Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-08-01
NfEN Oh uNKNowN REsouRcEs.
How They Livs-The Penny Greater
Than the SwOrd-A Social study.

81 do not understand how he livesp' 4
a common expression in clubs and at Del
mOnicO's as some gentleman Of unknown
resources passes in view. she always
seems to have money"
1t is really no business Of the speaker
how the other lives, so long as he does moi
/ owe bin any money or seek to borrow any
| from him, but the remark, the outgrowtL
| ofinquisitiveness and unintentionalm mean.
ness, is made all the same.
Probably the subject for the remark is a
/ young man with an income from inherited
| prOperty-who, aware of his inability "a
| earn living at any Of the professions OF
| clerking because of deficient early train.
| ing, for which his loving parents, not he
\ are to blame which income, though
/ small, he makes equal to his expendi.
/ lures in keeping up a respectable appear.
| ance. Probably he turns his education to
| advantage and teaches music or the Ian
| guages and translates for publishing
| houses, keeping his business to him.
self for various reasons. Or he is
| a clerk in downtown house.
| whose salary is probably small More
| than likely he belongs to that nu.
merous class which fOurishes, particu.
] larry in this eity-small-fry SPECTATORS
/ men who have at command some money.
| which they keep moving like a ball IN the
| air in speculatiOn-now in stocks, mining
| and railroad, now in oil, getting in and
| out in the day, content with small profits,
/ and never sustaining heavy losses, by
/ selling out on the first decline. And
/ when the stock market is not propitious
/ for their little game, as it happens to be
1 just at present, these worthless turn their
/ speculative gaze on the race track, and
| the numerous meetings, rapidly succeed
| ing each other at Jerome Park, COney
/ MnnV4a0TTfh
! afford them recreation and profit by spec
! ulating at the pools.
The number of gentlemen of good al
4 dress, uneXcepnOnable connections and
| affiliations, and excellent attachments,
who exc out living by the precarious
mode indicated is very large in this city,
| and perhaps in all large cities.
In some it is the Unborn speculative
| spirit that rules them; they would not 90
into any steady. regular business If
| offered ever so good an opportunity. In
| the majority Of cases, however, the boys
/ were educated by overload parents to
| have contempt for trade and aspire to
| one of the professions, the death Of the
| father preventing graduation; or they
were started wrong in life by not having
| correct notions Of business installed into
their minds; and so they become adven-
| turers without recognizing the fact.
Selt-respecting aud honest. with all the
| instincts as well as the manners of gentle
men, they pay their bills and "keep their
| end up" as the phrase goes, but as they
| are not known to be in any regular
/ business, their presence continually
| invokes the exclamation, 81 do not I'M
| derstand how he lives!" from some man
who probably does not make half he does
or who is not worthy, so far as accom-
| pllshments go, to tie his shoes.
In (fpOrpia where fhprp ara EO many
| younger sons living on incomes, this
remark would probably never be made,
| and if heard by the object would be
resented as an insult, while here he would
pass it by with laugh, or the blunt
| retOrt: ''Wel, it is none of his business
how L livep'
There never was time when anything
was SO cheap as now, when money went
further than 1t does when wisely eXpend-
ed. Some one has paraphrased Bulwer in
saying that sin the hands of man truly
great the penny is greater than the
sword" and a man using judgment in his
| expenditures can to-day buy 100 per cent.
more with his money than he could in the
flush times when money was compare
lively so much easier to get.
No beat can exist long in one locality;
| and that the class Of men indicated are
not beats is evinced by the fact that
they are among us to stay; and the 81 do
not understand how he lives" should be,
Chow he manages to make his money go
so far is beyond my comprehension" and
then the mystery would be solved.
Any man about town with knowledge
of the town can keep up appearances in
good style on, say, $4,000 or $4,000 per
annum, and even less-say $2,000-and
yet apparently have the best of every
thing.
How?
Read.
Although always well dressed in the
latest styles-the unsOphistlcated think
ing they get their clothes from the most
fashionable tailors-these men patronize
some small-fry tailor on side avenue,
paying about One-fifth what the aforesaid
fashionable tailor would charge, but get
ting just as good material and work by ex-
ercising their ability in buying. and getting
as good a fit by coaching the tailor,
which the aforesaid fashionable tailor
would not submit to. How often you see a
ROuUedu richie, whom you know spends
annually on his clothes what would be a
small fortune to an impecunious man,
badly dressed-Why because he intrusts
himself to his tailor, who lacks individu-
ality. The best tailOrs sometimes make
the worst fits. Good fits are only obtained
by careful experimenting, which fash
iOuable tailOrs always have not the time
to permit. Therefore these men about
town, whose mode of subsistence eXcites
curiosity, dress exceedingly well for
about One-titth less than is
popularity supposed. For instance,
the other night at DelmonicO's ]
saw one of them in natty check suit
four-button cut-away coat that fitted him
like a glove. | knew he never got the
suit from one of the fashionable tailors,
although the cut would have been a
credit to any of them, and, admiring the
outfit, asked him how much it cost. Be
ing an old friend, he confided to me that
it had cost him exactly $22; that he had
got it from taller in Riyington street,
and had secured the fit by repeated 'strY-
ing on,' which the humble tailor would
submit to cheerfully. The same suit
would have cost him $40 at any of the
swell tailor establishments. He is noted
for the variety of scarfs he wears; these
he buys down town by the dozen, and
they cost him % per cent. less than one
would suppose. So ON all through his
toilet. He ''rooms" on a side street, and
the only expenditure he cannot ''trim" is
his club or DelmOnico's. 1t was Disraeli
who said that the world was an oyster
easily opened by well-dressed man.
These men, if you watch them, you will
see have an eye to business in everything,
and, content with small profits and quick
turns, they make IN speculation in the
street or in pools more than people think
for. OF good address and we'll dressed,
they enjoy life as they journey through
life, philOsOphically going without when
they have not the wherewithaI, and earn
ing their money by an industry and en-
ergy and sagacity that, in a careful bust.
ness system, would make them very sue
cessful men. 1t is to be regretted that
the misfortune of the death of a father or
of his failure should have blighted their
prospects at critical age of their youth,
but as long as they pay their way, owe
no one, 1t should be no ones business
how they live. Their success is the re-
ward their ability and talent; they figure
closely in specializing, and ''play to win"
every time, never indulging any theory
but industriously seeking for firsts in re-
gard to new horses as well as stocks. as
they do in their living; and probably COM
pairing their own expenditures to those of
others whom they know to live on stated
salaries, wonder how they manage to live,
knowing that they pay two or three prices
for everything. 1t is the eXtravagances
OF life that consume money; these raen
are never Eguilty of eNtravagances. AS
the merchant makes ms money by buving
cheap and selling dear, these men use
their money or make the little they have
go great way by buying cheap. /. e.. not
paying fancy prices when BY a little
trouble and judgment the same thing can
be bought cheaper by "a per cent.