The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-05-17
THE NEAR-BILLIONAIRE.
Places the Millionaire and NIultimiI-
ionaire in Position to Be Pitied.

The last word of luxury in America
has been spoken. There is an acme
of luxurious living beyond which it
seems impossible to go, and within the
past decade that point has been sought
and reached by class of people, who,
having grown enormously rich in an
astonishingly short space of time,
have at lone fell swoop" established
their scheme of living on a scale of
grandeur which the older set of the
very rich attained only by gradual
processes from one degree of luxury
to another.
The millionaire and the multinniI-
lionaire are old and hackneyed sub
jects. almost every community having
its proportionate quota, with whose
ways of life it has become familiar.
But the man belonging to the new
class, being possessed of wealth far in
excess of that of the millionaire and
multimillionaire. is characterized ac-
cordingly, as a near Millionaire, and it
is upon his doings and ways of life that
the interest of the gaping crowds is
now conferred, their curiosity being
aroused by reports of the number and
magnificence of the palaces he has
and by the added possibilities of regal
living in this country, without the aid
of courts or kings or queens.
To one who has not seen one of
these princely Establishments of the
very rich, and that with seeing eyes.
realizing comprehension of its Won
ders and grandeur, is difficult.
A man Cor woman, for there are
some wemen) may be called near
Millionaire when his wealth has reach
ed above $10,0O0,000, for it then has
attained a momentum which of itself
sends it along by leaps and bounds
with startling rapidity, the speed in
creasing with the addition of each
million, until, aided by the brilliant
personal efforts of the possessor in
other directions. the sum reaches the
awe-inspiring figures of
fifty, one hundred, two hundred, and,
in some cases. more than three hun
dred millions of dollars.
To most persons the condition of the
near-billionaire seems an ideal one to
contemplate, and, while this may be
true of those in European countries
who have inherited their wealth from
generations back, and have, therefore.
only to continue in a way of life long
established, the American self made
and finds himself confronted with per-
p1exities. when he finally makes up
his mind that he can spend few mill
lions without appreciably hating the
accumulation of the billion he covets.
A momentary glance at figures will
sustain the contention that the mere
and the multimillionaire
are. in reality, in a position to be pitied
instead of envied, for, while they are
looked upon as men of great wealth,
and much is accordingly expected of
them, they have actually not money
enough to keep UP with even the tail
end of the procession that is setting
the standard for the acme of luxurious
living in this country.
A mansion of the first class in New
York represents an investment of
from one to six millions of dollars; a
country estate, the same; a Newport
mansion, one to three millions; a
southern estate about one million; and
a steam yacht one million, making a
total investment of from four to TWEEN
ty millions of dollars. From this it
can readily be seen that the man with |
a fortune less than $10,000,O00 is, |
strictly speaking-or, rather, to use a
slang expression-not in it.-Smfth's |
Maya zine