The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-21
MONEY In LONDON.
What 1t Will Do and What 1t VIII
Not In the Worlds Metropolis.

The farthing In London Is really a
useful coin. There are many things
you can get for it-milk enough to do
Tor the breakfast Of two people, thread,
needles, pins. matches, soap bluing,
candy, pickles and so on. Little chill
dren go off on a hurrah, so to speak,
with farthing. They can get candy.
about the size of an American cent
and possesses half its face value, but
It's purchasing power Is more than
double 1t is the lowest coin in Eng
Ilsn currency. says Bart Kennedy in
London letter.
Altogether the purchasing power of
money Is greater in England than 1t
Is in America. OF course, IL you come
over to London to live in big style ii
VIII cost you much the same as 1t
does at home, but IL you settle down
to stay here and to live quietly you
VIII md you can live ever SO much
cheaper.
Rent is lower In the first place. In
the nelghborhood Of Russell square.
w. e., you can get q house for 100
guineas year. This neighborhood is
q very good one. and the houses are
nne and large and have stables at the
PACK. For the same houses in New
York you would have to pay at least
$2oO month. This difference seems
l.
ing OF. The London houses OF which
l speak compare very favorably both
Tor location and comfort with the best
OF the houses that lie on Thirty-fourth
street between Sixth and Eighth ave-
nues. According to this showing the
diITerence in the years rent is as the
dlfference between $525 and s., OOO
or course, there are ultra swell To-
cations in London where suppose the
rent is as high or nearly as high as
1T is in New York. And, again, living
IN hotels is very dear because of the
tips and extras.
II an American tells you that living
IN London costs him as much as living
In New York, you may depend upon it
that he either puts on ultra style or
that he doesn't know the ropes. If
you are knocking around seeing the
sights and life of London, a sovereign
In your pocket is as good as a $40 bill
would be in the big town ON our side
of the pond.
Yet If you put on style in London.
you have to pay dearly for it, For
instance, you are taxed for every man
servant you keep-two guineas, I
+ think. You are taxed for armorial
bearings. You must pay for the priv
ilege of having crest on your car
riage II you are Mr.. Muggins, of
Goshawk, Mich, who has made his
pile, and you wish to prove satisfac-
torily to the world that your ancestors
were living away back in the glacial
period, you must pay for that pleasure.
TO sum up, in London you must pay
for the putting on of airs.
On the other hand, if you wish to
live modestly and we'll here, I am sure
you can do it for thirty per cent less
than you can at home. l have been
here two years now and have had some
experience.
While in one way money has more
power in London than 1t has in New
York, in another way 1t hasn't near the
power-I mean in the way of helping
you on socially. 1t will do a great deal
for you, to be sure, but it hasn't the
almightiness that 1t has at home. Here
you will be asked to the best houses
If people believe that you have talent
All you have to do is to turn up looking
neat and clean. You may not have
your cab fare, but that doesn't matter.
The power that has caused these peo-
pie to invite you is not the power of
money And If you had all the wealth
imaginable and were vulgar or stupid,
these people wouldn't be bothered with
you.
Now, I defy any one to tell me that a
hard UP man could move in the smart
set In New York just because he was
known to be talented Why, he could
no more do it than he could fly to the
moon. He would have to be able to
hold his 4own in the vulgar money
sense. i9 Ios na..lss4 5grss..;
/ know men In London who can
hardly pay their room rent, and sstill
they can go almost anywhere they
wish.
Yes, money in London has more pur-
chasing power than it has in New
York, but it hasn't quite the soul
crushing power.
Another thing about the money in
London is that it Is very largely in
gold. You don't often see paper In
fact, shopkeepers see it so little that
they are chary about changing bank
note.