The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-10-10

upon us To lH1OIIi Us tildG many u
their homes had been destroyed by !
fire, and respectfully to request that
during the few minutes we tarried 1t |
their station we would subscribe a
few thousand dollars for the relief IT
the sufferers They presented a wris-
ten petition. regularly drawn uf,
and addressed to The American No
blemen" who were travelling through
Sweden.
This time we summoned all the couy-
age we had and told the simple trutkt
for if there is ever time when masJ
is ready to lay aside all sham and giv'3
the bottom facts concerning his ir9
come, it is when he is asked for SUBJ
scription. Unhappily, however, theyi
refused to believe us; and by theifl
countenaGces we could discover, as we
steamed away. that they were not only
persuaded that we were millionaires,
but that we were blindly regardless of
how to use our money in the best way.
At last we entered Stockholm, and
as, dust covered and weary, we alight-
ed from our" especial train" and passed
out of the depot into the street,
swarm of two thousand spectators SO
blocked the passage that the police
had to be called upon to conduct US to
our carriages.
Our experiences, however, were not
yet concluded; indeed, they were
scarcely begun. Neither had we
reached the limit of the phenomena
growth of our private fortunes.
We had started from Copenhagen,
including in our number some com
monplace capitalists who were the
possessors of mere million, For each
of us, however, this was soon to be-
come an insignificant figure; just
enough, perhaps, with which to endow
a college or help some poor relation
over tight place, but mere baga-
telle compared with our now rapidly
accommodating wealth.
But here we were, for the first time,
about to go shopping in the streets of
Stockholm, just plain, simple million
aires and nothing more. This was the
city where we had understood things
would be reasonably cheap; easily
within purchasing power of people like
ourselves who, while we did not have
money to burn, were possessed of a
reasonable competence.
But cheap! Why we had nevre
entered town in all our travels where
the prices of everything were so enor-
nous. Articles had appeared about us
and our fortunes in the city journals,
and just as soon as we reached a
| l. C 1,
rocket. Every one of us was a
marked man among those shopkeep
ers. And that in "honest Sweden"
We began to appreciate why it was
that rich people sometimes became sus
picious and what is popularity termed
mean" Most of the millionaires
when they had heard the prices, de
termined to wait until they should have
returned to America; then to purchase
} the same things. at fifty per cent less
. than they could where they were made
) plan which had much to commend it
not only from an economical stand
point, but from lofty moral predilec
; ton as well, inasmuch as they would
: thereby avoid the necessity of lying t.
the custom house officers when the,
, reached the wharf.
; One firm deputed a clerk to call upol
us at our hotel and offer to drive SOM
| of us to see the beautiful sights of TIL
5 city, without expense. Five or 81!
constituencies capitalists accepted hi
: offer, and, free of cost to themselves
, spent the best part of day in drivin!
f round the town and environs. The.
= gracefully accepted, also, his bushes
= card when he left them at their hotel
t But | happened to see him standing il
e front of his store on the last day of on
sojourn in the city. His hands were i
n his pockets and there seemed to
q plenty of room for them; indeed, ther
d did not appear to be anything else i
): his pockets bnt his hands. He bowe
i to me as / passed, though | was nc
l. one who had accepted of his hospital
j. ty; but in his department there was
r grieved and in ured air, which led IN
: into wondering how much he wa
d ''out" on account of the America
d millionaires.
= When on the next day we babe fare
r well to Stockholm, we breathed a sig
is of relief, that we were once again
T be our own real selves; to be dea
l. with like people who had to count the
l. pennies, and figure up the cast. Bt
= how little one can tell of the myster
Gus ways of Providence!
It AS we came into Russia we marvele
e why we were treated with So muc
II Difference, and why our baggage ;
the custom house was scarcely e.
e amined at all. But the day followin
l. our arrival it was all explained. II
authorities had received orders fro
y their superiors to let us alone. b.
n why?
# asked this question of a Russia
n gentleman. He smiled knowingly,
"a if he fancied | might be playing him
trick But he took out of his pock
the st. Petersburg paper, and tran
- lated for me into English the folio,
- ing important announcements:
~ "a party of fifty American millionaires a
is on their way, with private steamer and ca
S. to St. Petersburg. The party contains all t
n billionaires in America except Vanderbilt a
: Gould. Along the railway in Sweden and Nc
II way they threw away among the peoI
u seventy-tive thousand rubles."
e. That, gentle reader, would be equi
u alent to more than fifty thousand Dc