Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-06-07
A NEW YORK PALACE
wuATIT COSTS TO LIVE IN A HOUSE
ON FIFTH AVENUE.
Fact. and Figures About Miiiionaires'
Homes-The Fair Co-Respondent--
Tho Woman who smokes
lca-r..,,onsnnrn d thc RIchmond pLspatch.l

Correspondence oil the kicnmona pispa'on'i
NEW York. June e.--The story of Fifth
avenue is Ikea fairy tale OF the good old
fashioned kind, where bags OF pearls and
rubies are stuffed into good little boys
pockets and uncounted gold lies kicking
about on the floors OF dragon-haunted
caverns.
The study OF that curious American pro-
duct-the millionaire-has 0 keen interest
10 most people. There is no such text
hook or object lesson as this narrow lane
~ so.caJled palaces, ugly and coarse-look-
mo With Int few exceptions, in all the
world. London has millionaires enouSb,
bnt no one street so full of them. There
are residence streets in Buffalo, CLEVELAND,
Wasbingtou. and other gmaller cities Tar
move beautiful, but the highway where
i;vs ALI the Vanderttlts, ID. q. Mills, VIII
liam G. Whitney, Coils z. Huntington
Jaw Gould, j. Coleman Drsyton, Dr'
Webb. II. Mex. Twombly. one OF the AS;
tors two till recently, ana unnuInoeer!e ca
other millionaires, has character OF us
own, lisa gloomy street, where IT isn't
made CAV by the blossoming OF the. IN
trudine shop-fronts which are rapidly
chasing the dwelling. houses up town. nut
no one can walk the two miles from Madi-
son Square to tho Park without dropping
II ccsts money to live on Fifth avenue.
Every residence there Is either the home
of a millionaire or of man who - living
beyond his means in the nope OF pelng
co1sidered one. Prices of land have risen
enormously since the late William IA. Van
derbilt paid $4,000 for the ramshackle
old ereen-house upon whose site he erect
ed his SIamese twin brownstone PACKING
boxes. Within recent years. lots nave
been sold in desirable portions or the
street for $4,000 or $4,000 each. mat
would be cheap indeed now. Cornelius
Vanderbilt paid $50 GOO Tor very ord hn,I.
down to make room for his splendid but
ugly palace Even that was cheap. @. 7.
Huntington has since paid Robert Bonner
S5 900 front foot for the diagonally-oppo-
site corner, vacant plot, on which be Is
now erecting a great stone castle, whose
cost he modestly stated in the building
permit. possibly for the assessors oeneht,
at 800 900, but which is costing many
times that sum. Mrs. Whltneys home, OPP
posite these two, an ivy-clad French cha
team. and perhaps the most beautiful and
homelike of all the palaces, ONLY cost 5000
600 at bargain sale few years ago, but IS
worth double that price now
And in ten years the stores and hotels
will have crept n mile and half further
north and the millionaIIes will be forced to
move on again. They are paying pretty
price for q few years. show on the avenue
and for the amusement of US who philoso-
phize about them.
syoKIyG WOMEN.
The woman who smokes exists, but there
are not very many of her.
have pretty wide ACQUAINTANCE with
members of the gentler sex, but know
personally only two smoking women. One
of these INDUCES in an occasional cigar
cite. The other occasionally, but not habit
ually. smokes big, strong, black cigar of
the most vigorous kind. This second
smoker is somewhat remarkable for one OF
her sex. A visitor of the masculine gender
once brought her bv way of joke pack
age or two of very fine cigarettes. She ex-
perimented with them in private, and thea
began Offering them TO gentlemen callers:
As the little weeds had not inconvenience
her at all she was rather surprised that
these experienced smokers found them
strong. After few days the donor OF the
cigarettes dropped in.
"Well. how many of them can you
smoke 2" he said trifle sheeplshly, for he
knew the potency of bis gift.
"Oh, three or four of once" was the
nonchalant reply.
THE Dickens you canl" SAID he in rs
constituent: why you are ready to be pro-
| NOTED to CIGARS And the promotion took
place at once. The man tempted her and
she did smoke, and has done 1t more or less
| ever since.
It isn't strange that women should occa-
sionaily take to cigars. but rather that SO
few of them do it. l know another young
woman who has herself never touched to-
bacco but who grew up in a smoking tamil
| ly and was used to the smell of the bufn-
| ing weed. She married q minister and
moved into little country town in New
jersey. Her husband didn't smoke. One
| day q big cousin came to visit this minis.
| ter's wife. She sent her husband out to
buy some cigars and filed the big cousins
pocket with them. Nov" said she after
he had lighted one of them, "sit right
| down there in front of me and blow the
| smoke this way. That's il Blow it right
in my face. Ah-h-hl Isn't that a fine
cigar?" If she weren't clergyman's wife
| fancy this lady-cultured. beautiful. re-
| fined, sensible-would be solely tempted tc
try weed herself sometimes.
Of course it is morally no worse fol
women TO smoke than for men TO do it
but il is silly, pernicious. and utterly in.
excusable habit, I'd rather see men drop.
ping it than women taking 1t up.
GOT THE BEST OF IT.
suppose auctioneers are about as apt
as most men to have their eye-toeth cut
| but l saw woman get the best of one the
other dry IN a very laughable manner
| Upon the catalogue of an odds-and-end.
sale was pair of old German tankards
| one of which was considerably finer thar
| the other. the second lacking also its pew.
ter lid The lot was knocked down al
| $3.50 each TO a thin woman in a striped
dress, who promptly announced that she
only wanted one.
| "Sorry, madam" said the auctloneer
"but can't divide the lot" Then his
gallantry overcame his prudence, and he
added tentatively: Perhaps some other
lady would like onen
cpd like one" said fat woman In red
"Well, we'll put 'em up again. said
the auctioneer, hoping to get higher
price.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
offereditsagainstyou Observation-Disclosures If
ty'snopriceatallfv five five FIVE bid five bid
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. six Ihear six
acknowledgement fifty.
seven fifty give me eight seven fifty give me
Observation-Disclosures"
"I'll take the one with the cover" sang
| out tho thin woman.
"All right, madam said the auctioneel
with his blandest smile.
But won't take the other one" said
the fat woman in tone of lively protest
II wanted that myself" and then there
was q roar OF laughter at the auctioneer's
expense. Then the second tankard was
put up separately, and. without the help
of its running mate, brought Just Sl.75.
THE GIDDY CORRESPONDENT.
Six months or so ago the greatest of the
New York newspaper syndicates sent out
for publication q sketch of one Of the best
known and most successful professional
women in New York accompanied by al
excellent portrait. Sketch and portrait
were published Ia a certain western paper
whose locality cannot be too closely hintec
| at. few days ago local divorce case
caused great stir in the town where this
paper was published, and its editor hayins
no portraits of the principals in the cas-,
picked out the portrait Of the New Yorl
woman. blew the dust of 1t, and published
il as IAN excellent likeness of the giddy co
respondent" OF course some kind frienC
sent the New York woman copy of the
paper, and she has vowed big VOW thai
she will never give any newspaper-maI
another photograph.
Do you wonder at it? / don't. Would
Mrs. Potter Palmer like to have her pic
ture published as that of confidence-wo
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