New-York tribune., 1876-02-26
NOTORIETE.

sharp-eyed, sharp-cbinned boy in village
store: sold sugar, calico, aud crockery over the
dirty counter; priod into the half-dozen
letters which made up the mail. or joined
sbrllly in The discussion OF politics, which went
on all day about the stove. The soul which
moved this wiry, loquacious youth was fired
with an ambition for which the muddy bounds
Of JonesvIlc offered no satisfaction. One day
Pctar was missing. 1t was reported that
Squire Jones himself had lent hm thirty
dollars to Try his luck in New YORK. Inc
Sauirc had an odd confidence in the business
capacity of the boy. For two or three years
Jonesyillc knew him no more. Rumor
whispered that he had gone az partner
into prize candy lotteries, mock anctloh
sbops. gift concerts, and other money
making operations, for which sufficient
number Of postage stamps and aliases were all
that was necessary. The thirty dollars were
rcpaid with interest and message to every
body in the village. Whatever befell Pete, he
never forgot his old friends Somebody from
Jonesyille. going to New-Yorl, stroled into
n gorgeous shop where quack medicines filed
shelves decorated with medieval wealth of
colorng; potions pills, and shop the property
VI.
at the door coupe, blooded bays, and coach
man. in livery. The JOpesyille man ran against
the little red headed Monsieur, and greeted
him as Pete. The next mornings paper con-
tanned an account of the meeting, wherein
Saint Martin ficurcd az q millionaire and the
guest as Il benevolent cCuniryman who had
helped him in the days of his poverty to
meal. and was now rewarded by prncely Gift.
Nobody cared 20 look into the truth of the
story. The papers were soon full OF Peter;
his advertisements filed columns; his opera
tions on Wall Street, his ecccntrcites,
his donations TO the poor, his brutal
vices, made him perpetual feast to the
reporters. Nothing il cheap as uo!oliety.
Pete was Indifferent how the world talked of
him. provided that il talked. One day he
emptied half-a-dozen bakeries for the be2gars
at the Five Points; the next, drove down
Broadway on an English stage-coach with
gold-moun,ed harness. and the leader of Tam
many beside him On the box; in the morning
he scared a Wall Succt by a desperate game
in which ne won rs usual; at night he
shot the lover of woman not his wife.
We all remember the man or some OF his
class; it il not small class in the cities.
Nobody doubted his ability; in fact people
credited his success to ability instead of To
puff,ry. check and his incessant posing and
Somci>luts before the public Boys sapcd
with envy from the street. corners at the Prince
of Good Luck rs he drove past III his glitcrin2
coach: young lads, earning their Tinchcd salt
rics by hard work. began TO study his plans
of legal gambling, whose success had brought
the town 10 his feet good and honest men,
dTudging until middle age in poverty and self
respect, brushed the mud from his wheels off
their sleeves and wondered whether after all
they had not made mistake in life.
II is hardly worth while to follow the story
10 its end OF course the end was ruin, sud
den and complete. A dozen histories OF such
careers the public gossip during the past few
years, have preached thc moral of the ineXora-
BILE result of fraud, false glitter and defiant
vice "a no sermons have done. 1t matters llt
tie whether this especial swindler was muir
dcrcd or Il murderer; whether his crimes, ex-
posed but unwhipped of justice, sent him ont
of the country To drag ont his days
in drunken ob.curiiy i'll Paris, OF drove
him to Sing Sing, in shaven head and
striped clothes. The meaning of our story lies
in The fact that Peter Martin had ability and
WAS not bs nature OF tuutdtlol II sNiuNhcI.
His disease WAS an itching for notoricty: there
i4 no leproSy which sooner taints the nature of
a man than that The wife OF a man rs nOtO-
ri0us ~ he, when applying for his admission
To an insane asylum the other day, stated that
he "Was mad on the subject of seeing his
name in ihe newspapers. There was nothing
- he would not do 10 accomplish that end"
Ii Is n madness that be,ets the American
public. Ii We owed TO il only the shoals Of
imp0tcnt verse aud poisonous literature which
DAMAGE the minds of our young people, the
ease would he bad enough. But IT is this
feyerish anxiety TO be known, to be published,
that drives men and women into half the
deeds of folly OF crime that I'LL the daily jour
mails. Americans seek money with more
desperate heat in the pursuit perhaps than any
other people but il is not the dollar they coyot
but the fame-the public notice, the prestige
which il will give. from his cradl, 70
old age the American has hungry desire 10
bo observed; TO exploit himself on the high
way Education is much u blame Tor this
the boy's ambition is stirred not 10 be sound
scholar, q genuine man, but to gain the piize,
to compete at the intercollegiate contest in
oars or oratory; some day-who knows?-to
run for President, aud be canonized or
damned by the public. Peter Marln's fate is
an extreme case, but a typical one, of IA
national disease of which only the best class
land that ono few in number) seeks 10 be
cured.