Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-12-04

| HOLc oi1otlC AIt0Ab. a drunken OrORp0CtOf.
flush with the first success Of his lfe was sure
| to have three or FOUR Of these satellites around
him, plying him with drink. drifting him into
cut-throat gambling houses, visiting gilded vice.
and then, by slow gyrations, settling down into
some nameless brothel, where death and desper-
alton were the spirits of the night and his
throat could be cut or pocket picked at leisure
One OF these kings for day, can't recall his
name. but subsequent trial In the criminal
| court OF Leadvflle in 1881. created quite SEN
satlon made lucky strike that netted him
$4,000 in cash. He at once wrote to his wife Of
| his good fortune, and intended to leave for his
| nome the following day. That evening he was
taken in tow by a couple Of these couriers of
crime and in less than two hours was gambled
| out of every dollar. He made complaint to
the police. and the larger portion OF the money
| was recovered, but too late for, hopeless and
| distracted, he had locked himself in his room
| and committed suicide.
1t was by no means the rough and illiterate
who succeeded in making the most glazing
idiots OF themselves under the stimulus of sud
Gen fortune. but degree Of prior culture seemed
to have the effect of adding a sort of weird and
eccentric variety to their freaks. A miner
| named Luke Fuller graduate OF Bowdon and
man of really brilliant mind and wide infor-
nation, one afternoon, entirely unanticpated
by himself, cOHsummated a sale that placed Fin
his hands over $4,000. 1t was to be supposed
that three or four years Of grinding poverty had
given him all appreciation Of the value Of
money. and he had never been known to drink
or dissipate in any form. To the surprise of
everybody he went on a monumental spree
which he wound up by taking five or six boon
companions on sort Of trumphal tour into the
east. The party stranded in Chicago and the
next time saw Fuller he was in Saurs saloon
destroying free lunch and furtively watching
the bar-tender.
Another man of his stamp, known by good
many In this city too, awoke one day to find
himself tOlerably affuent, and in the midst of
an unusually fantastic celebration a ride around
was suggested. The host insisted that for the
purpose of observation the glass sides of
hearse were peculiarly adapted, and two were
hired. In these the jewellers ensconced them
selves and played poker on the bottom while
the paralyzed populace looked aghast.
AS rule the secondary effect Of suddenly
acquired wealth was to strange out the better
and more natural impulses and replace them by
a forced and artificial character that was very
ludicrous where 1t was not disgusting. It was
pretty safe to say out there that man of means
was mean man, and have seen many brain,
erstwhile full of good horse sense 60 into per-
petual eclipse behind $50 gold piece.
The lucky ones formed sort of aristocracy,
and do not recall anything more extraordinary
OIL the burlesque stage than the soirees they
used to give. Big, hulking fellows who didn't
know quadrille from quadrOon, would ambe
around the hall in dress coats made in d enver
and their4ngers unused to gloves, sticking out,
separate from each other, like radiating RAYS
from central sun of white kid. Many of them,
stand too close analysis. even into their rain ent
On one occasion, while in the midst of set of
the Prairie Queen" a gentleman became
enraged at his Opposite" and incau-
tiously peeled off his swallow tail to
mop the wax floor with him. reveal
ing thereby the notifying fact that his collar.
shrt-front and cuffs were hollow and detached
shams. and merely pinned to the blue flannel
shirt that long association as miner had made
him loath to part with. A bosom friend of this
gentleman was gaunt. raw-bOned farmers
boy. who had wandered into the west and whom
sudden riches had dragged out of the obscurity
or prospect hole stuck diamond in his
bosom and dropped down into the midst of the
ultra aristocratic circles. He distinguished him
self at his debut. A young lady remarked to
MN That her sister had penchant for water
color painting, and he promptly replied:
"Why, kin they get one for That? NV old
man applied fur one fur wound he cot at
Shilo. but the pesky government wouldn't give
1t to him cause he'd lost his discharge papers,"
One OF the very few l ever saw whom unex-
pPcted wealth found and left the same man was
Senator Bonn Bowen, now at Washington. In
the days OF his poverty at Leadville he drank
beer because he liked it and because it was
inexpensive. Now he drinks it simply for the
former reason, while he is perfectly willing to
pay for champagne for everybody else The
game of draw he used to like is unchanged
save that he now substitutes cash for his l. O.
u, and his old friends whom the sun of pros
perlty has not yet shone upon have always failed
to detect in him that rigid dignity that doth
hedge about millionaire. He is lonely
exception. however. and the rule is that when a
man with the parch Of poverty in his throat gets
right good drink at fortunes fount he is apt
TO leave his common sense on the brink-it is
the most intoxicating draught on EARTH and the
enemy which men are said to put into their
mouths to steal away their brains must yield Che
palm forever to that which suddenly finds itself
in their pocketbooks.