The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-04-19
The Richest Child In America.

New YORK, March 31.-The richest
child in America has just gone to Florida
with her mother for a few weeks. May
Sbarpless is her name, and she is nine
years old. Her closest rival is Jay
Kingdom Gould, the infant son of Mr..
and Mrs. Geo. Gould, and the grandson
of Jay Gould. Young Jay may be rich.
or than May after awhile, but just at
present be is not. May Sharpless is es.
timated to be worth s9,oo0,Ooo in her
own name and right Her guardian is
Ex.Gov. Leon Albeit, of New jersey.
Even her guardian finds it hard work to
keep track of all the wealth that flows
into pretty little Mays Golfers. Before
she is of age, ifnothing happens, she will
be enormously wealthy, and the man who
secures her heart will become the bus
band of probably the richest woman on
the continent ten years hence.
May sharpless is the daughter of a late
member of the famous dry goods house
of Arnold, Constable & Co. Sharpless
was the resident member of the firm in
Paris, where he died. His daughter was
born abroad. She is as bright as she is
rich. She speaks French and English
huently, and is rapidly acquiring a
thorough knowledge of German. She
learns very rapidly, and is very fond of
the stage. Her youthful talent has e1.
hibited itself more than once in tableaux
and private theatricals. Two summers
ago she was at Sea Gift, fashionable re.
sort on the Jersey coast, with her mother,
nurse and governess. Some theatricals
were given, and May made big hit in
several sentimental parts. Her lover on
the stage was little Georgia Boldt. son of
the proprietor of the hotel and proprietor
of the well known Hotel Bellevue, in
Philadelphia. Georgia was about Mays
age. During the same performance Miss
Mamie Albeit, daughter of Mays guar.
dian, made a hit by her beauty and talent
in a rendition of the "Mikado." Mays
histrionic talent is hard to restrain, as she
wants to appear on the stage at every op-
portunity.
But it is May sharpless's dolls that are
the wonder of all who know her. She
has probably the finest collection Of dolls
in the world, and she is constantly adding
to her stock. Her dolls range in size
from the smallest to several that are
nearly as large as their owner. Two of
them cost thousands of dollars apiece.
Every summer Mrs. Sharpless and her
child go abroad, and the latest Partisan
invention in the doll line are purchased.
The dresses for the largest and most ex.
pensive dolls are made in Paris by Worth.
They are perfect fits and cost more than
the average American girl, even in FASH
ionable society, pays for her dressing.
The dolls wardrobes of Miss Sharpless
are wonders. Each of the favorite dolls
has half dozen miniature trunks
filled with dresses and other clothes.
The underwear of the dolls is made
of the best of lace and the finest of silk.
They have the latest style of shoes, and
wear the newest shape in hosiery. All of
them have hair, not of cornsilk, but gen>
uine, and the hair, is dressed according to
the existing fashion. Miss May taxes
down and puts up the hair and when Iihe
gives dolls party, as she occasionally
does at her home in this city, the dollies'
hair is arranged by regular hair dressers
engaged for that purpose, At her home
here May has dolls houses, carriages and
regular dolls establishment. Her dolls
parties are we'll worth witnessing. She
invites her girl friends to bring their best
dolls, and the reception is modelled ex.
actly after receptions in high life. En-
graved invitatations have been sent on
several of these occasions, and the dolls
were brought in carriages by their mis-.
tresses. They wore wraps, their dresses
were cut low in front and V.shaped be.
hind, and corsets, bustles and the usual
female paraphernalia made up the cos
tunes. As most of the dolls could walk
when wound up, the scene in the parlor
as they moved around, using their fans
and bottles of smellingsa salts, was decid-
edly realistic. Itwas certainly decidedly
novel cPhiAadelphia Times.