593 Riverside Drive - 33. Chapter 33

Monday, May 18, 1925, 10:15 AM

Joseph Spingarn, called as witness in behalf of the plaintiff, having been first duly sworn, testified as followed.

Direct examination by Mr. Steuer:

Mr. Steuer: As in the last two days of the past week, we’re trying not to repeat information the court has already heard.

Joe: I understand.

Mr. Lewinson: Though also as before, that doesn’t mean the court will entirely accept everything said as objective.

Joe: That is also clear.

Judge Crain: Then let’s begin.

Mr. Steuer: How old were you at the time of your marriage?

Joe: Forty-nine.

What was your business at the time?

I was a merchant. A haberdasher. Specializing in men’s hats.

How long had you been in that business?

In a storefront? Twenty-nine years. Off a cart, six years earlier. Also, selling my father’s “unsellables” off my back, maybe two or three years longer.

Where is your place of business?

Currently, I have three stores in Jersey City. One at 333 Central Avenue for twenty-nine years. Another at 665 Newark Avenue for fifteen years. And the third at 96 Monticello Avenue for twelve years.

You run all three of them yourself?

I have my managers and our staff.

At the time of your marriage, after coming back from your honeymoon, did you take a cottage at Asbury Park?

The lake house has been ours for the summer for a very long time – since my wife Anna was alive. In fact, I believe she found it. The only reason I never bought it was I didn’t want to manage the winter maintenance. But the owners consider it ours.

What did you pay for it?

By 1922, $1,000 for the three months

So it was taken quite independently of the fact you were considering marriage?

Yes. My marriage was a surprise I couldn’t have predicted in June, let alone that it would happen as soon as August.

How long did your courtship with Mrs. Spingarn take?

With Miss Goldberg? Just over two months.

But you’d known her prior to that time?

Casually – very casually. We knew that we were somewhat related. But we’d never spoken about that or – really – about anything.

What was the earliest you remember her?

Oh, she must have been ten or twelve – but we figured that out later. And she and her family probably came to my wedding.

The first one?

Of course.

Did she come to Asbury Park in the summer of 1922 to stay at the lake house?

No. She and her family have long stayed at a hotel not far away. We met accidentally through my great-aunt.

Can you give us an idea of how often you saw Mrs. Spingarn after that?

Well, it quickly turned into practically every day.

And during the previous six months?

You could count back years – maybe decades. The last time I heard from Ella was when Anna died. And that was a formal note.

I suppose that both of you being in Asbury Park gave you an opportunity of seeing a good deal of each other.

Yes – but we’d both been going there for years without meeting each other.

When was the apartment in Central Park West taken?

As soon as I knew Ella would marry me. It was a surprise for her – an engagement present.

In addition to a ring?

Yes.

And the apartment was taken on a lease?

A sub-lease, pending Ella’s approval. After the first year, we took a three-year lease of our own.

What was the rental?

$4,800 the first year, because it was less than the full twelve months. $6,250 after that.

You could buy a house for that.

Not on Central Park West. And – as it happens – I have two houses in Jersey City, each appraised for about that value.

In that duplex apartment, in the way of furnishings, what did you do? Did you furnish anew, or did you have the furniture already?

Well, part of the furniture was from my father’s and my homes in Jersey City – we’d chosen to rent them, partially furnished. The balance of the furniture was new – Ella chose it.

Mrs. Spingarn said you had nine rooms there and three bathrooms. I assume that is so?

Yes. And there were three shared servants’ rooms in the dormers. Those were negotiated with the lease.

Can you give us an idea what you spent on the moving and furnishing?

I haven’t the least idea. I never figured it up.

Is there a reason?

It wasn’t important. I knew I had the money.

But it was fairly expensive?

Well, the furnishing of any house involves some expense. The larger, the...

And you had a car, did you not?

Two, initially. A third came later – by maybe a year. But it was exchanged for the first. We never had more than two.

So you were in the habit of running a car prior to your marriage?

Yes. Though by myself.

You mean you operated it yourself?

Yes.

