Feliciana sentinel., 1891-01-17
SINGLE TAX DEPARTMENT.
MR. VAN GRIPS FoRTUNE.

IN 1S4O Mr.. Van Grip purchased from
the Van Snort estate lot of land 'front.'
ing on Broadway, below Fulton street,
for e25. 600 An old building stood on
the lot ut that time, and Mr.. Van Grip
lad 1t torn down and = new building
erected in its stead. Tho new building
cost 800, 600 and created no little stir
and gossip in New York in those days
Besides giving q minute description Of
1t in their news columns, the Bugle and
bladder treated the subject editorially
and in glowing terms praised the enter
prise and public spirit Of Mr.. Van Grip
and wound up with . wish that New
York were blessed with moro men like
him. Enterprise and public spirit were
not Mr. Van Grips only virtues He
vas a religious, God-fearing gentleman,
. loving husband, good father, a
thorough business man who was not too
proud to look after his own affairs,
which he always kept in the straightest
order, keeping accurate accounts OF all
his transactions so that at any moment
he could tell exactly how he stood with
respect to any particular one of them;
10 short he was . model mana man to
ha looked up to and copied.
Years rolled by, bringing poverty,
uAHSCI AHu ioSS ~ "AHJ bA'l HAOhcSs
plenty and fine linen to a few. The
civil war broke out, and thousands of
hot-headed patriots loft home and kim
Of freedom. Hitherto it had been a cast
iron rule with Mr.. Van Grip to personal
ly represent himself on all occasions
whore matters of any moment were at
issue, but in this case he was satisfi I'd
to appear by proxy. So he hired An
agent to represent him at the front,
and remained at home himself to look
after tho interests OF society and to see
that the business Of tho metropolis was
carried en- in a ship-shape manner. The
public veal demanded this. and, as Mr..
Van Grip was a heavy taxpayer, the
city could not very we'll spare him. He
was one of her representative men.
In 1886 Mr.. Van Grip died. in the Ian
guage of the eminent divine who Off
ciated at the funeral services, "uni-
versally regretted" and was peacefully
laid to rest in the family plot, where a
handsome marble shaftrecords his many
virtues for the edification of future gen.
erations.
Early in 1887 the lot of land and the
Building (now an old one) on Broadway
werc sold in partition proceedings for
the snug little sum of $3.50, 600. l have
incidentally remarked above that Mr..
Van Grip kept accurate accounts of all
his transactions, and here take the lib
erty of glancing Al the accounts relative
to this particular one, not to satisfy any
morbid curiosity, but simply with view
OF learning a losson from the enterprise
and public spirit of the exemplary gem
tIemnn.
The account is written in a neat h and.
every 50 is dotted and every ~ Is
crossed. and it is most beautifully ruled
off in rcd ink. On the debit side are en-
tered payments for taxes, water rates,
insurance. repairs, etc, and interest at
tho legal rate on the S125. 900 invested;
and on the credit side appear tho
amounts of rent received. For the
first three years GS4l-3) the debit and
credit sales of the accounts exactly ball
ance. During the following seven years
lS44-50) the credits exceed the debts
by S. 800; from 1851 to 1860 the excess of
credits over debts is 1000; from 1861
to 1870 this excess amounts to SIC. 500:
from 1871 to 1850 the excess amounts up
to S14, 900; and from 1881 to 1856, inclu-
sive, it is IS, 600: the grand total of OK
cess of rents over and above payments
for taxes, insurance, water rates, re-
pairs. etc. and the amounts which Mr.
Van Grip allowed himself for interest
ON the principal sum invested during
the forty-six years being S51.O 900.
Now let us work out two little prob |
lems, one in subtraction and the other |
in addition. From tho price at which !
the property was sold in 1887, namely,
$3.50. 600, deduct the cost price. namely. |
,-,I on.D
which add S51. .O00 and we nd the net
profit on this little transaction was S216,- |
300. OF course, have not taken into
interest on the surplus of
receipts over disbursements which ac-
'rued annually from 1914 to 1886, and OF
which surplus Mr.. Van Grip was suffl-
'iently enterprising and public spirited
20 take appropriate advantage.
Two hundred and seventy-six thou
'and dollars! Phew! To think of it
makes my head swim. What genius! |
What enterprise! What public spirit! |
Compare this with the puny efforts of |
,wenty pigmy contemporaries Of Mr.. |
Van Grip. Those twenty clods Of hu-
nanity started in the race with him. |
They drudged and delved for twenty |
rears (1s40-60), and as the result of their |
and delving averaged S525 |
rear per man, they all earning during |
he twenty years $40, 900, which these
fellows squandered |
IS fast as they earned il. |
rhe war broke out and the whole |
twenty marched off to the |
front" from which six of them return
I'd alive to resume their drudging and |
ielving. For the next twenty-five years
ls65-s6) the total amount earned by |
those six nobodies was S66, 600. or $500 |
Yearly a man. This they likewise spent
rs fast as they earned it. in riotous liv-
ng and pampering of the flesh. And
hen those six nobodies died and were
buried out of sight and into their miser-
lble graves, whereon not as much as a
Wooden stake Is placed to remind the
that such pigmies lived.
Hero we haHe the hrinht eYamnla af