The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1888-03-17
MONEY and HAPPINESS.
Some Well-Known Millionaires Give
Their Views on the Subject

In my time have seen most o.
the conspicuous millionaires of thi.
country and have asked them abou,
the pleasures which wealth con
ferred.
Russell Sage has been here this
week swapping "reminiscences witt
the other Congressman of thirt,
years ago who helped make N. P
Banks Speaker of the House. Sage
was only thirty when he came t.
congress, but he did one thing well
he rescued Mount Vernon from
decay in private hands and organ
lied the scheme for it's purchase
and renovation. Since that good
deed he has wrestled with the bulls
and bears in Wall street and has
piled up sheckles. He is, probably
worth $4,000, 600; at any rate, Jay
Gould has so declared publicly.
asked Mr.. Sage to tell what fur
there was in making money-more
than he could use.
Merely the pleasure of success.
full competition" he said. "Jus'
the same pleasure that boy ex'
periences in running faster anu
climbing higher than his mates
There are other ways Of SURPRISING
that l should think would give even
more of this sort Of qualification
being the greatest poet, or the great
est artist, or the greatest inventor
or the greatest scientific authority
Then there is no pleasure in tn,
mere possession ofmoney?" asked
"What do you mean by the 'n,er.
possession? he replied. winning
the money and keeping it when ali
the rest Of the fellows are trying t,
get it is just the successful compe
tition l was speaking of. None.
m itself has no power of comforting
pleasure, of course, any more thai,
so much mud. 1t is the knowledg.
If what money will do that gives
pleasure.
Are you rich enough, Mr.. Sage?
inquired.
"Am 1? Why yes. l have {
great deal more money than | neco
and don't really want any more"
"Why don't you go out of busi
ness. then?'
Because there is nothing else tha
[ want to do. l don't care abou
1orse-racins or yachting. l don
want to travel. New York like
better than Paris, and Broadway il
good enough for me. In fact Io
rather stay at II Broadway ano
guess ON The price of things thar
anywhere else in the world"
II used to talk with Peter Coopei
pretty often at his little retreat il
his glue warehouse down town ii
New York, when he found out tina
| didn't want anything"
"What are the pleasures of hav
ing money!" one day asked him
''The probability it brings THAI
you will not come to want, he said
There is no happiness in the mere
accumulation of wealth that / know
of," he added, except the chance il
gives of serving others. But the arr
If spending money so that it vii
10 good is, l think, the most diff
cult art in the world-more difficult
than painting a great picture.
tried for twenty years to benetli
those around me by giving then
money as I thought they needed IT.
and l suddenly found out that
,ad set up a pauper factory and
was changing industrious families
into beggars. Then / stopped tina!
method and built the institute, and
I really hope some good viii come
from that"
SIS a man any happier when ht
is worth $5,OOO,OOO," | asked at {;
venture, than when he is worti
S5OO?"
mo, I can't say he is, except fo'
the chance l spoke Of. 1t is real
pleasure to give to others when you
are sure it will do them good. Tho
most pleasure money ever gave n''
10 look at was the SO in gold that
I saved in 1903 out of the $25 that
Burtis & Woodward paid me a yeal
for carriage making. | clothed my
self somehow out Of the remaining
SIS, though clothes and everything
cost more then than now, and J
saved $40 each year, and it seemed
as if / was almost a rich man. The
mere possession of millions has
never since given me SO much
pleasure. :,
John G. Moore, the new Wall
street magnate, is probably worth
$1,000, 900 or more, and asked him
one day how it felt to be worth 9
million.
"Feel?" he repeated. laughing
"thcre is less fun in making the las,
million than the first thousand.
am sure of that. The only value
of money is its use. | don't mean
merely to buy merchandise and
articles of necessity with, | mean
to skirmish with"
I asked Senator Stanford last
,,ooL what we're the pleasures con