TOWN AND COUNTRY 



when in England, for Mr Ralph Blumenfeld, the 

 editor of the Express, was not only the London corre- 

 spondent, but interested in the paper. The editor 

 when I was there was a real good and live chap, who had 

 formerly been on the Standard. I can tell you it was 

 a necessity to make money, for the bank-roll was very 

 depleted, and you can't live on nothing a week in New 

 York ; in fact, despite the hospitality and kindness at 

 first, if I was to continue in the swim there was the 

 compliment to be returned. 



Hoping on about the racing coming off I held on, 

 making bread and cheese, and not altogether living the 

 life of a recluse. There was any amount to attract 

 in that gorgeous early spring, with the brilliant sun- 

 shine, trips up the Hudson, the shops on Fifth Avenue, 

 the good fellows to meet, occasional joy rides, late 

 hours frequently, and always the look-out for some 

 bright scheme which should change the situation from 

 marking time into affluence. Of course Ncav York 

 can be, like any other city, the hardest place possible 

 to a man up against it, but at the same time, when you 

 know it, there is always the same amount of comfort 

 to be had for a third of the money you pay out when 

 you don't know a place. I have always said the same 

 about Paris : know the ropes and you need not be 

 perpetually dipping down to meet every sort of enor- 

 mous expense. One of the great charms about America 

 is that, even should you live in a modest hotel or apart- 

 ment, there is always the luxury of a good private bath- 

 room, which cannot be over-estimated. In France, 

 under modest conditions, there is always the difficulty 

 of bathing. 



It was strange that from one big man in the New 

 York newspaper world I had met in Europe, and who 

 was profuse in promises, I received no support at all 



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