Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1884-02-08
RICHES AND POVERTY.
Some Striking Contrasts In New York
Vanderbilt's Magnificent Turn
outs.

outs.
l have frequently rung the changes
upon the assertion tkat in this city
TIE rich are growing richer and the
poor are growing poorer The rich
wax insolent, the poor are sullen. To
| day 1t is question as to how far sui
lennesS will permit insolence to go
Precisely when the answer will come,
| can not determine, but you may be
very certain that the time is not far
| distant when one or the other of these
| widely separated classes must give
way absolutely y to the domination of
the other. | saw a superb picture this
afternoon. We are enjoying superb
sleighing The city railways have
made our main avenues impassable
Between the salt which they throw on
the track to melt the snow, and the
dirt they subsequently throw on the
track to enable their horses to find a
footing, the ro&d-beds are as bare as
poverty's bones. OF course no sleigh
can be drawn across them save with
screechiugs, screenings, and audible
evidences Of dire distress.
On either side of the road bed the
companies have heaped great wiurowS
of snow, now coverered with dirt ana
aud mud au filth thrown by the EN-
ployes from the road-bed and its mix
ture of salt and dirt But after pass
ing Nr. Vanderbilt's domain and that
of the other surface magnateS Central
park being reached, we find excellent
sleighing, and on the long stretches
beyond as good and firm foundation
for runners as the most festive sport
can desire. Nanderbilt's tastes as you
know are fieshy. A glance at his face
would show that, if you didn't know
it already. Good eating, good drink
ing, good smoking, anu jolly coarse
companions are his chief desire, and
in them he finds his sole enjoyment
He loves to drive upon the road Al
ways careful of his personal comfort
he has provided from his fathers mil
lions the most expensive and the fast
est teams IN the country. He incases
his long huge frame in magnificent
sealskin garments, literally from top
to toe, and it is estimated that his en-
tire 'git up and git" would bring at
auction any day not less than $3.50, :
900. This includes his team, their
harness, his cutter, his clothes, his
diamond pins, and his carcass, pro
vided life had left it, and his two
hundred and more millions were divi-
ded among his heirs. This afternoon
about 4 o'clock he started from his
Fourth avenue stables, built very
considerably in the very heart Of his
neighbors' residences, and far away
removed from his own home on Fifth
avenue, with his $3.50, 600 rig. OF
course he could not go up Fourth av
enue, any more than any of the rest
of us could, so he went up Lexington
and turned into the park by the usual
road. AS he did so he passed a group
of common people" They were
mechanics, artisans and laborers.
They had been standing on the corner
commenting upon his order directing
their discharge.
AS Vanderbilt passed, his fat lips,
which are always curled as if in dis
dain at men whose fathers didn't die
rich, puffed like balloon suddenly
filled with oxygen, and scarcely
perceptible movement of the reins
started his team into a rapid trot. The
Press would not print what | heard
on that occasion. The oaths, the
curses, the blasphemies, the predic
tions, the threats would not be pretty
reading matter on Sunday morning
in any circle to which The Press IS a
welcome conner. No slippered paper
would permit his children's ears to
listen to the pronounced and wicked
words of these common people.
Young ladies seeking information as
to the costumes in Wallack's latest
play would turn up their noses and
throw the paper down in disgust were
they to see those words in print And
yet tris is cold winter. 1t was pre-
dlcted by Vennor that we were to
have an "open winter and | think
the predictions were correct. The
heavens have been open pretty much
ali the time, giving to us great gusts
of rain, chilling one to the marroy-,
or huge storms of snow, blockaGirg
our streets barricading our doors
Cold winds have whistled through
our streets, making it almost impossi
BILE for the best furnished houses to
give comfort and warmth to their oc-
cupants, and the Lord alone knows
what suffering and what bitter ex
periences have held sway in the homes
of the humble 1t is no easy task tor
poor men to live under any circum-
stances. Their shoes wear out, holes
come in their clothes. the bitings of
the blast affect their fingers, and hun
ger knocks at the doors of their
stomachs. Want holds many a single
man in MS grasp this winter What
then must be the daily prayer of men
with families, sick famished, poor,
and distressed tor food, flor raiment,
for warmth, and often for shelter
itself2 Wages are not high, salaries
are not high, many of our great cor
porations utilize their forces but half
the time, and in many instances, vote
of trustees has reduced the pay, from
5, to 10. to Is, 50per cent. below the
standard of a year ago. Hard enough
is it for the common people" with
steady work and regular pay to make
both ends meet this winter What,
then must it be when there is no work
and, consequently. no pay2 l am told
that railroad men are rarely good EN-
ployes in other lines of work. There
is a certain degree of freedom. of
abandon, of social unrestraint. of in
dividual action about railroad work
which finds illustration in no other
branch of employment: consequently,
when, as now and then must be case,
reductions come or discharges, the
men "hang around" and wait, hoping
for a better time. There is a certain
kind of noblesse eblige about railroad
management which insures reinstate-
ment to old hands when opportunity
offers, and the same high principle
conduces to the retention of old en-
ployes just as long as it is the proper
thing to do.
Mr.. Vanderbilt. as a representative