The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1883-08-15
N WHIMS.
Are Often Very Costly and Some
times OF Questionable Taste.

There are quite a number OF people
,ora to whom the remark, "a fool and
l = money soon parted" would very
n nall apply. They go in for all sorts of
W." yagances, and there is no limit to
tthAair expenditures in order to crafty
tlLbims and sometimes questionable
NNontos Take, for instance, the foolish
.,',stom of giving costly favors at ger
cu nns and which was touched upon in a
Inravinrs letter. The practice and the
Prnenditure have got to be perfectly alb
e1rh At a german given here not such
s'arpat while age there were some sixty
S9Tors. and there's good reason to believe
1hot not one of them cost less than $50.
Thore is nothing to be gained by such
tfoIisb expenditures, but there are lux
rrips INDUCED in by a number of our
aaonle thatare endurable as we'll as beau
fffnl. Some two or three years ago Mr..
William Astor, the wner Of the yacht
Ambassadress, was walking along Bel
1avue avenue and his eyes CHANGED for a
moment to rest upon some elegant rugs
If a very light texture that We're in the
window of one of the eastern bazaars.
THAT glance cost Mr.. Aster 81 900, but he
ratified his whim and he had some
fling that was very beautiful. He en-
tered the shop and asked the price ofthe
r1Ips or spreads. zone thousand dollars
each said the proprietor, and he turned
partially away, believing that the inter
rogator was simply satisfyinga curiosi-
tv. He didn't think the visitor to his
fHazaar was a millionaire, but it was not
long ere he learned the fact. "Well,n
said Mr.. Astor, after slight pause, chow
many have you got?" and the bazaar
man told him he was the possessor Of
four, Send them down to the yacht
Am~bassadress,'' the millionaire direct
ed, and they were sent and the man got
his money. They were used as spreads
for the state room beds. In that case
Mr.. Astor had something that was very
beautiful for his money. And so did
Mr.. George Peabody Westmore, who is
said to have piad the enormous sum OF
$40, 900 for a beautifully carved staircase
which he had imported direct from Italy.
This same young gentleman is CRAFTY
ing Luxurious tastes in another direction.
For two wears he has had a large number
of workmen engaged in building some
MAGNIFICENT stabling accommodations
for his splendid horses. The interior of
the building is something gorgeous,
bardE woods, bright metals and costly
stone being seen everywhere. Mr. James
R. Keene had some magnificent green
houses erected at the back Of the house
he purchased from Mr.. Nathan Mat
thews, of Boston, and in them may be
seen some of the rarest plants, ferns and
palms. Mrs. Gardiner Brewer and hel
charming drughter, of Boston, delight
in the collection of rare flowers and ex
otics, paying it is believed, fabulous
sums so long as they can ecure seed ano
bulbs that are scarce. These ladies are
also liberal patrons of art. Then there
is Mrs. George w. Wales, in whose love
" cottage on Yznaga avenue can be seer
some of the most costly, unique and rare
china to be found in this country; IL
facts, this lady is believed to have the
finest private collection in America
These are some of the many examples
of people being lavish in the expenditure
of money, but for which they have
something to pride themselves on. No
a few of the wealthy mes find their way
to gambling resorts. What have they
to show for their lavish expen diture