The Saint Paul globe., 1897-10-24
TWO CASES OF WEALTH USING.

TWO CASES OF WEALTH USING.
Two great hotels will be opened to
the public in the city of New York this
month which illustrate the use men
make of the great wealth they possess,
either by inheritance or by their own
thrift, energy and capability. Each il
lustrates the sense of responsibility to
the society which contributed their
wealth which moves men to different
lines of action The one is the Astoria,
built by one Of the Astors, preserving
in the name the source of the Astor
fortunes, practically an extension of
the Waldorf, owned by another Astor,
costing $1,000, O0O,s seventeen stories
for guests and five for the manage
ment, where you may find board, lodg-
ing and attendance at anywhere from
$3.50 a day up under the roof to $50
a day nearer the earth. Wealth among
the Astors caters to wealth and makes
profit from it.
Down on Bleeker street, near Broad
way, is another hotel whose designs
were commented on by the Glob
over a year ago, built by a man who
had the ability to see the opportuni-
ties that came his way and the nerve
and ability to grasp and utilize them,
and now counts his wealth by the mil
lion. 1t will not do to peer too closely
into the nature of those opportunities
nor the use made of them. 1t seldom
will where men measure their accumu-
lations by more than six figures. One
might find in this case manipulations
of that mighty engine, the federal gov
ernment, so potent to aid those who
can get it's assistance in disturbing the
natural and free distribution of wealth
created by those who toll But this
man is making a good use of some of
his means, returning part in the shape
of a great hotel, cleanly, well-lighted
and warmed, with baths and laundries,
with clean, comfortable beds, with a
library we'll stocked and a large read
ing room supplied with papers and
magazines, where a man can get his
meals, good, well-cooked ones at a
cost of from 20 to so cents, and lodg-
ing for 20 cents a day This is the
Mills, built by Millionaire D. o. Mills
For 20 cents one can have a room
lighted by electricity and, in winter,
steam heated, a bed as comfortable as
any the Astoria gives, with a woven
wire spring and a hair mattress on an
iron bedstead, with feather pillows and
warm blankets and cotton sheets and
snoW-white counterpanes; with no diff
ference in price whether on the sec
ond or tenth story, for elevators make
all stories on the same floor, and with
baths thrown in for Iagniappe. For 5
cents one can get a cup of coffee and
a slice Of bread and butter just as good
as the Astoria serves its guests and
charges 25 cents for. You can get no
liquors there, but you can get a cigar
with which to help you through the
morning paper in the reading room,
and for 70 cents a day you can live
there very comfortably. And this is
not charity, lin the usual sense. No
boarder or lodger is getting something
for nothing, for the rates are made
to meet expenses and pay a small re-
turn on the $1O0O,0OO invested. But In
a large sense it is a charity in help
ing men to get the full value of the
money they must expend in susie
nance and shelter, helping them to
help themselves. And nowhere is such
help so sorely needed as in our great
cities, where there is so wide a space
between the accommodations provided
for the homeless who are rich and
those who are poor. OF these two men
Mr.. Mills alone feels and admits the
social obligations of wealth