What kind of car?

It was a small coupe. A Hudson. A four-seater, closed car.

Was that the car you had during the first year of your married life?

One of them.

What car did you get when you became married to the present Mrs. Spingarn?

I purchased a new car in the spring of that year – in early April, 1922. I had to put in my order in advance for proper delivery.

And when was it to be delivered?

In September. There was no sense in ruining it at the shore.

Then it wasn’t delivered until you came back from your honeymoon?

No. When I knew I was getting married again, I expanded the type of car slightly and had it delivered as another surprise on the morning we left on our honeymoon.

So you took that car – you went automobiling – on your honeymoon with this new car?

Yes – it had Ella’s initials painted on the sides.

What was the name of the car?

A Cadillac limousine.

What did you pay for it?

About $4,000. It was a seven-seater car. I figured Ella and I would need that, considering, Laurette, Laurie, and my father.

And you took a chauffeur along on your wedding trip?

Mainly to always have a mechanic close at hand – you know what cars and country roads can be like. And Ray wasn’t trained as a chauffeur. He was a neighbor boy who’d started sweeping my shop on Central Avenue when he was in grade school. Later, he became a stock boy and then general assistant. But he was too young to sell even working men’s hats on the sales floor, though I’d trust him with sidewalk sales. And he was accustomed to running stock between our stores, so he knew my car.

Is Raymond Ruhle one of your servants now?

Partially. He works in the stores when we’re in Jersey City, if Ella doesn’t need him in New York. And he brings Rosa to the apartment after he’s taken me to work on Monday mornings and takes her home on Thursday afternoons before he picks me up. Rosa is our housekeeper.

How many servants do you keep?

Ray. Rosa. Two maids, and a cook.

At what expenditure?

The women each average $60 a month. Ray gets $40 a week – for the longer hours, his work in the stores, our car maintenance, the driving, and the often missed days off. He’s still a kid and is happy to take time free when he can get it.

That’s about $5,000 a year. And what does it cost to run your cars?

About $3,500 a year.

There are a lot of us who would engage you to run our cars. How much do pay for your garage?

Well, we have our own garages in Jersey City and Asbury Park. But the one on Columbus Avenue, near our apartment, is $40 a month.

For a car the size of your larger one?

It’s often one or the other, and usually the smaller one in New York. And some garages charge more than others.

In view of the amount you pay your chauffeur and the cost of your garage, don’t you think the running of your cars costs more than $3,500?

That was an offhand guess. Though remember, Ray is our mechanic, too, so there’s barely a charge for repairs.

From what you said, after a year, you replaced your Hudson coupe?

Yes, the new one is a little Buick coupe.

Did you get it new?

Yes.

And is that the car Mrs. Spingarn talks about as hers? Though the larger one – the Cadillac – has her initials on it?

The big black one is used as a family car, and it often stays garaged in Jersey City. The coupe is more useful in the city.

In whose name are the licenses for the cars?

Mine. And I pay the insurance – accident, liability, theft, and fire.

Did you keep all those things in mind when you said the cost of your car was $3,500 a year?

To tell the truth, I wasn’t including Ray’s salary. He does so much more – and has for so long – that he’s on my business payroll. And since Rosa was my mother and father’s housekeeper for over forty years, my father still pays her. So that’s another expense subtracted.

What do you say your living expenses per annum are?

Again, they’re something I’ve never figured out.

Then try to be fair to the record and to yourself.

Well, I suppose between $18,000 and $20,000.

You paid over $7,000 in rent between the lake house and Central Park West. Add the cars and the servants, and that’s $15,000. And Mrs. Spingarn said you give her $150 a week for household expenses. That $8,000 would take it to $23,000. Plus your children’s schooling and their clothes – and your wife’s clothes...

It’s never been important to me to determine my overall household costs. That’s been Anna’s – or Rosa’s – or Ella’s concern. Mine is my business.

Then what are your possessions?

I have a little real estate.

Could you tell us what it is?

Well, the two family houses in Jersey City – though my father takes the income from the one he lived in for years. And I own the three properties where my businesses I are located.

