The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-08-09
Or. Harpcr's Fifteen-Centers.

DR.. WILLIAM r. HARPER, President Of the
Chicago University and magnetic expeller
OF the Money Devil from plutocrats, is said
to be almost ready to begin a course OF Gu
unary economy. The Chicago Tribune thus
explains the genesis Of his interest in the
subject and the programme which he will
follow:
ID. HARPER has been greatly interested In tho
discussion OF The University Danes regarding the
possibility OF living on $500 a year The idea OF
calculus and baked potatoes, exegesis and fried liver.
has appealed TO him strongly. and the other day he
remarked 10 . party Of friends that ne was deter mined
10 Try for one week TO see n he could provide his
family table at an expense OF rs cents a day for each
member. according TO the schedule furnished by Miss
DAVIS"
Possibly the rotund contribution COM
peller may have q different and not less rea-
sonable motive. When he thinks Of the pri-
vations to which the millionaires whom he
has touched" and retouched NAV have
been subjected In consequence Of their ina
bLity TO resist his check-charming per-
suasions. he must be willing 10 show that he
sympathizes with tho victims. IL he has
made them poor for the sake Of education,
he has no pampered ~epicurean spirit and
can bear suffering and Miss DAvrs's
schedules.
We shall not reprint the bill OF fare IN
question. During these excuses OF the
mercury there are and must be in every
hfteen-cent menu things the mere mention
OF which adds TO the distress Of the dog days.
Besides, this Is a kind world and this il an
inventive people. II DR.. HARPER really
wishes to put himself on a ffteen-cents-a-
day diet. there are hundreds Of thousands
OF generous Americans who will be glad to
compose bills Of fare for him and to make
suggestions for his benefit. II Is ALWAYS a
Joy to watch the attempts Of others TO bant
or diet. Here It is true that even the good
man may feel a secret delight In the mis-
fortunes OF his friends.
Eminent authorities on culinary economy
and food value, such men as DR.. HITcH-
COCK, Prof. JOHANNES MEEHANUs and
cyamologists generally. believe that from
ten to fifteen cents a meal is the proper sum
for a man OF science TO spend. but they
allow for a profit. whereas DR.. HARPER will
live at cost. The lordly houses and horses
OF the great keepers Of cheap restaurants in
New York indicate that tho margin between
the cost and the selling price Of cheap food
must be ample. We don't know whether
DR.. HARPER means to have the Harperian
banquets dressed In his own house or not.
II he include rent charge. service and 80 on
In his expense account. he will find that his
fifteen-cent devices are costing him a good
deal more than that price. And they NAV
be dangerous In more senses than one.
They tend to rouse the kitchen to mutiny
and wrath, and to increase the standard OF
living among the deities Of that department.
DR.. HAMPER may put up with cheap and
filing grub, but there are those below stairs
who wont.
A man can live on almost anything II he
has the will and the price Of that little.
Frugal philosophers who make no parade OF
their unnecessary virtue subsist on zwte-
back and salt fishes at almost nothing a day,
Some hundreds Of needy or saving GENTLE
men in this town may be seen every morning
getting the best Of bread for nothing at a
famous bakery. They can buy a bowl OF
soup without bread for two or three cents.
They can beat DR.. HARPER at his own
game. Years 6 DR.. Do LEWIS OF Boston
tested his constitution and his theories with
cheap food. 1t is our remembrance that
he lived for a week, mainly on beans, for
less money than DR.. HARPER proposes TO
lavish on his subsistence for a single day;
and DR.. LEWIS reproached himself with ex-
%travagance and regretted the vinegar.
The earnest persons who are bent upon
forcing the world to be economical like to
show how easy and delightful 1t Is to live
on next to nothing a day. You wasteful
wretches." they cry. "porterhouse steaks
are not for the likes Of you. Look at that
magnificent piece Of liver which. with a
carrot and two dozen baked beans. was the
dinner Of President HARPER yesterday.
Live cheaply and you will be well of by the
time you are a hundred or two" But a
wicked generation makes answer 90,
confound your cheap food Tell US how to
live like DEIMoNIco's for fifteen cents a day
and We will listen to you" A most un-