The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-10-31
JOIN snERMIN,s FonTrNE.

John Sherman was born poor ana nled
rich. HE Will. hlsd for probate in Mans
neld. o.. a few days ago. distributes a
fortune Of approximately . oooot. He ala
not Inherit any par, Of this great fortune,
but accumulated It himself. There have
from time 10 time been unkind insIuua-
lions touching the sources Of Mr. sher-
mans wealth. ana the sling 81 the viii
has tended 10 revive such insinuatoua
and various comments A common way
OF stating the case. by critics Is this;
John sherman was pubic onlce-hoider
the greater part Of his NE on a salary OF
s. 90 TO $500 q year; how could n man
possibly accumulate fortune OF 10000
on such an income q" And tho conclu-
sion always reached f. that he couldn't
10 Il. ana that Mr. sherman must have
made use Of his omclal position TO ad-
vance his private fortunes
Most men who have made a financial
success In life are assailcd hy Just such
criticisms. There Is very large class
OF persons who. lacking the ability To ac-
cumulatc money. look upon those who do
iHtAHHf-Hm ~ HAatA AAttfAN ANh AA a. 90 ~ tftH
necessarily dishonest They delight 10
hug the deluslon to their breasts that che
span OF human life ls too short for che
honest acquisition Of million dollars.
Tho foundation Of John sherman's for
tune appears 90 have been laid by his
own hands in his youth Being poor hoy
he early learned the value Of dollar
and how 20 take care Of one when Il
came into his possession. Even as
barefooted Lad he was a worker and
saver. one OF has early traits was his
persistence, ana before he was twenty
years old he was known as one OF the
most successful collectors OF bills from
poor pay debtors "a the state. lie was
employed by merchants and others to
collect for them. and he seldom returned
from a visit to a debtor without the
money. By close Application 60 business
ana the practice OF frugality, he had ac-
cumulated sio0o0 when he was twenty
four years old. 4 part Of this money
went into a sash and blinds factory.
which was very prosperous. and other
parts Of Il into other budding manufacture
ing enterprises. Thus before Mr. sherman
entered Congress he had begun building
his fortune. A. his early investments
paid him dividends he invested in real
estate IN the then small city OF Cincin-
natl. and lser IN real estate In Washing
ton. 1'hese real estate transactions PROB
ably gave him the greater part OF his
fortune since he bought when the lands
were very cheap and sold when they were
very high, owing to the growth OF the
cities
II has been generally supposed that
Mr. Sherman bousht government bonds
largely during the refunding period. but
n So according to the Washington CORE
spondeut OF the New York Evening Post
VINO has made dliigent search respecting
the matter there are no records IN the
Treasury Department to Indicate Il. ana
the subordinate officers who served under
his secretaryship are generally Of tho
opinion thst he made no such purchases
az that time. and his close friends are
positive in their assertion that he never
made anything through speculation In the
ordinary sense. Mr. shcrman's real es-
tate and other transactions appear 90
have been always Of the lucky" order
lie bought land In a suburb Of Cincin-
natl for few dollars an acre. ana sold
Il at dollars per foot, he did the same
sort Of thing in Washington. in Mansfield.
and probably elsewhere. and owned inter
ests in various manufacturing enterprises.
IL Is not dlnicult 70 understand, therefore.
that his fortune might easily have grown
TO Hs generous proportions without one
dishonest dollar going into g.