MISCELLANEOUS WAYS OF MAKING MONEY.
Odd Ways of Making Money--Millions for Cents--How to Live Without
Paying Rent--X-Rays and X-Bills--Fortunes in Old Iron--Newspapers,
Like Wine, Increase in Price With Age--High Price for a Wig--900
per cent. Profit in Old Books--What the “Old Furniture Man”
Makes--The Five-cent Millionaire--Profits of Peddlers--Why
Pawnbrokers Get Rich.
The ways of making money are as multifarious as the diversity of human
industry. Some men earn a fortune, some discover it, some win it, and
some marry it. Every year new schemes are developed for the earning of
one’s bread. Many of them are unpromising and even startling, and yet
all the great industries that to-day pour wealth into the pockets of the
capitalists were once derided as the folly of unpractical dreamers.
There is not one of the thousand or more methods of making a living in
which there is not the possibility of a fortune. The following methods
are sufficiently out of the beaten track to be novel to most people,
while some of them are absolutely new and untried:
914. THE NATIONAL ADVERTISING COMPANY.--Form a company of live,
energetic, intelligent young men. Ascertain the extent of circulation of
some of our literary magazines. For every subscriber and buyer there are
at least three readers; some estimate five. Bunch together the
circulation of some of the leading periodicals, and when you are sure of
a million readers, begin operations. Divide the country up into
sections, with a central headquarters, and let one of a pair of your
young men work each. One member of the firm remains to control the
office. The magazines should be those whose circulation covers the
entire country, and the advertisements you seek to gain should not be of
a local but of a general character. Then you can work your field,
promising that for so many cents per thousand or dollars per million,
you will place the advertisements before the eyes of that number of
people. Have circulars headed “Millions for Cents.” The power of numbers
has a charm for most people, and few advertisers will be able to resist
your array of figures.
915. FREE RENT.--Get your rent free on the same plan that some men get a
building lot free. Take a large house, which, we will say, costs you $75
per month. Such a house should have at least twelve rooms, six of which
should be bedrooms. These rooms should be readily sublet for $3 a week,
which, allowing for the fractions over the even weeks in a month,
exactly pays your rent. By means of folding-beds you can readily convert
some of the remaining six into sleeping rooms. If your family is small,
a parlor can be so used.
916. X-RAYS AND X-BILLS.--The fluoroscope is a new thing. It is a great
thing to see the bones of one’s hands, or keys imbedded in two inches of
solid wood. You can invent many other ways of making the novelty
interesting. People pay to see what is novel. With proper advertising, a
really good fluoroscope exhibition should net at least $10 a night.
917. GOLDEN SAILS.--Cleopatra’s barge may not have had golden sails, but
if you live along shore, especially near a summer resort, you can turn
your sails into gold, and make the wind waft you money by taking parties
for an outing on the water. You should get $10 for a party of six; $15
for a party of ten, etc. The requisites are a good boat, made attractive
by awning and colored cushions, fishing tackle, bait, etc., and a
pleasant, obliging disposition.
918. GAME PRESERVE.--If you live far inland, you can buy at cheap rates
a wild mountain or a large tract of wilderness. Around this construct a
high fence and stock your purchase with game. All this will require
capital, but you will find ample returns for your investment in the
rates which you will charge city sportsmen for a day’s sport. These
hunters care little for the money if they can have a good day’s sport.
After your game preserve becomes well known, through liberal
advertising, $25 a day on your investment during the season should be a
very modest expectation.
919. THE JUNK SHOP.--One of the things most in demand to-day is iron.
This is the iron age. It is displacing brick for building and wood for
ships. And yet how much goes to waste! Stoves, pots, kettles, rails,
machinery, wagon springs, car wheels, pillars, girders, and a multitude
of other forms of this valuable metal go to waste. The junk shop is a
mine. Manufacturers will pay you fifty cents per 100 pounds. The fact is
not generally known, but many junk dealers have become rich.
920. OLD NEWSPAPERS.--Newspapers should not be sold to the ragman until
they have been scissored, and perhaps not then. In New York there is a
man who makes a business of preserving newspapers. You can get almost
any copy of any paper for a number of years back. Copies forty years old
bring as high as $20 apiece. A copy twenty years old will bring $4 or
$5. Copies more than one year old and less than five sell from fifty
cents to one dollar. If salable, every day increases the value of your
stock.
921. THE BOOK STALL.--Where come the books on the street stalls that
sell for such marvelously low prices? From the cellars (would-be
sellers) of publication houses. These are the books that will not sell
at rates profitable to the publishers, and are bought up by the thousand
at small rates. Many of them come from the libraries of persons
deceased, and from the bookcases of men tired of carting them around in
this moving age. Sold at fifteen, twenty or twenty-five cents apiece,
there is a large profit in these books, for they are often bought at $10
per thousand--that is, a penny apiece. Profits at ten cents, 900 per
cent. Bought at $50 per thousand, you have still 400 per cent. Pretty
fair profits indeed! Let us no longer despise the old dealer in
second-hand books.
