The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-01-29
DIR. CORNELIUS HERR.
PEN PORTRAIT OF THE MAN "a
NOUS AMONG THE INFAMOUS.
His Traits and Ono Devoid
OF Conscience, but Loving tho
Good Things Of This World.

no one mas touCucu the io"est hoto VI
the gamut of rascality so successfully
as Or. Cornelius Herr. There is good
deal about him which reminds one OF the
late land not lamented) Jim" Fisk. the
celebrated jaekai of Jay Gould; and as
I happened to know DR.. Herr somewhat
during a part of his American career.
q few "reminiscences Of him may be inter-
esting.
DR.. Herr. or rather DR.. Hart. for he
Anglicized his name In this fashion. be-
came we'll known to Chicago Journalists
OF the period about the year lSl2) from
| the fact that he was one OF the district
| inspectors of the Board OF Health. tie
| cultivated the embryo Greeleys. Danas
and Medills of the day with great as
siduity for he recognized the power OF
| the press even II II shone dimiy IN the
youthful scribblers whose main function
| II was to report police news and other
| departmental business Of the city.
'Ah, what luck" he was wont TO say.
| ''to be OF your professionF' when emo
| tional and ELUSIVE over flask OF HIN
| garian wine, which he specially affected.
you have Il in your way 10 get on the
! inside of things" and he would work
his pudgy fingers with an eloquent ges-
| ture as il one were squeezing sponge.
| His prophetic soul was already rising
above the plebeian level OF powders and
| pills This method Of cheating the davii
| out of his dues had begun to be dis
| tasteful to his aspiring soul. which saw
larger vistas from the Pisgah heights
of the imagination.
He professed to be nauseated In soul
that he was a full-blooded Hebrew, and
when he was not likely to be faced down
| by those who knew better, for his phys
| icgnomy gave fatal rebuttal he was
| wont to swear by all the pagan gods that
| no Abrahamic faint poisoned his veins
| He was anxious TO get Gentle practice
| and TO reVel I'm Gentle friendship, which
he foollshly fancied would be avertsd by
the knowledge that he was Hebrew. Yat
at other times his vanity. which was FL
ways at the fore, would betray him.
| Somebody speaking Of Rubinsten, then I'm
America, alluded casually to the we'll
known pianist OF the old school, Henri
Herr. He was my fathers uncle" said
| DR.. Cornelius with q smUk.
Even at that embryonic day he MIXED
HIS worthy old father, who was a retired
merchant of some fortune, with great
alacrity and no less skin, and all his Old
friends as we'll, who he fanced had full
udders were made the victims Of expert
ment. He would coax a loan out OF an
|
and few, except those who had paid
roundly for their knowledge could resist
him without thinking themselves brutes
His voice trickled from under his we'll
matched lip with a thick, mufiied accent,
yet with very soft, mellow tone. lie was
mild, open-handed, unctuously frank and
sympathetic. He had an ivory smile that
opened wide his swarthy bewhiskered
face and made one think Of Daniel O'Con-
nells startling smile Of silver plate on
a coffin lid. The laugh was ike taking off
a mask. 1t TRANSPORTED pleasant though
somewhat enigmatical expression into the
leering mockery of a half-drunken Me
pnistOpheles. Yet DR.. Hart. az we al
ways knew him. ont Of compliment 20 his
own choice Of name, on the whole seemed
to casual view a good fellow as the world
| goes, unless one admitted him TO the in
timacy Of the pocketbook.
Genial and jolly as he was. though, IL
did not take long acquaintance or keen
| penetration 20 discover that he was In the
w0r0t sense a mauvais sujet. He was as
void of any moral sense as the chamber
of an air pump The conversation once
turned on a queer social scandal in his
| presence. Ii was the case Of a young girl
UNIDENTIFIED but well weighted win wealth.
She had been beguiled under promise OF
marriage and robbed By her hover OF a
large part Of her property, while the
wretch went scot free by miscarriage OF
jusrce. To thu various savage comments
passed DIR. Cornelius turned a face OF
blank wonder and said: We'll, well.
Why waste so much breath? The weak
and foolish will always 90 to the wall
and the strong win in this world. Ham
mer and anvil, you know BesiSes. he
got more solid fun out of her money than
she ever could. The trump turned IN
about right after all"
one or the party promptly threatened 10
tweak the philosophers nose at this COM
ment. and young medicus at once apollo
gized In abject terms, murmuring "Twas
only a Jest"
'Yes!" drawled his big rebuker. whose
eyes were still fixed with a longing look
on the Doctors Dubious and shining
| 'proboscis,' but decent fellows don't
make such jokes you know"
But II conscience was dwarf with him
propensity was giant His amorous dis
position kept lin in perpetual hot water.
He was naturally devotee OF the
theatre, and he burned myrrh and frank
| incense before many stage goddess
A divinity in whose train he specially
dangled was one of two sisters, premieres
danseuses. who afterward became well
known as d comedy actress. The fair
Belinda was about to start foe San Fran
cisco to fill her next engagement in the
BLACK Crook"
The Doctor :ushed into my room one
| Sunday afternoon with a NEST woe-be-
some expression. Help me to a hundred
dollars. my friend" said he, "snd | will
be your slave for life. She leaves tonight
and l must go with her as far as Salt
Lake City. All! you cannot know how
my heart is torn by the separation" With
| that he poured out a torrent OF words
Oriental in fervor-of trope and slmile.
But in the very heat and fury of his pas
sion there was a cold, sly look in the
gauging just what impression his financial
appeal had made on me.
| intimated, civilly, that | couldn't II
I would, and I wouldn't IL could, where
at Orlando In namorata, who was playing
the role for the nonce OF Orlando Furioso
tugged savagely at his hair and whis-
kers. as IL he could tear them out by the
roots, mutterec incoherently and rushed
| from the house.
He was not seen in Chicago again for
several weeks. When l met him on the
street at last he was smugly complacent
serenely happy. He had just returned
from Frisco, and told me he had had q
most prosperous journey. To be sure. the
fair one had sent him about his business
and all his devotion had been unrewarded
except by Barmecide feast OF coquettsh
smiles, dry provender for such a liquorish
epicure. But he had found consolation
for the frowns Of Cupid and enjoyed the
smiles OF capital. He had turned a love
adventure into a commercial speculation
| and such a speculation! Starting with
about ten dollars In his pocket and with
no railway ticket, this extraordinary per