50                 MY NEW YORK LIFE

a dandy with a touch of English sportsmanship.

New York life often reminded me of English life
which is an interesting contrast to it. I have said
that New York life is a millionaire life; and I
would call English life the middle class life. I
don't mean to say that there is no high life in
England ; far from it. What I mean is that Eng¬
lish life is established on the principle of the middle
class life. For instance, comfort is the first thing
to be considered in English life; and it is generally
very comfortable. When the landlady of a Lon¬
don boarding house tries to convince her would-be
boarder of the excellent quality of her house, she
insists that it is comfortable. The landlord of a
New York apartment house allures his tenants
with the advertisement that his house is fitted with
*' all modern improvements." In a New Y^ork
house which has any pretension to modernness,
there must be elevators and telephone service.
These modern improvements are excellent in a
way ; but they would offend the English sense of
comfort.

American   millionaires   are  not  useless   people