922. OLD FURNITURE.--Furniture made of the best material brings large
prices. Only slightly marred, chairs and other kinds of household
furniture often made of costly woods, are stored away as useless in the
attic. These could frequently be purchased at very low prices, the
owners being glad to get rid of them as an incumbrance. Yet a little
money would make them as good as new. Five dollars expended on a chair
that originally cost $50 and was repurchased in a dilapidated state for
$10; it was sold by the adroit second-hand dealer for $25; and the
purchaser considered it an excellent bargain. The dealer’s profit was
$10. Time consumed in repair, one day and a half. The man earned
$6.66-1/3 per day. Some in the same line have done much better. With
competent helpers and with industry in hunting up old furniture, these
figures should be trebled and quadrupled.
923. PUBLIC CONVENIENCE ROOM.--Establish it on some prominent
thoroughfare. It need not be very large. Suppose the rent to be $25 per
month. Let it be understood that for five cents you will furnish
materials for correspondence (pen, ink and paper), a writing desk,
brushes band lacking for shoes (not the services of a bootblack), a
whisk broom, a mirror, the use of a daily paper, a city directory, a
large map of the city, information on points of interest concerning the
things worth seeing, directions how to reach any part of the city, sofas
and easy chairs for resting, and the use of a toilet room. All for five
cents! You should have at least 200 patrons a day; receipts, $10.
Besides, you could sell stationery, confectionery, cigars, magazines,
and many other small articles in common use. The place could
advantageously be established in connection with a restaurant. Do you
know that some of the largest fortunes have been made from just such
five-cent charges. A millionaire street-railroad magnate, being asked
recently what his business was, replied: “Oh! just a five-cent
business--that’s all.”
924. GENERAL ADVICE.--Here is something entirely new: Thousands of
people want information, but do not know where to get it. Some write to
the newspapers, some ask friends. It would be of great advantage if such
persons could consult people who have more time to look into their
affairs than a newspaper editor, and who are more disinterested than
friends. Let it be known that you will give tips on horse races, inside
information about stock, points about the purchase of real estate,
advice about law matters, suggestions about the investment of money, or
any other information that may be required. Have on hand a stock of
dictionaries, gazetteers, directories, encyclopedias, and world books of
general information. You may charge ten cents for a simple consultation
of five minutes. You can give a great deal of information in five
minutes, if your questioner knows how to ask and you how to answer.
Fifteen cents for ten minutes, twenty-five cents for twenty minutes,
thirty-five cents for an half hour, and half a dollar for an hour. This
business might be combined with the Public Convenience Room in the last
number.
925. LANGUAGE CLASSES.--Here is one on a new plan. A French teacher has
hit upon the idea of combining work and play in a novel manner. The
classes form a club, which meets as in progressive euchre. The game is
played after the old style of authors. Upon blank white cards are
written the words to be used in sentences at the table. One table has
cards containing the names of clothing, another of furniture, and so on.
The players remain a certain length of time at each table, and then pass
to the next, each player visiting every table during the session of the
club. Afterward light refreshments are served by the teacher, and the
subjects announced for the next meeting. The idea is a taking one, and
capable of great elaboration. An up-to-date teacher ought to have
immense success with this plan.
926. BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES.--The business opportunities advertised in
a single New York paper average 25 a day, 200 on Sunday, or about 17,500
a year. One man claims that $10,000 can be realized in two weeks by the
opportune venture of $1,000 in real estate. Another offers stock in a
$10,000 mine which he is sure will shortly be worth $100,000. A third
offers $5,000 for the use of $3,000 one year in mining operations. A
fourth wants a backer for a new power, in which $5,000,000 will be
easily realized. Most of these “opportunities” are doubtless illusive,
while many are bare-faced frauds; yet among the myriads there may be
some genuine chances for money-making. A shrewd man might find a bonanza
in this mine of opportunities.
927. MINE OWNERS.--Mr. Demullers, of Jefferson County, N. Y., a few
years ago went to El Paso, Mexico, as a workman. To-day he owns the most
valuable turquoise mine in the world, and is known as the “Turquoise
King.” One recent shipment netted him $10,000. Another man in South
America is known as the “Nitrate King,” and is said to be the richest
man on the Western Continent. He also was once a poor man.
928. CATTLE RAISERS.--Six years ago Grant Gillet was a station agent in
a small town in Kansas, working for a bare living. He made an engagement
as cattle feeder, and from that position worked himself up into wealth
by buying and selling cattle. He actually made half a million dollars in
four years, and was known as the Millionaire Cowboy. Another man this
last year bought Texas cattle for $432,000, and sold them for $540,000,
making $108,000 in four months. This simply shows what opportunities
there are for shrewd men in the cattle business.
929. STUMP SPEAKERS.--Men of oratorical ability have an opportunity
during two or three months of every year to earn considerable money in
political campaigns. Both of the great parties employ the best talent,
the pay depending partly upon one’s convincing logic, but mainly upon
the celebrity of the speaker. The lowest compensation is $5 a night, but
noted speakers have received $100, and even more, for one short speech.
