The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-05-26
BLAME n COST
ON NEWLY RICH
BIZ PRRDENC ]. HASTEN.

BIZ FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.
New York, May 25.--At last .
cause for the high cost Of living
has been found which 10 satisfac-
tory to everybody-the newly ricn.
These picturesque victims OF sud-
den prosperity have always been
associated with all that 10 crude
and naive in our national makeup.
Nothing seems more ludicrous than
the proletarian suddenly turned
plutocrat. Humorous accidents OF
this kind run through all our most
populaf fiction; they I'LL our comic
sheets, and they occur with un-
ceasing regularity on our stage. 80
what more natural than to make
the newly rich responsible Tor the
high cost Of living? Here is some
thing that everybody is familiar
with and which does not have to
be laboriously figured out like the
imitation of currency. Here also Is
a splendid excuse for the profteer,
for what can q poor profiteer do
against the loud demands OF . new
crop of millionaires, insisting upon
the privilege Of buying goods at
high prices?
There are the retailers OF fem
mime luxuries, for example. They
complain that they cannot put their
prices up high enough to satisfy
many OF their prematurely wealthy
customers; while manufacturers
tell you with tears in their eyes
that they cannot think up enough
useless Injuries to meet the de-
mand. Never have the shops been
so crowded with purchasers of cost
ly novelties. Never have the small
accessories of feminine apparel
played such an important part in
the fashions Of the moment. The
newly rich like to wear as many
brilliant badges as possible to pro-
claim their wealth.
The Umbrella Magnificent
Thus, the umbrella has become a
thing Of great resplendence, with
fragile bones, a fine silken body
and q proud handle as profusely
carved and painted as a totem pole.
Some umbrellas even bear the carv-
ed portraits Of the favorite domes-
tic pets of their owners. While the
plain, sturdy, cotton cloth umbrel-
la is still greatly in evidence upon
a rainy day, it is steadily losing
out in the department stores.
which, under the domination Of the
newly rich, are handling almost
wholly the elaborate SIS to $50 va
rieties.
The feminine handbag, also, is
no longer q simple, utilitarian arti-
Gle, built upon practical lines. but
gorgeously beaded and bejeweled
thing designed chiefly for orna-
ment. There may be many women
who still pay no more than IS for
a handbag, but there are also many
who pay 500 and more. 1t is SIM
ply amazing to stand at a depart
ment handbag counter and observe
what women will pay, and are Gag
er to pay, for little bits Of tortoise
she'll and satin.
High Priced History.
At this same counter was dis
played a novelty designed solely
for the additionally credulous new
ly rich-a folded purse in billbook
form, made Of leather or Of fine
satin. with inset panels of what
were supposed to be bits Of rare
needlework tapestry, obtained from
historic places which were damag-
ed in the war. For a purse Of this
type, as well as the story OF the
original tapestry which goes with
it, women pay over a hundred dol
lars.
But the department stores are
not the only institutions which SUI
fer from the prosperity which the
newly rich insist upon sharing
with them. There seems to be a
general epidemic Of it among all
kinds Of merchants. Only the other
day, it was an interior decorator
who lifted up his voice in loud la
ment that he should be compelled
to make SO much money from SELL
ing atrocious antiques to the un-
cultured wealthy who crowded his
studio. According to him. the new
ly rich are still running true to
type.
The automobile agencies also
permit themselves occasionally To
become indignant over the tremen-
dous orders they are receiving from
people who are FESTIVE under the
burden Of large bank accounts.
Although the demand for the low
er priced cars has in no way fallen
off, that for high priced machines
is greater than 1t ever was before,
The clamor is always for the best,
but fortunately there is a wide diff
ference Of opinion as to which is
the best car on the market; which
keeps all the automobile companies
feverishly busy.
The Craze for Gems.
But perhaps no other class of re-
tailers Is so generously annoyed BY
the newly rich as our jewelers.. All
you have to do is to enter q fash
ionable jewelry store, and you see
that they are having q terrible time.
According to F. C. Backus, secre-
tary Of the National jewelers. board
Of trade. the whole country is Jew
elry crazy and diamond mad.
Everybody wants platinum Jew
cry" says Mr.. Backus. land we
cannot find enough large and ex-
pensive stones to fill the numerous
orders that come in. Diamonds are
particularly wanted. Every nation
in the world seems to want some
diamonds, but the demand here Ia
especially large. While the scram-
Bile goes on. the prices go up."
Now all of this frenxied buying
on the part Of our new millionaires
would be very harmless were It not
for the fact that everybody else il
inspired, apparently, to 60 and do
likewise. The Injuries turned out
by American industry to relieve the
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