The Passing of the Idle RichMartin, Frederick Townsend
History
The Passing of the Idle Rich
Martin, Frederick Townsend
Rich people -- United States; United States -- Social conditions -- 1865-1918; Wealth -- United States
In Boston a man of gold fell ill. From his waist down, he became
nerveless and helpless. The time hung heavily on his hands as he lay
in a hospital bed, and he determined to provide adequate amusement.
His bed was removed to the largest room in the hospital. An entire
musical comedy company was transported from New York City and a popular
production of the day was performed for the benefit of the invalid. It
cost him three thousand five hundred dollars, and it was probably worth
it.
In Pittsburg, workmen went about their task mysteriously. They were
constructing a great glass tank. For five days they laboured and
finally the affair was completed. It was taken into the banquet room
of a hotel and filled with water. A dinner was to be given by the
officials of a corporation. As the hours wore on, the diners waxed
enthusiastic and happy. The more important and dignified officials of
the corporation left. They probably knew what was coming and desired to
be absent in view of possible newspaper investigation. Then came the
solution of the mystery. A human gold fish swam about in the tank--a
shapely girl, clad in golden spangles and scales. The dinner was very
expensive. Those who attended the banquet afterward declined to discuss
it with the reporters when questioned about the human gold fish.
Another celebrated dinner that represented the effort of a wealthy man
to vary the monotony of life and to provide a unique outlet for his
money was the feast that culminated in the appearance of the girl in
the pie. A monster pie was carried before the astounded diners upon
the shoulders of four servants. The top crust was cut open. A slip of
a girl bounded to her feet. A score of birds was released at the same
moment.
In Los Angeles the son of a millionaire mine owner felt the time
hanging heavily upon his hands. He wandered down to where the trains
rumbled in and out of the station, and an idea possessed him. He
ordered a special train of five coaches and informed his friends. Those
who cared to go accompanied the young squanderer. For fifty thousand
dollars the railway company, which cares little about human emotions or
desires, offered to take the young man to New York. Train despatchers
cleared the rails. Switches were nailed fast. The young man and his
special train were shot across the continent like a flying star. He was
buying a fresh experience at a price that in all probability suited him.
A Nebraska individual is the proud owner of a hat that is made of
greenbacks. It is rather a costly hat, as twenty thousand dollars
in bills was used in making it. It weighs twenty ounces and it looks
exactly like the white hats worn by gentlemen. A young Crœsus grew fond
of a lady fair and sought to display a mark of his affection in some
extraordinary manner. He commissioned eight of the foremost artists in
America to paint a fan. The cost was one hundred thousand dollars.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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