe him when he first enters upon them,
but are afterwards looked back upon with
contempt and disgust until he arrives at
that in which he is called upon to spend as
much upon his dinner as would suffice to
keep laborer for nearly week. When
he has reached this pitch he may pause and
survey the past with wonder. The changes
which have been effected and can be seen
clearly and sharply defined, have all been
brought about so quietly, and with such an
avoidance Of preeipitancy, that while they
have been taking place they have not been
noticed. The tremendous gap which they
have placed between the present and the
past is one, however, which it is very diff
cult to bridge over. And it is precisely
the same in regard to changes which have
been made in other ways. Yet the time
often arrives when the attempt to bridge
over the gaps that have been created has to
be made. Now, there Is no more melan-
choly sight than that Of a person, forced by
the stern logic of circumstances, making
an attempt to bridge over one Of these gaps
after having been hurled from position 3f
comparative affluence to one Of poverty.
It therefore behooyes prudent people to be
very ehary of aeeustoming themselves to
luxuries unless their positions are so assur-
ed that there is no probability Of their eVs
er having to renOunce them AT the present
time, unfortunately, the tendency OF too
many persons is to indulge themselves to
the limit of their resources; and the eonse-
quence Is that they find their expenditures
quite equal to their income. This is a dan
gerous state Of things at the best Of times,
but it is particularly so when middle-elass
people, whose means Of livelihood fuctu-
ate more or less, are in question. Prudence
should urge people to husband their re-
sources, for the man who does so is less
likely to be exposed to absolute pFiTation
during the course Of his life, than Is the
individual who devotes himself to cOnstru-
ing the word luxury to mean necessity.