Can you estimate their worth?

The houses, as I’ve said, are probably valued at $6,000 each. One store is worth $50,000, the second, $60,000, and the last at $150,000,

That’s $272,000?

And I have another building that’s in the course of construction – for which I have a building loan of $250,000.

How far are you advanced on the building?

About half.

And how much did you pay for the land?

$40,000.

So it’s safe to say you have at least $165,000 in that building?

Equity.

That would make the estimated total, so far, over $435,000.

Conservatively.

And if $165,000 is half the equity, you’re putting up a building that will be worth $330,000.

Closer to $450,000.

That takes your real estate investments to almost $725,000 – nearly three-quarters of a million.

It kind of makes me seem cheap for not buying the lake house. But I’d really rather keep my investments to business.

And do you have other investments? Stocks? Bonds?

Some. Presently, they’re being used as security for that building loan. And that includes the ones I’ve given to Ella, and those I’ve set aside for Laurette and Laurie.

Their estimate?

$50,000 for Ella, and $25,000 each for my children. There’ll be well more to come to Laurette and Laurie at the time of my death – in addition to part of their grandparent’s estate. But he has a host of grandchildren and other relatives to be remembered.

Are his investments as extensive as your are?

Hardly – he showed the way, but he sold hats. I’m a businessman.

A business built on haberdashery?

It was an fine beginning – for which I thank my father as often as I remember.

What do you estimate will be the income of your completed properties this year?

In the neighborhood of $30,000, including the two houses – but that’s gross. My net is about half.

And your property that’s now in the course of construction?

About $75,000, once everything is rented – again, that’s gross.

That’s $15,000 and $37,500. That’s about $52,000. Am I correct?

Yes, but that can vary. You – and the judge – know that from experience.

What is your place of business worth at 665 Newark Avenue?

In our three stores combined, I estimate our stock’s worth $100,000.

Are you certain that’s all?

There are seasons of the year when it increases. But when we take inventory on the first of February each year, the figure is around that. Maybe $125,000. It fluctuates every year.

Could you tell me your bank balance?

It varies between $1,000 and $1,500.

You run three stores and real estate operations with a bank balance of $1,500?

The bank doesn’t pay me interest. My business and investments do.

How much business do you do each year?

$About $360,000.

And the bank gave you a building loan on the basis of a balance of $1,500?

No – on my financial report.

On your own paper?

Yes.

Unendorsed?

There were securities. And my bank balance is sometimes $20,000. As I mentioned, it depends on the season.

What is it today?

Offhand, I couldn’t say. My mind is on more immediate matters.

Understandably. Still, you only have one bank account?

Do you mean for the three different stores?

Yes.

There are actually three. But two are as a convenience for my managers. They deposit their money from day-to-day. That’s withdrawn at the end of each week and transferred to my regular account. And Ella has a similar bank of convenience near our apartment, so she doesn’t have to go to Jersey City all the time. Also, her jewelry is there in a safe deposit box.

How much is that worth?

Well, it probably totaled $50,000 over the years that I gave it to Anna. And I’ve added a few pieces for Ella – though very few. She seems to like baubles even less than Anna did. And you know jewelry – it loses three-quarters of its value as soon as you touch it. But I always think of it as being worth about $50,000 because it makes me seem more of a sport.

How much income tax did you report for the year 1924?

About $8,000.

And 1923?

$9,000. You can pretty well tell what it reported – an adjusted income of just over $50,000.

And in 1924?

Slightly under $50,000.

Do you calculate your own taxes?

Initially – I always have – it’s my nature. But for at least twenty-five years, I’ve then given them to an accountant to check my arithmetic and keep me honest.

Is there anything else I’ve forgotten to ask about your financial records on behalf of the court?

Absolutely not. But let me tell you – I’d rather be up here without my clothes – as you seem to have kept my wife – than go through this again.

Mr. Lewinson: I’m sure there’s more to come.

Judge Crain: Perhaps. But first, we’ll be in recess until 2:00 o’clock this afternoon.