The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-08-06
MADNESS OF WEALTH.
A Story Which Tends to Show That
Great Wealth Begets Insanity.

Fontaine in his charming fable of THE
Cobbler and the Banker" shows us the
former losing all his light-heartedness and
growing too anxious TO indulge in stupid
posing as soon as he becomes the owner of
part of the latter's wealth. But is it. only
light-heartedness and good spirits which men
lose when they get rich too suddenly! Do
you remember the case of that young negro
whom Livingston brought from the interior
of Africa to Zanzibar and took on board
the ship when he embarked for Englandl
The savage-one of the most Intelligent of
his race-had shown great courage as
warrior. He had been converted TO chris
tianity, and Livingston had taught him
many civilized ways and ideas. But when
he found himself on board great steamer,
when he saw the machine in motion and
felt the vessel moving uGder him like
thing of life, without sails or oars, then all
these wonders were too much for his un
tutored brain, and he jumped down into
the machinery and was crushed to a shape
less mass.
A man who has passed the larger part of
his life with no larger fortune than an in
come Just sufficient to meet pressing every
day necessities, and who had to work hard
to earn this little, is mighty apt to receive
some such shock as that also when he hap
pens to find himself Juggling with mil
lions, and this shock, especially in this age
of nervous diseases, is likely to cause in
sanity.
The madness of grandeurs" and the
mania of prosecutions" are common forms
of modern non-compos, and the two run in
parallel grooves, which are quite close to-
gether-so close, indeed, that both not in
frequently combine to form species or
craziness, the cause of which is the greater
preponderance that money is every day as
Stunning in modern society. | have no de-
sire to abuse riches, for esteem wealth to be
very excellent thing in its way, especially
when honorably acquired. 70 run down
wealthy people simply because they are rich
is to commit an act of folly, all the
greater from the fact that some of those
who do it are not unlike Seneca, who,
when he wrote his essay on Contempt of
Riches, - was living in his own splendid
villa, surrounded by luxuries and refine
ments.
Time was when no amount of wealth
would have sufficed to entite capitalist to
wear a pair of gold spurs, and when he re-
ceived an insult from the poorest knight he
could not demand reparation for the injury.
The state of things lasted for a long time,
and it was many centuries before the arts
tocracy of blood consented to ally itself
with those who are beginning to call them
selves the aristocracy of finance. Nova
days when money claims its superiority
over every other kind of merit, there are
men who look on it not only as the highest
good, but as something greater and better
than humanity itself. Into such mems
brains the idea easily penetrates that the
affection others manifest for them is inter
ested, and So tossed ont sea of douot III
the midst of storms of violent and conflict
;,,cr hn
is very apt to lose his reason. and from
being among the most envied of his kind he
becomes a creature whose condition is so
terrible that, were such change possible,
not all the'millions ever accumulated by
tho wealthy ones of this world would suf-
flee to bride the poorest of us into exchang-
ing places.
The story of Commandant Heriot and his
young wife is pertinent to what have been
saying. You have already had whisperings
of 1t, but the lights and shades of the sad
pictures could not he cabled, and maybe
some one will moralize as ! relate further
particulars of this strange French family
history. Between thirty and forty years ago,
an old chap kept q country inn in village
not far from Paris, and was glad indeed
when he gained few hundred dollars an
nually. He had two sons; one came up to
the capital and found employment as n
counter-hopper in a dry goods store; the
other enlisted in the army. About that
time O capitalist named Emile Perere I'M
dertook to build lager hotel than had
ever before be n seen in this city, with a
view to securing the lions share of the
travel sure to be drawn to the coming ex-
position. 1t occurred to this rich man that
he had better arrange to have some sort of
retail store on the ground floor of his
building, but in order to carry out this
plan successfully he must have the assist
ance of energetic young men, full of actlv-
ity and endowed with natural talents for
business.
Well, who do you think he consulted on
the subject! His barber! But he was a
clever Figaro, who had bathed and shaved
Louis Napoleon in London, and had fol-
lowed that adventurous and imperial gen-
tleman to Paris with great profit to him
self So the barber told the Hebrew CAPT
talist that he had among his customers two
Young fellows who were the very kind of
men wanted, and he praised them so well
that our financier said: TEL them to call
at my office tomorrow" and in this way
made the acquaintance of the country tav-
er1l-keeper's eldest son, and of his chum,
Chauchart. A few days after the first inter
view Pereire and toe young men signed
articles of copartnership, and then he put
something like $50, 900 into their hands TO
establish business, of which he was to be
a silent partner 1t was capital associated
with brains and industry, and so was
founded the Magazin du Louvre, first of
those leviathan shops of which Paris now
contains so many, where pretty much every
thing that man or woman can possibly de-
sire may be found.
At first-only portion of the hotel was
used in this way; by and by, however, all
of it was taken in. Then one of the upper
floors had to be annexed and finally, few
months ago, silks, laces, skirts, petticoats,
boys boots and all that sort of thing crowd
ed British tourists entirely out of the build
ing There was no longer any hotel, and
chiffons reigned from attic to cellar. Long
before this, however, Pereire had sold out
and Heriot & Chauchart were sole owners
of tie vast concern.
The younger son stuck to the army
and by slow degrees, without accomplish
ing any brilliant feats of arms, rose from
the ranks until he became major or Chef
de Battalion. just about that time his
brother, the dry goods merchant, died and
left him one-half Of business worth S25,-
100000. Thereupon Maj Heriot went in
with Chauchart to manage the concern
and when, later on. the latter retired Heriot
bought him out and became sole proprietor
of one of the biggest establishments in the
world.
But rich mems wives fall i'll as we'll as
Others, and one day Nine. Heriot was put TO
bed with fever. Her husband was with her
one afternoon when a young lady clerk
came from the store TO show madame some
peignoirs. This saleswoman was exceedingly
beautiful, and not long afterward she be-