Griggs courier., 1897-12-24
DISSIPATION OF foeruweag J
How Millions Are Thrown to enj
Winds-Fact and Reputation.


How Millions Are Theown to tn1
Winas-Fact and Reputation.
When John II. Inman died we sup.
posed he had left an estate of about
s7,O0O,000. For years he had been
claSsed among the very rich men of this
city. l hear now, bysway of Atlanta.
that he left practically nothing; that
his fortune was diminished enormously
in disastrous speculation in the two
years Immediately preceding his death.
Sam Inman, the head of the big cotton
house in Atlanta, complained two years;
ago TINT he had done all for John that
he could afford to do; that he. had sent
any more. The Inmans' have handled
as many as 100000 bales of cotton on
nually. 2, %
1t is the talk of Atlanta that Inman
committed suicide. People no longer
speak of it in Whispers. but openly.
l know that he ate himself to death.
He was the most omnivorous of men,
and thought he had the, stomach of an
ostrich. Like Brignoli, he could eat
q dozen chops at !; sitting and repeat
the performance within an hour. Not
withstanding his prodigious capacity
for food, he never was obliged to wear
al abdominal supporter. His physique
did not run toward embonpoint. He
was in no sense a bon-vivant; simply q
gastronome-an Apicius. If required
to answer the old question: DO you
I,
said: II live to eat" He taxed his
stomach to the utmost, destroyed the
mechanism, and died at the early age
of 81.
Are the great fortunes of our pluto
Gratis dwindling? Are we not giving
them too high rating? We thought
Ogden Goelet worth ut the very least
500, 900, 900. The most conservative
men placed his fortune at $50,O0O,O00;
yet it dwindled to less than $1O,OOO,0 900.
The $3O,0OO,OOO of "Spite-house" Rich-
ardson dropped to $5OO,O00 rs soon as
it struck the courthouse. George NJ.
Pullman was supposed to be worth
every cent of $50,OOO,O0O. Immediately
after his death $25,0OO,O0O was the fig
ure; but the latest reports named ST.
100000 as the value of the estate. How
is this? Can it be that we are far
wrong in placing the fortune of John
ID. Rockefeller at $a0O,OOO,OOO? Will it
dwindle to $5O,OOO,OO0 when he shuffles
off? Is Gen. Sam Thomas, partner
of Cal Bricc and Inman, worth $1O,OOO,-
900? doubt it. What is Cal. worth?
His is about the only fortune that no
one tries to estimate. From the way
he flies around he must have big money.
Who can tell whether Uncle Coils
Pacific Huntington is worth $3,OOO,OOO
or $30,000,OOO? What is Flagler's for
tune-$1O,OOO,OO or $75,OOO,OOO? Is it
possible that James B. Colgate is worth
$2O,00o,OOO? No? Is John l.. Andrus
worth $3O,O0O,OOO? think not. Is
j. Jennings McComb worth $40, ,OOO, 900:
Where did he get it? Is Charles 4.
Tiffany worth $30,OOO,00O? That is his:
rating. And there are John ID. Arch
bold, whose fortune is estimated at
$1O,OO0,000; II. L. Hopkins with $5,0O0,-
600; Asphalt Amzi Longeye Barber with
$25, ,OO0, 900, John I. Terry with $3O,O0O,-
600; William Rockefeller with $sO,OOO,-
900, II. Walter Webb with $5,OOO,0OO.
Warren B. Smith with $25, 900 900, Mrs.
Elliott L. Sheppard with $5O,OOO,OO0,
Cornelius Vanderbilt with $11O,OOO,OOO,
Willie X. Vanderbilt with 0O,OOO, 900,
Frederick Vanderbilt with $4O,OOO,OOO,
George Vanderbilt with $3O,OOO,OOO,
George Gould with $3O,OOO,OOO, and SO
forth and SO on.
The safest way to get at the size of
mans fortune is take the public esti-
mate and divide it by ten. generally
find that man who is rated at $20.OOO,-
600 cuts mp for about $2,OOO,OOO. 1t il
the custom in this day and generation
to converse in millions. We account u
man poor who has no more than 81 .OOO,.
900. He is between the devil of enter.
tainment and the deep sea of financial
stress-too we'll off to be parsimonious
and too poor to trot heats with the
Croesuses. He cannot afford $4,000
for dinner and reception without feel
ing it. 1t is SO easy to talk millions
that We invariably use the word in tho
plural.
Our popular estimate of the fortunes
of our richest men reminds me of Maine.
Up in the state of the pine tree and the
foxes we find great many miles to
the mile, a great deal of water to the
gallon, tremendous amount of air in
the atmosphere, and powerful sight
of mountains to the hill. And so with
the fortunes down here-theres sare q
great many millions to the million
n. Y. Press.
Sleep Of British PFemiers
Many prominent men are either re-
markable for their ability ia. sleep at q