The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-08-29
Z YOUR WORTH PER POUND.
Farm Hand Valued at 50. - ---The
President at $lI.1lI.1O.

How much 10 your body worth 10
you?
II you are millionaire you are very
likely 10 answer that your body ~
worth wealth untold. II you are a
street sweeper you don't place q very
exalted estimate on IL. There is way
to ascertain just how much your body
10 worth to you. figuring on the basis
that all the wealth of the world is the
product IL labor.
The more money man can produce
each year the more valuable, of course,
is his body TO him. The less money a
man can produce, the less valuable rs
his body. The railroad presidents
body is worth vast fortune. On the
other extreme. the body of tramp, a
criminal, a lunatic or a 5eggar is worth
literally less than nothing.
The poor laborer who is prone to
imagine himself of very little use in the
world and his body OF little benefit to
any one will be surprised TO know that
he is in the possession of a handsome
legacy, from which. by the proper ex-
ercise OF his hands, he draws a yearly
interest
For instance, take the case of the or
binary farm hand" lie rs found all
over the United States. He Is a Swede
in the Northwest, a native in the South,
and possibly an Irishman or "a German
In the East. He gets, say. IN average
wage amounting TO 5000 a year. How
much do you suppose that mans body
Is worth TO him? Just about $500. For
his 5000 a year are 10 him in the nature
OF an investment at an annual interest
rate of three per cent. Tell him he's
worth 1866 and he won't believe you.
But he'll go on drawing his yearly in
terest just the same.
Then ther is the carpenter. lies
valuable bit of dust, this workman.
So is the painter. So Is the mason. So
is every other skilled mechanic. Some
will earn more money than others, but
a true average viii be about $500
year. The body of that carpenter. ma
son or painter is worth $16,666. Seems
queer. doesn't II? A good many of them
would doubtless like to realize their
entire principal at once.
Look at the ACKNOWLEDGMENT
young man, the clerk In the lawyers
Office. the beau OF the ribbon counter
or the starting stenographer. He has
TO count his pennies to pay his board
and keep himself looking neat, with an
occasional flyer at the theatre or oil an
excursion. Do you suppose he would
be so careful IL he knew he was worth
$4,000? Well. hardly. Yet, that Is
just the sum his labor figures out as
three per cent investment proposition.
Then, when he gets raise and draws
$25 in his envelope every Saturday he
may ascertain by mathematical reason
ing that his body Is worth $4S,33S.
Pretty goon for a clerk, eh?
f1.x. a rV1a
worth big money. The civil engineer
who draws salary of $500 year may
reckon that he is worth 100000. The
physician whose practice brings him I'm
$25OO every twelve months has prin-
cipal OF $S3.333 to brag Of. The pastor
OF one of our city churches, minister
whose income may be $4,000 a year, Is
tlemen who get all the fame, position
and money. when they command an in
come Of $4,000 year, are worth on
the whole 1898, 333.
Mayor Van wyck's body Is of enor-
nous value. So are the bodies of his
the district attorney.the
corporation counsel and all the other
high salaried officials of the city. Down
in Washington there are hundreds OF
officials whose bodies represent for
tunes. President Mckinley. for In
stance is worth the comfortable sum
of 81. .666, 666.
The following table will serve to
show that the flesh of human beings is
a mighty precious variety of meat. ior
when you consider mans avoirdupois
I'm relation to his capital stock you get
results like these. each man being
given an average weight of $50 pounds
and the valuation being per pound:
Farm hand. d..................... SA.43
Skilled laborer. r.................. lilo
Clerk, from $173.33 to-. ...... 2ss.sS
man, from S400 to. 222s.22
President of the United States. 11.111.10
New York Herald