930. ARTISTIC HOME BUILDERS.--These are not speculators, but men who
have built homes for their own occupancy, yet have been induced to sell
by the high prices offered. We know of no less than three persons in
this present year who have made $3,000 to $5,000 each in this way.
931. CEMETERY OWNERS.--Cemetery lots have proved good paying property to
those who know how to manage it. Land which costs from $1,000 to $5,000
an acre is divided up into parcels one rod or one-half rod square, and
sold for from $100 to $500 a plot. Mr. Th. E. Tinsley became a
millionaire through graveyard operations in Texas.
932. GLASS BALL SHOOTERS.--The names of Carver and Bogardus have become
continental by reason of their skill in hitting glass balls shot out of
a trap. There is hardly any kind of sport more exciting, and there is
always a large class who will patronize a rifle contest. These men
pocketed fortunes by the exhibition of their skill.
933. ENTERTAINMENT BUREAUS.--A Lecture Bureau in Brooklyn has the names
of over 500 persons, embracing all kinds of talent, booked to interest
and amuse its patrons. The manager, by having several engagements on
every night of the week, and charging five per cent. of profits, is
growing rich. There is room for a bureau of this kind in every large
city.
934. ICE-CREAM MANUFACTURERS.--Ten million quarts of ice-cream are
annually sold in New York, 65,000 quarts a day being the average
consumption in warm weather. “It is nothing,” says a prominent maker,
“for a great establishment to dispose of 35,000 quarts in one day.” An
idea of the money in the business may be formed from the fact that the
value of the annual output is about $3,500,000, of which fully one-third
is profit.
935. GOLD HUNTERS.--F. E. Simmons, of Montana, went to the Klondike less
than a year ago. He suffered every hardship and nearly lost his life on
the journey, but he returned with half a million dollars. There are a
few prizes there, as in all mining districts, but the majority of gold
hunters do not succeed. Yet Mr. J. Partridge, a mining expert, who has
thoroughly examined the region, says the wealth of the Klondike is
inexhaustible, and he predicts that $30,000,000 will be taken out next
year.
936. ASPHALT COMPANIES.--Here is an example of the enormous profits made
by these companies. In one city the mayor, suspecting the charges were
exorbitant, forced them to a lower scale, when the company actually
agreed to do for $1.50 per yard what they had hitherto received $2.25
for laying. This last was a living profit, but the profits over and
above a fair compensation were seventy-five cents per square yard. This
is the way contractors for the government get rich.
937. HORSE JOCKEYS.--Small men weighing not over 100 pounds have an
opportunity to earn money by riding horses on the race track. As the
race often depends upon the judgment, skill, and balance of the rider,
the owner wants the qualities of a man in the body of a boy. Jockeys
receive on different tracks from $10 to $25 for their day’s work, but
riders of winners often receive presents of $10 and even more. Tod
Sloan, a rider for the Dwyers, it is said, received $1,000 for a trip to
the English Derby.
938. WIG MAKING.--In a large city where there are several theaters, you
can do a good business in wigmaking. The trade is easily learned, and
the goods will command prices varying from the mustache of fifty cents
to the court wig for which you should receive $7 or $8. A location near
a large theater is desirable. Actors are very fastidious about their
make-up, and willing to pay good prices. It is said that Edwin Forrest
once paid $300 for a striking wig.
939. BOOK REPAIRING.--Almost everybody has books that are out of order,
and yet, strange to say, we have never heard of any one making a
business of repairing books. For your outfit you need several sheets of
paper of different sizes and thickness, a few strips of leather, some
stout pieces of cloth, a bottle of glue, a penknife, and a pair of
scissors. These can be carried in a small hand bag. Practice on your own
and your friends’ books before striking out.
940. THE HOUSEHOLD PACK.--Select twenty-five articles most needed in a
household. They should be compact, so as to go in a small box or bag.
They should be such things as soap, starch, shoe blacking, shoe polish,
stove blacking, cement, mucilage, matches, bluing, yeast cakes, baking
powders, etc. These are articles in constant demand and consumption.
They can be sold from door to door, mostly among people of limited
means, and if sold cheap there is profit, because they are articles
which every one wants, and many sales, even if the profits are small,
mean large results. There are many peddlers who are foreigners, and
having made a competence, go back to their own country to enjoy it.
941. PAWNBROKERS’ PROFITS.--The pawnbrokers’ business has been largely
given up to the Jews, but there is no good reason why it should be.
Pawnbrokers make immense profits. The amount of the loan is not above
one-third the value of the article. The goods are frequently not
redeemed. Then there are the pawnbrokers’ sales, at which the articles
command at least one-half their value. The pawnbroker gets ten per cent.
or more on money loaned, and if the goods are sold he gets the
difference between one-third and one-half values; that is, if an article
be worth $100, the loan is $33.33-1/3. The amount realized at the sale
is $50. Pawnbrokers’ profits, $16.66-2/3. This is the reason most
pawnbrokers get rich.