Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1885-12-03
ARE THE RICH HAPPY?

May there not be some mistake about the
power of large fortune to make q man
happy? May it not be true that carrying
5000, 100000 or even s5,OOO,O0O for board
and clothes is doing a great deal OF hard
work for very small pay?
If a mans eating could keep pace with
his wealth, if Mr.. Vanderbilt could swallow
a cord of tenderlon, and ton of slapjacks
for breakfast, gross of turkeys and an
ocean of champagne for dinner, then his
great wealth would amount to something;
but be does not enjoy his rich dinner half as
much as one of his humblest workingmen
enjoys crust. Mr.. Vanderbilt probably
consumes with Indifference four inches of
sausage, followed by heartburn and bal
digger surrounds with eager joy sixteen
inches of sausage and secretly wishes sau-
sage were cheaper. The digger eats four
times the length and enjoys it ten times as
much. Multiply four by ten and you have
forty. This poor digger is forty times as
we'll off at the table as the richest man in
the world And in the luxuries of life the
table occupies very prominent place.
When Mr. Gould reaches home and his
rubber has spent an hour in trying 10 rub
lite and appetite into him, he goes to the
table. Just as he begins to pick little,
and sip little, all at once the skeleton
of some wretched stock speculation darts
before him, and even that little appetite is
gone. And yet, his gardener who enjoys
with keenest relish every mouthiul of plain
food, mourns that he cannot take Mr..
Goulds place; not to secure food, for he has
enough of that, not to secure clothing and
bed, for he has these; but to be envied by
his neighbors, and sweeter than all else, 10
have the street point at him with the ex-
clamaton. That's him! That's him ~
If this silly gardner knows what he is wish
ing for, and still goes on wishing, he is lit
subject for an insane asylum.
If Mr.. Astor could wear thousand coats
at once, with as many breeches, pyramid
of hats reaching to the sky, and uunumber-
ed boots, if ne could be accompanied by
procession of express wagons crammed and
fluttering with richest handkerchicfs loaded
with choicest perfumes, if he could wear
shirt collars Of the fuest Irish linen so wide
that they would turn over and drag on the
very ground or, if he could wear gold gar
ments covered with diamonds then hisgreat
fortune would be gorgeous. But Mr.. Astor
W
time. He may indulge in silk underwear,
but it is not as good as the workingman's 8
flannel; he may wear fine boots, but the
skin was probably taken from the back OF
an untitled calf, and if examined, would be
found very like that worn by the jantor of
one of his twelve hundred houses.
IF Mr.. Mackay could get out of one regal
bed and into another more regal every 30
seconds all night long, his enormous wealth
would tell. But he occupies single bed,
after the poor mans fashion, and his snor-
ing is probably quite as barbarious as it was
when he was working in the mines at four
dollars day.
l have watched the faces frich men when
they were entering church on pleasant
Sabbath morning, and again as they left
and have thought that unless these people
are consummate actors, assuming an ex.
preston of discomfort and dissatisfaction,
they are not happy people. | have talked
with some Of these rich men, asking them
frankly if their money made them happy.
Their answers confirm the testimony of
their faces Their load of care and endless
round of social designations bear heavily
upon them.
have known great many working-men
such as carpenters and blacksmiths. They
are generally interested in their little homes,
we'll acquainted with their wives, watch
with loving interest the progress of their lit
tie ones in our free schools, earn an honest
living, are envied by no one, are free from
vexing cares, enjoy good health, and with
it all the sweet and natural blessings of life.
I have studied their faces, and have talked
with them, and, unless they also are con-
summate actors and hypocrites, they are
fve-fold happier, and therefore, fve-fold
better off than the rich.-Dio Le,ris.