The Topeka state journal., 1899-10-12
a BEAUTIFUL HOME ON
THE OCEAN WAVES.
What Maintain One in the Style Which is Found
on Palace Yachts AflOat In This Country and Europe

To own a yacht is the mbitiOn OF
every rich man whether he be rich by
inheritance or whether, acquiring his
wealth suddenly, he yearns to do
things on q lavish scale.
And yachting, by the way, is not an
inexpensive pastime; it melts up money
like butter IN the sun. Tailor-made
daughters are trifies. A racing stud is
an everyday affair. Two or three coun-
try houses are not worth mentioning.
And even the luxury or supporting a
titled son-in-Iaw is comparatively ques-
tionable, though perhaps it may be
compared with it.
William K. Vanderbilt easily heads
the list as the biggest spender of money
on yachts in the country. With an in
come of over Sc, 900, 600 a year, he pos
sesses certain advantages over the
cheaper milliOnaires which it is difficult
for the latter to overcome. Then, again,
he keeps his yacht in commission al
most the entire year, and as she carries
a crew of fifty-tWO men and consumes
large quantities of coal, this adds con-
siderably to the total.
The salary list of the Vanderbilt
yacht, the Valiant, per month amounts
to 81, 100. She burns about thirty tons
of coal a day of tWenty-fOur hours, but
does not average more than $50 tons
per month. This means another thou
sand dollars. The greatest expense is
that manipulated by the chef. To feed
the crew alone costs $1,000 a month
But while the guests are fewer in num-
Der than the crew, not averaging more
than five or six at a time. they require
something more fascinating than beef
stew and plum duff for dessert.
Mr.. Vanderbilt is something of an
epicure, and when only he and his sec
retary are on the boat an elaborate
menu is prepared by the chef three
times a day, to say nothing of a late
supper and Sundry lunches and deli
cious cOncoctions of an prohibition
flavor.
One hundred and fifty dollars a day
scarcely covers the cost of the rare
foods and fruits consumed, the wines
and liquors drunk and the sixty cent
cigars smoked by the quarterback con-
tingent of the Valiant. When there are
many guests on board the expense of
entertaining them runs up to eight
hundred or a thousand dollars a day.
The incidentals also come high. The
Valiant and her furnishings represent
an outlay of 100000. The breakage on
the Valiant is also something terrific.
The laundry bills of the crew and the
ships linen and tie incidental repairs
necessary to keep the yacht at the
highest pitch of perfection amount to
SIS day, or about $2,25O month. The
total expense of running the Valiant
per month averages between $12, 900 and
SIS, ,0OO or about $16O,0O0 a year.
Commodore Elbridge T. Gerry is
another past master in the art of
spending money on yachting. His boat,
the Electra, while not as large or as
speedy as the Valiant, is one of the
dore Gerry keeps the Electra in COM
mission only four months in the year
June, July, August and September. She
carries a crew OF twenty eight men all
told, and the salary list amounts to
81 900 a month. Much of the time the
crew wear white suits, and in conse-
quence the laundry bill is big item.
The Electra's coal costs $500 a month.
Feeding the crew costs another $500.
The Commodore when on his yacht is
a great entertainer. The fashionable
world of Newport have been enter
tanned on the Electra at some time or
another And Mr.. Gerry entertains like
a prince.
The monthly cost of running the
Electra is $4,000, and three-fOurths of
this sum is spent on the cuisine of the
yacht. The writer was once a guest on
the boat when 12O others were invited
at Newport for a days sail. At 10
o'clock champagne cocktails were
served to all hands, and at 1 o'clock
luncheon was served in the dining sa-
loon, which was fitted with all the lux
uries of a Fifth avenue palace
Oliver Iselin is a different style of
yachtsman from Mr.. Gerry and Mr.
Vanderbilt. He goes into it solely as a
sport. He will spend in the neighbOr-
hood of $500O 900 this season as his share
! of the expense in defending the Ameri-