Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-12-07

EXPENDITURES OF THE YEAR.
Twenty thousand dollars a year is not
penny more than young man of fashionin this
generation needs to live upon comfortably"
said that agreeable and elegant youth, L. Fall
coner, esq.,, at the club the other night.
''But, Tommy" replied one of the other men
in the group, i've all notice that you manage to
keep up appearances pretty WELL and yet it is
not supposed that you have more than half that
income"
You mean that 1 dress extensively, keep
man, live in rather decent bachelor quarters,
have two.or three horses, and throw away
good deal of money on all sorts of foolishness."
1T has always seemed to me that you lived
like lord, said another member of the party
dryly: But. Of course, have looked upon
your butterfly existence with the jealous eye OF
one who has to grub for his bread and butter"
PRIvArIoN ON $4,000 YEAR.
"Demmit, Billings you're forever chatting.
I've not the slightest doubt that you make
quite as large an income as / have, though you
prefer to spend it in different and moro mvs-
ferrous ways. However, though 1 may live
| IKE a lord, as you say, it's grim fact that
have the utmost difficulty in scraping along,
financially speaking l don't mind saying 80
frankly, since it's a matter of public notoriety
that m head over ears in debt. The mamma
Oh rather pretty girl to whom L have paid
some very mid attentions of late was kind
enough to inform gossiping old relative of
mine the other day that she would not regard
me as desirable parti for her daughter, mas
much as the father-in-aw presumptive would
doubtless be expected to settle my financial
Obligations incidentally to the matrimonial ar
rangement Considering the fact that had
never for a moment thought of marrying the
young woman, may be excused for thinking
this a little tough. But, as l was going to re-
mark l should be perfectly satisfied if l
possessed sufficient means to comfortably sup
port my present scale of living without consid-
Grafton of pennies, without running into debt
and without"
without extravaganza"
WHAT ExrRAvAGANCE REALLY IS.
precisely. For extravaganza. in the proper
sense of the word, is simply expenditure be-
yond ones means. Not approving of extrava-
gance myself. on the ground that it produces
unhapplness and Is therefore immoral, l wish
that my means were greater so that nv ex-
penditure might fall within them. If had the
wealth Of W. X. or Cornelius Vanderbilt-say
as much as is piled up i'll the big silver vault
under the Ireasury-my present scale of living
would be plnchlng economy. Asst is on $4,000
year, must plead guilty of extravaganza
because my expenditure exceeds that amount
can't live on it, somehow and yet l am far
from being spendthrlft. On the contrary, |
am compelled to look after my dollars pretty
Sharply. lou see, man who has all mis- time
on his hands Is obliged to find occupation in
amusement and it is surprising to observe how
much IT costs TO amuse ones self during sixteen
waking hours at stretch. No matter what the
distraction Is 1t costs money That is one adj
vantage IN having business pursut-you can't
very well spend money during business hours.
Anyhow, the fact is that have to economic
severely, which is painful and have accumu-
Hateu debts which occasion me constant annoy
| ance II had $50 900 year could live as l
do now, without extravaganza, without debts
and without having to give serious consider
alton to my expenses For this reason | say
that $4,000 Is not penny more per annum
than is essential to the comfort of n Young man
In my position. You must remember that l
have no vices worth mentioning"
You are certainly model of virtue Tommy"
| said a fourth of the group.
VIRTUE is SOMETIMES MERELY PRUDENCE
81 defy you to prove otherwise. l don't pre-
tend that I'm virtuous because I'm good but
for the reason that haven't natural taste for
vice in any shape. Ny notion of happiness is
not getting fuddled with wine. l do not enjoy
the companlonship OF women who are not la
dies and the peculiar development of the pas
| sion avarice called gambling is to me unpleas-
ant As for the last point-particularly as re-
CARDS poker-I have noticed that two or three
men in a club invariably win all the money in
| the long.run through superior skill at the game,
while tue others simply contribute. l find no
Ilysel IN being u source OF IL
come III this way to gentlemen of my acquaint-
ance. That Is the way this fellow Berry Wall. who
earned brief notoriety by dressing badly and
III a manner to attract attention, got away with
| n good deal of his cash. met the man at one
Of the philadelphia assembly balls about seven
years ago. when he had just come into his
| money, perhaps 100000, which his father had
earned by making ropes and shaving notes.
| He wore an extraordinary stud, made of dia-
| mond and two big pearls, in the middle of his
| ~Iar ~ and oil t.rrt
me was that he had lost $500 the night before
at poker-all the cash he had brought with him
| from New York-but he supposed his check
| was good for any amount He lost thousands
| OF dollars at baccarat Ill a sort of sporting club
| in New York, wasted more thousands on turf
| betting and threw away an additional pile in
Wall street; so his check isn't good for "a penny
| today However, as l was saving am not
| gifted with any inclination to pursue these
| forms OF amusement. For man who INDUCES
fancy for them no income whatever will SUI
| fee"
| perhaps you will tell US what a Thoroughly
virtuous and pious youth may do with $40 900
| yearT'
| HOW TO sQUANpER JUDICIoUsLY.
| 81 didn't say was pious, Billings; no one
has ever accused me OF that. As for the rea-
sonable expenditure of $4,000 a year by
young bachelor in my position, it is easy
enough, as you yourself must be aware. In
| the nrst place, suppose you put down-for see
you have your pencil and note book ready
81, 800 for rooms. l pay that much, and know
that you can't get a really swell apartment in
| Just the proper spot for less money You want
| a living room, a dressing room, two bed rooms
| and third for your man, and bath room
Wen suppose that you already have $4,000 or
| $4,000 worth of furnishings and that you are at
| no expense in that way. You take your meals
mostly at the club when you are not awav or
dining out, and your grub, together with dues.
| little stag suppers and other unavoidable club
expenses, will cost you 81 500 more. Then Won
must have horses, two three, dogcart and
a coupe. You don't keep an equipage your-
SELF and dare say you don't know what that
sort of thing mounts up to. New harness and
other equipments OF all sorts have con-
tinually to be bought the horses go lame,
and the coupe and dogcart have to
| be changed for later styles from one
season to another. A horse is as expensive to
| keep a man, or more so, and you must have
! groom, too. Put down $4,000 for that item
of stable and it will not be excessive Now, if
| you are going to dress properly. your tailors
\ bill will not be less than 1880 for the year.
| You want your clothes made exceptionally we'll
and it will pay you to offer an extra price.
! which shall be an inducement to the sartoriai
| expert to do his level best for you, lust as Won
| would give a tip to a barber. have a stand
ing agreement with my tailor-and never 90
| elsewhere, because owe him about S3OOO-to
pay him 20 per cent over and above his sched-
ule price for everything he makes for me.
| And so am always perfectly fitted the best
| cutter in the establishment makes ma b;o