The Saint Paul globe., July 03, 1904, Image 1

About The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
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"reallest" thing in the<
money burners is the steam
v yacht. The sail yacht is not
' a bad- second, although most
persons would imagine that a gulf
separates the two in point of , ex
pense. _■ _ •
Of course, one racing stable can
eat up more money than three steam
yachts; but there is this difference
between matters connected with
horseflesh and with the sea—the own
er of the racing horses is in momen
tary expectation of recouping his
losses by being present with ready
hands to get his own money back
and more, too, when some other fel
low's turn comes to have a fire.
Polo may be recommended as a
money burner, although it does not
look "the part at first. It must be
considered that the polo player gives
his life, with all its beautiful millions
of dollars to spend, into the keeping
of the polo pony, and a sprung bone
in the scrimmage would mean a corpse
with smiling heirs.
So a millionaire must cut good, fat
slices from his pile every time he
overhauls his string of polo flesh.
When the Goulds canter into the
field each one bestrides a snug for
tune, and from half a dozen to a
dozen similar snug fortunes are wait
ing in reserve beyond the fence.
Of course the automobile has
proved its title as an honored and ac
tive member of the money burners
in every way, from a police court to a
bankruptcy court. As all the world
knows, a chauffeur Ns more expensive
than a gold watch, and harder to keep
in order. Many a man to-day is
ST. PAUL GLOBE.
struggling to keep the wolf from the
door, while the leather-clad chauffeur
sits in lordly ease behind it, smoking
perfectos.
But, after all, it i> when you sec the
smoke drifting from the stack of a
yacht that you see the money burn
ing in a true combustion. What a
yacht burns up never, never comes
back. Even while she is laid up in a
dry dock or basin an army of am
phibious persons is fattening on her.
Shipwrights dock owners, wharfing
ers, chandlers, night watchmen, care
takers, dozens and scores of persons
with a great need for some of the
owner's money, are solicitous about
her, even while she is shrouded in
canvas and tarpaulins.
When spring comes and the owner
MAGAZINE SECTION
Charles r.flint, seated in the stern, on- the way to his fast yacht, the arrow
i.ays the magic words, "Put her into
commission," he begins to draw big
checks —checks ranging from five
hundred dollars a week to fifteen hun
dred, according to her size.
If he is a millionaire worthy of
the name, no steam yacht less than
200 feet over all will be at all possi
ble. A crew of twenty-five as smart
men as can be found' will be only just
sufficient to sustain the dignity that
simply must surround any man who
has more than $999,999.
A dainty little pet like this will
need four weeks of primping and curl
ing and dressing before she is fit to
bow to the waves and show herself in
the society of other swans of her kind.
Cost a little more than $5,500.
After the yacht is off the ways and
SUNDAY, JULY 3, 1004.
riding in the beautiful but expensive
sea, the expense, of course, increases
with big strides.
His crew gets a little hungrier when
out at sea than when in port, and if
the owner knows how to appreciate
a ship with man-o'-war's discipline
and pomp, and a crew with rhe triple
virtues of seamanship, good look-;,
and secretiveness, he does not draw
a wry face when the weekly mess bills
show that each jack tar of them has
I>een eating and drinking at the rate
of. $2 a day. That makes $50 a day
for a real millionaire's crew of twen
ty-five, with extra for holidays, etc.
Then there is the coal bill. If the
owner will let his engineer coax and
humor those wonderful shining en
gines, and if the yacht lies at anchor
most of the day, only two or three (
tons of coal" will be needed. To be
sure, it must be the finest handpicked.
The beauty won't eat the dirty stuff
that a liner will swallow with relish.
Extra grade, special selected, one
lump exactly as big as the other, if
you please, or those wonderful triple
expansion things will put Mr. Owner
-omewhere from fifty yards to a thou
sand "to the bad" in a race down the
river some fine morning.
But two or three tons of coal is
really a poor man's allowance. Let
the owner be a sporting person, with
a desire to keep his sword-like pro\^
a little ahead of any other sword-like
prow on the salt seas, or let him be a
millionaire who is in a chronic hurry,
even if he isn't going anywhere in par-
ticular, and those beggarly three tons
of coal will go up the flue in no
time.
The fine-t hand-picked, at $4.75 a
ton, burntJ at the rate of ten tons
a day, is a worthy rival of the hun
gry crew.
And yet these two monej'-burners
are only modest. The real money
burners dwell aft—in creased flannel
trousers and white caps, with a cul
tivated taste in other person's yachts,
wines, liquors and cigars.
There are hundreds of them who
live through ninety glorious days of
royal splendor on the millionaire's
yacht. They eat money faster than
the water tube boilers or the brown
sailors from Nahant and Stockholm.
They need champagne cocktails before
they leave their berths, and breakfast
is a banquet.
These the millionaire yacht owner
has always with him—and he may
thank his stars for them, for, though
they come high, he must have them.
You see, the other millionaires have
steam yachts of their own, and cannot
afford the time necessary to help
others burn their money. Without the
voluntary guests, the millionaire would
be a lonely golden statue.
Does the money burn? You can see
it go smoking down the East and
North rivers in/ long procession on
each side of Manhattan Island, for
ninety mornings from June to Sep
tember.
There are more than 450 enrolled
steam yachts and more than 2,000
sailing yachts in New York harbor
alone. They represent an invested
capital of $47,000,000. And except for
coal, the big sailing schooner yacht
"burns" as much money as the steam
vessel. Her ordinary canvas is the
be*t duck made in the world. Un
real gala dress is silken "muslin,"
gauzy as a society bud's gown, and
it costs $1 a yard; not a cent less.
The kings of the fleet cost not a
penny less than ten thousand a sea
son to run, if the owner is very, very
economical. The 130-foot steam
yachts will do it within $2,000, under
favorable circumstances.
Close figures show that a fair aver
age for the sailing and steam vessels
of any pretensions at all makes the
sum spent in the ninety days of the
season average $1,500 for each ves
sel, for it is known that the yachting
season costs $3,500,000 in round num
bers every year.