Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1898-10-07
DISSIPATION OF FORTUNES
HOW Millions Are Thrown to tina
Winds Fact and Reputa tim

"inds-Fact and Reputation,
When John Ii. lnman died we sun.
posed he left an estate Of about $1,000
ooO For years he had been classed
among the very rich men of this city.
hear now. l'y way of Atlanta, that he
lett practically nothing; that his for
tune was diminished enormously In
disastrous speculation In the two years
Immediately preceding his death. Sam
lnman, the head Of the big cotton house
In Atlanta, complained two years ago
that he had done all for John that he
could afford to do; that he sent him
100000, and didn't intend to put up
any more. The Inmans have handled
as many as 100000 bales Of cotton an.
nually.
1t is the talk in Atlanta that Inman
committed suicide. People no longer
speak of 1t in whispers. but openly. He
was the most omniyorous of men, and
thought he had the stomach of an os-
trich. Like Brignol, he could eat
dozen chops at sitting and repeat the
performance within an hour. Notwith-
standing his prodigious capacity for
food. he never was obliged to wear an
abdominal supporter. His physique
did not run toward enbonpoint. He
was in no sense a bon-vivant; simply
gaStronome-an ApiciuS. Ii required
to answer the old question, do you
live to eat or eat to live" he would
III rod
his stomach to the utmost, destroyed
the mechanism, and died at the early
age of 80.
Are the great fortunes Of our pluto
Gratis dwindlng? Are we not giving
them too high a rating? We thought
Ogden Goelet worth at the very least
100000. The most conservative
men placed his fortune at $5O.OOO,O0O;
vet it dwindled to less than $4,000, 600.
The $50 OOO. 900 of "Spite-honse" Rich
ar,ison dropped to 100000 as soon as
it struck the court house. George NJ.
Pullman was supposed to be worth
every cent of $50,OO0000. Immediate
ly after his death $25,OOO,0OO was the
figure; but the latest reports name w.
600, 900 AS the value of the estate. how
| Is this! Can 1t be that we are rar
wrong in placing the fortune Of John
d. Rockefeller at $2OO0OO,OO0? VIII
it dwindle to $5O,0OO,0O when he shut
| fes off? Is Gen. Sam Thomas, part
ner of Cal Brice and Inman, worth
| 1O,OOO. 600? ! doubt II. 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.OO0,oU
or $50. OOO, 600: What Is Flagler's TOR
tune-S1O 900. 900 or $75,OOO,0O0? Is i
possible that James b. Colgate Is wortf
$40 900. 600? No. Is John K. Andru:
worth $50. oOO.000? l think not. Is )
Jennings McComb worth $3oooo,ooo
Where did he get it? Is Charles L. Til
fany worth $3O,000,0OO? That Is nj
rating. And there are John d. Arch
bold. whose fortune Is estimated
, $40, 0OO, 900; r. f. Hopkins with So,ooo
600. Asphalt Amzi Longeye BarDe
with s25OOO.O00. John Il. Terry wit
$50. 900 900, William Rockefeller wit
$50. DOC. 900, H. Walter Webb with %
! 600 600 Warren B. Smith with go
900 900, Mrs. Elliott +. Shepard Wit
$50, 900. 900, Cornelius Vanderbilt VII
y $4,000. 900. Willie X. Vanderbilt Wit
$40 900 900, Frederick Vanderbilt VII
) $40, 900. 900, George Vanderbilt VIII
J $50 DOC. 600 George Gould Win $oo
} 600 900, and so forth and so on.
s The safest way TO get at the size OF
; mans fortune is take the public es'
} mate and divide it by ten. l general
3 find that a man who Is rated at w
: 600, 600 cuts up for about $2,Ooo,ooo.
5 is the custom in this day and gener
3 t,on to converse in millions. We a
( count man poor whose has not mo
: than 81 900 600. He is between q
3 devil of entertainment and the de'
y sea of financial stress-too well OH
= "a. narsjmonious and too poor to II
3 heats with the Croesrses. He cam
9 afford $4,000 for dinner and rece
Z tion without feeling 1t. 1t Is so ca
4 to talk millions that we invariamy u
Ii tho word in the plural.-NeW 10
" Press.
\ Significance Of Prefix.