FORTUNES FROM TIPS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 74, 8 January 1930, Page 6

FORTUNES FROM TIPS.

WEALTH OF WAITERS. Perhaps no better example of the wealth of scores of Sydney waiters can be afforded than the purchase by Mr A. Ferros, Greek waiter, of a block of nine flats uii Grafton Street, B-ondi Junction, for £10,500 says an Australian paper.) When Ferros came to Australia, eight years ago, lie possessed only the clothes he wore. To-day he is worth a small fortune. After signing the contract for the purchase of the flats from Mr C. Baker, builder, Ferros went hack to bis job of cleaning oysters and serving at Victor’s Cafe, in King Street, Sydney. Ferros started with £7O, wliic-h he saved from tips. He nut a deposit on a block of land at Yauchise, which lie afterwards sold at a profit -of £SOO. He then bought some shops in Oxford Street, which he soldi at a profit of £BSO. Guided by Dibbs Brothers, city real estate agents, Ferros then made £BOO from an investment in terrace houses in Downing Street. Among bis? other profits from veal estate, wove £750 from three shops and a large residence in the eastern suburbs, and £lOlO from a residence at Vaucluse. With all his wealth, Ferros continued life as a t humble waiter. He would sooner open oysters and _ serve soup than sit at home all day in his luxurierfisily furnished home at Vaucluse. Scores of Sydney waiters are wealthier than the men they serve. The head waiter in one of the city’s leading hotels drives to work each morning in a motor-car worth £BOO. He owns a £SOOO home at Coogee, and is the landlord of 10 workers’ homes in the Western Suburbs. Another waiter in a city club owns a £24,200 block of fiats in Darlinglmrst. A steward, who for years worked on passenger vessels on the Australian coast, recently retired from the sea, and immediately built a £12,000 block of flats in North Sydney.