The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1884-12-27

| The Cry OF HARD I1m65-StaTV8GAOn ant
! Money Going to the Dogs
Boom in German Opera-Juvenile ant
Other Tllieves-HIixetl Politics, Stock
and Weather.
New YORK, Dec. 20, 1884.
EDITOR CHIEF:
Twas strolling along Broadway last week
and meeting friend who was just in from
| Hooking Valley, he remarked they were
having hard times out in Ohio, and yet HI
said they are worse off in West Virginia
where they are actually starving to death
"Starving to DEATH - said. eyes," he re.
piled, Starving to DEATH" While he was
speaking we stopped in front of Schaus
store to take look in the window. The
picture was noble landscape, and myself
and friend were delighted. .Let us step
in," I said, "and see what they haze in
side" At the door / met my old friend
Herman Schaus. his face beaming with de-
light. "Come in, come in," he saiG cor
daily. II have the finest collections now
that 1 have had since came to New York. "
At the extreme end Of the store is room
about sixteen by twenty, and in that small
space was 100000 worth of pictures. On
the easel was little canvas ten by twelve,
by no means pretentious looking pic
ture. Iasked the price; it was $4,000. It
almost took away my breath. "What's the
matter" said Mr.. Schaus. 'sTen thousand
dollars for that little picture" exclaimed.
ooh, that's nothing" said he, ''there are
pictures in those cases worth $25,0OO; yes,
sir, and we sell them, too.' Here were
Schreyers and Millais, and Messoniers, and
Bouteliers, and the other sons of gilded
art, whose canvas, like diamonds, is
weighed by the carat. went from picture
to picture in wonder and amazement and
then started out to find a curious friend to
show him these pictures of marvellous
price. I was gone about half an hour and
when I returned the little ten by twelve
$4,000 picture was sold, and met the lit
tie old lady who had just given her check
for the money walking out of the store
with it under her arm. Hard times and
starvation! Let US jump into this bus and
ride ride down Broadway. Come into Del
monicos and get little lunch. At the
next table is pair of young bloods just
out of the Stock Exchange. Trough
times," one of them remarks, s'nothing
doing, business not worth a-by the way,
Jim, have you seen that team I bought last
week, cheap as dirt-2:3O, and only seven
thousand five hundred. Eh, by Jove, it
was just like picking them up in the street.
Here, take ticket for the Dempsey mill to-
night. Billy Edwards made me take three;
dropped thirty dollars, but Billy says it's
going to be slashing mill" Hard times, I
said to myself, ten dollars for ticket to 60
to fight and seven thousand five hundred
dollars for {; tam. . Come / said to my
friend, 'slet US drop into the Produce Ex-
change" The floor of the vast hall is not
crowded, but here and there are knots of
eager, anxious faces. Come over here; this
is the wheat market. December wheat at
rs and corn at AZ. The memory of men
thing hath occurred before in this land.
Hard times" says burly- looking broker
who last summer paid $4,000 for yacht.
Yes, it is hard times, for the bushel of corn
that costs Al or 50 cents in New York only
yielded to the man who raised it in Iowa or
Illinois Is or II cents. Wheat to-day is
thirty cents less in New York than corn
was last year at this time and corn brings
less than one-half of its last years price.
Everybody says times are hard. Let us
journey up Broadway again. The crowd
sweeps by like rushing torrent, mer-
chants, mechanics, professional men,
bankers, brokers, and immigrants. Here
comes fine lady, if fine feathers can make
her SO. She carries about her three Or four
dollars and thinks nothing of it.
Her husband, who is a merchant, remarked
as he started down town after breakfast
this morning that times were awful hard,
but Mrs. B. has on her shoulders a camel's
hair shawl that cost in Paris $500. It
passed the customs without paying duty, but
that is often done. In her ears are pair
Of solitaires, cheap at $1,000; several d1a-
monds fash on her fingers good for $1,000
more; her hat cost $50 in Paris and the
dress is q genuine Worth. Yes, $4,000 will
hardly pay for her ladyship's gear, but she
knows that the times are hard. All, here we
are at Tiffany S; let US step in for moment
TO see the glittering baubles which repre-
sent in hard cash about five millions of dol
lars. The cases are one blaze of light, for
diamonds and other precious stones are
scattered about like the sands on the sea
shore. How much for this locket, my good
sir? 5000. Here, however, is one much
cheaper, that one we can sell for $1,000. but
if you want cheap goods we have for ten,
five, or even as low as thousand dollars
In the back office sits the elder Tiffany, the
lead of this great frm-a cold, austere man
somewhat stately and not over communica-
i've, but I have the open sesame. Step in-
% his little office, perhaps he may show us
something. I whisper in his ear aud he
axes from his private drawer the largest
cut diamond ON the Continent; it weighs 81
,arats and is worth 100000. It is bright
;opaz color and if it were pure brilliant
would be worth million. Yet "we are not
loing much," he says, " for the times are so
aard."
Every place of amusement is crowded
aight after night. Two grand operas sup
port the most expensive singers in the
world; food is abundant beyond precedent
IN the memory of living men, dresses are
more costly than they have been before in
fifty years-in hundred years, and yet