The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-04-09
sYBARITEs OF NEW YORK.
Extravaganza That Rivals That of tn
Roman Emperors.


New YORK, April 7-"Think of William
K Vanderbilt paying his chief cook $40, 900
a year. said wealthy banker and broker
the other day Things are blue down
here. The strikes, the hammering of the
Gould stocks, the falling off in the Granger
earnings, the rather blue outlook for those
new Reading bonds, and number of other
adverse influences tend to keep the public
out of Wall street, and they will not come
back until things look decidedly brighter,
or until the Stock Exchange at least tries to
purify the financial atmosphere by Great
ing an Independent auditor who shall ex-
anime the reports of railroad companies
and point out the falsehoods for the warn
ing and behoof of investors and operators
But however gloomy things may look
down here however difficult it is for many
to even meet office expenses, you see things
go merrily on uptown. Mr.. Vanderbilt
pays his chief cook 5000 year more than
a Cabinet Cfficer receives, double the salary
of IA Congress Stnan, just as much as the people
pay Gov. Hill OF this State, or Gov Beaver
of Pennsylvania, and from two to five times
as much as is paid TO the Governors of most
of the other States. Gov. Foraker, of ONO.
who has made so much noise because a wife
snubbed him for attacking her husband, re-
ceives only $4,000 n year, or 50, 900 less than
the head of Mr.. Nanderbilt'S kitchen A
queer world, isn't it! TOTS French professor
! of gastronOmy gets vastly more than the
! average professor of sciences aud languages
III our great college,, far more than the av-
erage college President, and going higher.
he receives 1000 year more than the Vice
| President OF the United States, the same
salary as an Associate Justice of the Su-
preme Court of the United States, and
| within 500 a year as much as the Chief
| Justice of the republic
But thi, Is only history repeating itself,
| and the followers of EpicuruS sDrlnr M
among enlightened millionaireS who proba-
| bly, never heard of his name The expen-
! ditures of the Sybartes of New York for
| personal comforts are amazing They do
| not approach the insane excuses of some of
| the Roman Emperors-there is no Nero
! Nerus or HelIogabalus here to lavish from
| from $40, 900 to 800, 900 on a single ban
quet-but 1t is astonishing TO ecall that the
dinner given by the Erie directors to Sir
Morton Pictou in this plain, st ady republic
should have cost ST., 800. IL was given at
Delmonico's, and included floral decorations
and all the accessories of a scene OF epi-
curean revel. The Roman tragedian
E,opus we are told, paid more than 81, GOO
for single dish of singing birds. and this
cannot be matched by any tale of New
York gluttony, but there have been ban
quets here which cost from 500 10 $500
head, and this is doing very well for an en-
ligntened age. There are men here who
habltually pay SIS bottle for Madeira, IS
for claret, and proportonate prices for other
wines; plenty of wealthy smokers pay SOC.
for every cigar they light, and some pay as
high as 81. The very best cigars known
sell at wholesale at 81 ,O6O thousand, and,
of course, come from Havana. Americans
are the most extfavagant smokers in the
world. They take the bulk of the Cuban
crops In spain the people are too poor TO
, use the leaf from the Pearl of the Antilles,
and the cigars are wretched Plenty of
wealthy persons here are always ready to
pay uolior piece for the earliest peaches,
which we see wrapped i cotton like verit-
able jewels, or hot-house Strawberries at a
price chat amounts to 2)c. for each berry
These, indeed, are tlifing items, mere straws
on surging stream Of what seems like
! riOtous extravaganza.
EXPENSES OF LIVING
"Think of the expenses TO which a man
is put in the city" said a banker with whom
talked the other day. ut is an easy mat
! ter for a house with its decorations, pic
! lures and furniture to cost half a million
| dollars, and you know the late William II
! Nauderbilt's cost S3,000,000 d. q. Mills
| paid 100000 for the decorations Of his
house. Then the cost Of living It runs
from say $4,000 to 100000 year which
| includes eatables, entertaining and help.