Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-12-21
Correspon1lence az q Mornira Neans.

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yielding less income. The soulless cor
poration takes advantage Of the fact that
n-payment of the ground rent involves
the forfeiture of the building, and it will
probably continue to raise the rent of the
land until that result is brought about
and it owns the dwelling as we'll as the
site. Then, probably, unless financial
affairs improve, it will not get for both land
and building what it is getting now for
the first named alnOe. 1t should be added
that the college is not alone in its rental
extOrtion. The builder on rented ground
being at the mercy of the owner thereof
everywhere in the city has reason to repent
in sackclOth and ashes of his more than
foolish investment. OF one other instance
illustrating this fact l have personal
knQsNledge. A store on Broadway, cost
ing $4,000, which was built on ground
renting for $4,000 year, was lost by the
owner because he could not rent the
building for enough to pay the ground
rent and taxes.
THE SUBJECT OF GROUND RENTS RE-
MINDS NE OF THE RHINELANDERS,
who own no small part of the land of
Manhattan Island. No end of stories are
told of the eccentricities of the family,
and the member of it who is now await
ing trial for shooting the family lawyer,
seems the best of the brood in one respect
at least. Avarice, in a degree savOring
OF insanity, is apparently the predOmi-
nant characteristic of many of the men,
bers of this wealthy family. One of the
number, now dead, used to boast OF hay
ing, with an income of hundreds of thou
sands of dollars year, spent but $52 in
side OF twelve months. He lived with a
sister and paid no board. The S52 went
for washing. The money from which he
derived so little pleasure, and which prof
tied others so little, became his sisters
when he died, which is the reason he
got his board for nothing. In
her hands, while it may give
more pleasure to the pOssessor,
it is of equally little profit to others. The
father of the young man who has been so
long hating between the Jail and the lu-
matte asylum is quite as mean as the rest
of the tribe. 1t is on record that for sew
eral weeks after his return from Europe a
few months ago, he got the woman who
had taken charge of his house fer a COM
paratively small consideration while he
was away, to perform the part of maid of
all work. She was required not only to
keep the large house in order and make
the beds, but to prepare the breakfast and
luncheon for the entire family-theY went
to restaurant for dinner. Not penny
did she get for her extra services! In fact
she was reprOached for her rapacity when
she argued that a laborer was worthy of
her hire.
HEAR FROM ONE WHO PROCESSES TO
KNOW
that nearly all the ready-made clothing
stores in New York are operating under
one management. That is, trade was so
dull that they were threatened with uni
versal bankruptcy, and, for the sake of
mutual safety, they determined to pool
their issues about month ago, so that,
clothing stores of the city form one man.
moth establishment. To one who knows
this the advertisements of the ready-made
clOthiers. read curiously. Firms whose
interests are identical denounce each other
in print as practically piCkpOckets and
pirates. The houses outside of the COM
binatiOn are naturally having a hard
struggle to hold their own, and some of
them have resorted to donating gifts of
greater or less value to those Of its pat
rOns whose purchases amount to a GER
tain figure. One concern gives a watch
to the purchaser who buys over S12
worth of goods. The watch is a stem
winder, is composed OF some tin amalga-
nation, and is warranted to keep time a
year. The dealers who have organized
themselves into monopoly cry down
this mode of doing business with most
virtuous Indignation. ''No gift enter
prise hereV ''This is not a lottery - is
displayed IN huge letters on enormous
signs that cover no small portion of the
superficial surface of their establish
ments.
Quite different story Of another very
dlss1mllar clothing concern was told to
me the other day. Sewing societies, which
use needle and thread for the benefit of
the poor, have been fashionable here for
several seasons past. One, to which
ladies of recognized social importance be-
long, devOtes itself to preparing garments
for the families of small-salaried clergy
men. Comparatively recently its mem
bers heard that the daughter of a clergy
man in the West was prevented from
getting married because of the want of
proper clothing. They accordingly went
to work to prepare d trousseau. The
romantic object Of their beneVolence lent
them interest as well as industry, and
the result of their efforts was bridal
outfit that for completeness as well as for
taste and Appropriateness, was such as
the daughters of men in good circum-
stances do not often enjoy. The young
bride was more than grateful for the kind
ness of her unknown benefactresses, and
she wore her wedding bravery with the
consciousness that it was a gift which
blessed both giver and receiver. One
need not be romantic to consider the in
cident charming, and few sights could
have been more attractive than the one
which was presented when these rich
New York girls were filling, in a futter
of sympathy and excitement, the bridal
box with their wedding presents for their
poorer sisters ON the Western plains.
ONLY PERSON BOTH BLIND AND DEAF
could walk the streets nowadays and fail
to learn that Christmas is near. Not
withstanding the hard times the side
walks are crowded with shoppers, and
the more popular stores are so filed with
purchasers OF Christmas presents from
early morning until late at night that it is
equally injurious to ones temper and
ones clothing to enter them. The shop
windows everywhere are Respondent with
Christmas paraphernalia. Many of them
contain figures operated with wires which
move about among gorgeous surroundings
greatly to the delight of the multitude that
continually gaZes upon them. The Christ
mas windows are not confined to any par
ticular quarter of the CITY. In greater or
less splendOr they exist in Grand street
and Third and Eight avenues, as well as
in Sixth avenue and Fourteenth street.
The last named thQroughfare is a specta-
Gle worth seeing at hight inst now. In
addition TO the public dispellers of dark
ness, nearly every store between Union
square and Sixth avenue BOAST an electric
light for a sign so that the street is as
light as day. The shop windows are re-
productions of fairy land, and the process
sion of sightseers numbers thousands.
The powder mill explosion at Secaucus
ON Monday night, sounded very different
ly to different people. 1t shook the house
| was at in TWenty-frst street, near Fifth
avenue, and the shock was accompanied
by mutfied roar. l supposed it was the
blowing up of gas works somewhere on
the island, and when l went out, 1 asked
a policeman on Broadway if he knew
what it was. "I thought il was a dry
goods box falling down in Twenty-third
street," he answered, sand went to see
what was the matter, but it was not that"
A newspaper friend who lives IN West
Eightieth street, or whereabouts, thought
the noise was produced by fat German
addicted to hemOrrhages, falling down
from loss of blood, in the fiat overhead,
Few imagined, until they saw the next
mornings papers, that the explosion
which caused the commotion took place
at distance Of eight or nine miles.
MAYOR EDISON RECKONED DECIDEDLY
WITHOUT HIS HOST
when he relied On the Board of Aldermen
confirming his appointment of Fitz John
Porter as successor to Hubert o. ThOmp-
son in the Commissionership of Public
Works. The explanation of the Republi-
can Aldermen not carrying out their deal
with their Tammany colleagues is said to
be that they have made a deal with the
County Democrats to this effect: If it is