Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1901-04-11
RICH YOUNG MEN.
Why They Are objects of Especial
Public Attention..


why They Are Objects of Especial
Public Attention.
One Of the signs of the times-a sign
that grows more and more noticeable
as the years increases the amount OF
attention paid in the public prints to
very rich young men. There was moth
ing thirty years ago like the attention
paid nowadays to young Vanderbilts.
There are several of them, all under
20, whose movements and intentions
and various enterprises are as closely
followed as though they were states
men active in public life. They are all,
so far as appears, exemplary young
men and modest, yet. whatever any
one of them does that is in the least
important to himself is considered to
be important to the public also.
When William comes from Newport
to New York on his racing automobile
his progress is reported from town to
town, and diligent narrators tell us not
only what time he made, but what he
had to eat and how his servant looked;
when Cornelius goes to a convention
at Saratoga his appearance as dele
gate is estimated to have more news"
in it and is more impressed on the pub
lie mind than any other incident Of the
convention. So when he hires a big
house for the winter it is recorded in
all the papers and announced in some
Of them in big letters on the front
page. When Alfred comes to town and
goes to work at q salary of $500 a
month, due note is taken of that also.
What is more, the people who read
about these young men are interested
in what they read. These young men
start in life as public characters, not by
dint of precocious achievement, but be-
cause of inherited position and inner
tied or expected wealth. SO it is with
the heirs of a few other American fami-
lies that have been very widely known
for two or three generations.
What it all means is that the great
fortunes of our time are recognized as
power that can be and is transmitted
from father to son, and that it makes a
difference which concerns the public
what sort of hands this power lodges
in. The old idea that it was only three
generations from shirt sleeves to shirt
sleeves is passing away. The great for
tunes of our day seem exceedingly sta
BILE, and the families that control them
seem stable enough nowadays to be
compared with the more pow erful fam1-
lies in Europe.-Harper Weekly.
Birth Rappers.
In some of the towns of Holland, es-
pecially those which in past times suf-
fered much from the Spanish invaders
under King Philip II. of Spain, there is
prevailing the strange custom Of an
nouncing the birth of q child by hang
ing to the front door a rapper or knock
er, called "klopper," enveloped in linen,
lace, or cloth. This usage, still observ-
ed, particularly by the patrician fami-
lies, is said to derive it's origin from a
Spanish ordinance, according to which
soldiers seeking quarters were forbid
den to be billetted at houses where
newborn children had arrived. A half
wrapped up ''klopper' announces the
birth of a girl; one wholly enyeloped
that of boy. Modern fashion demands
costly lace, which in some cases is in
herited from generation to generation,
and, again, the lace employed to be
wound round the mothers wedding
bouquet is often used for this purpose.
A rapper's red shield denotes the birth
of son; one half red and half white,
that of a daughter Sun.