The broad ax., 1902-12-06
PLAGUE OF LUXURY.
Hw Il Has Fallen Upon ths -Psspls
With Prosperous TfmeA
VIA SAs InaPO6uet1oa - 1OAsEa
OUaVOalOASSs ana the CONaGFyS
0rOWth n RAAs9 1Vea 49,
gIat DWullSS AvSs HNA

Ths growth of luxurious living in
America was very slow during the Arst
50 years Of the republic. Indeed, mp 70
the breaking out Of our civil war the
inequalities Of fortune were not 30
marked - 20 make those who lived
sumptuOusly according to the stand
ardH Of those days seem 30 farrsmoVsd
from the merely well-tO-do as TO be al
most In another world. In the earlier
days, any sober and Industrious man
could prosper, even though he did not
perform merely manual labor. There
Was work for every one to do, and no
one wa more IN demand than Mr.. Jack
-Of-all-trades, who now walks supsrfiu-
Gus In the dusty highway, with no one
TO applaud his sdAptsbility, none 70
need his ingenious services. Food was
plenty, land was cheap, rents we're low.
Be honest and you win be happy, was
not mere cant; Il WAs the solemn and
the grateful truth. Pretty nearly
every one lived well, but pretty nearly
al lived plainly. With better houses,
with better water supplies, with i'm
proved lamps for Illumination and
then with the Introduction Of mum-
mating gas, and most Of all with the
greater wealth which came ct the end
Of the civil war, the growth Of luxuri-
Ous living began taking tremendous
strides. Luxury with poor light after
sunset, luxury with few Of the meana
of paEsonAl cleanliness, does not mean
much 20 Us nowadays. Why, man IN
. Harlem Ast at $500 . year can COM
mand more Of the Kind Of luxury Just
mentiOnsd than say tie dissolute
Charles II ever dreamed of. But The
wealth that comes with new forfaneB
20 new people wa really what began
the race which may be called the MI
honaiFs Stakes for all ages, says q
writer IN Ainslee's Magazine.
Before these stakes were opened
there were q few fortunes In this coun-
try. Some were made In the trade with
the east, some were made In strictly
domestic commerce, some were found
Cd u piracy, and other adVentures BY
sea, but the greatest number and the
most stable were those which came
from the shreWd investments IN land
which was enhanced IN value bv the
growth Of cities. Even up 10 the time
that the newly rich began to splurre,
the owners Of the fortunes Just Men
TONED were pretty generally tolerably
plain people, who lived very quietly
and looked upon those who made un-
usual display as too vulgar to come in
side the sacred pale which called itself
society. In New York, this class Of
people at the time mentioned lived in.
she neighborhood Of Washington
square; in Philadelphia, toward the
loot OF Walnut street, and in Boston. In
that ever sacred Beacon street. Thev
we're slow but sure. They had no
ioubt about their position, or the pro-
1riety with which they maintained
heir dignity. They did what thew
pleased, but they did not please 10 be
n the least fantastic, theatrie, os-
.entatious or conspicuous. And untn
he newly rich had arrived. with the
manifest intention TO stay permanent
,, there were none with either the am
dtion or the ability to dispute this Eu-
'remaey, which was maintained not NV
n aggressiyeness, but by the passive
'oWer Of inertia.