Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-01-18

Il
day
He was only 30 years old, this poor
young martyr to wealth, luxury, over
Indulgence and the things that un.
wise men count blessings.
Yet at 80. George Pullman was an
old man. Such as it was his life was
lived out. There remained literally
nothing more for him to experience
this blind follower of the primrose
path of life.
At an age when he should have
been i'm his prime this unhappy son, of
one of the most famous of American
milliOnaires was n physical wreck.
So inevitable, indeed, was his death
that not one of those who knew him
has expressed surprise. The wonder
was not that George Pullman had to
give up his wretched life. but that it
lasted so long. He was doomed from
the outset, and doomed by-millions.
When prince is born to n royal
house. he is not lifted from his era
die, given n crown and sceptre. and
hidden enter upon the conduct of his
Kingdom, for better or worse. Rather
is he watched, taught and disciplined
with infinitely greater care than the
ordinary lad may be. With his great
destiny ever in mind, he is trained
rigidly that, when mature, he may
be fit to enter upon it.
Such n method is applicable to the
heirs of colossal fortunes. Not, how
ever. in the opinion of the late George
VI. Pullman, the millionaire car man.
ufacturer.
These two boys, the prospective
custOdians of his great wealth, were
from their infancy permitted to play
as lavishly as they pleased with the
gold their father won with so much
shrewdness and hard labor. Thus
their little scepters became battered
and disabled before the sons became
old enough to WELD them. And in
stead of entering proudly into the
great possessions which should have
been theirs. they were disinherited
by the father who had neglected
them.
There is n tragedy in this-one of
the many tragedies that wealth may
bring. And the disastrous career of
the pullman twins serves so we'll to
point n moral and adorn a tale that
closer examination of il is well worth
while
Thirty years ago two sturdy babies,
George and Sanger, were born to the
Chicago multimiIlionaire. If life ever
seemed full of promise for any babies
1T did for these tenderIy nourished
heirs of a mammoth fortune. With
the advantages that should have
come to them, not one of the prizes
which life in the republic has to offer
seemed beyond their reach. As n
matter of fact, the most radiant of
futures were prophesied for them.
But from the beginning a curious
fallacy of their over-fond father ex-
ercised its potency over their help
less lives.
II have worked hard for my mon
ey," George Pullman loved TO say
THANK heaven, my children shall be
spared my lot. Not one of them
need work so long as he lives"
Here in n nutshell was the educa-
tional principle on which the twins
were brought up. 1t contains a pro-
digious warning to parents.
The elder Pullman had grown
weary of toll. His impulse to spare
his children was the kindliest. Brains
and ceaseleSs industry had raised
him from the level of n common car
penter, the capacity in which he be-
gan his career.
Forty-two years ago George VI.
Pullman and his brother, Albert,
started Business in Chicago razing
houses. bringing them down to the
street level.
Then the idea of the sleeping car
came to George Pullman. He put
beds in car, and had to go
up and down on railway platforms
begging people to try the new
cents-for each bed to the
occupant if the bed was not satisfac-
tory and comfortable.
Pullman, the elder, worked with his
own hands. He knew what disap-
pointment meant. He knew what it
meant to be hungry; to go without
shoes; to be looked upon as mere
tramp workman with no legitimate
trade.
But when success came he also
knew what it meant to be master of
his millions. He did not become the
victim of his own vast fortune.
1t did not turn his head. He dressed
better. lived in better style, married
into a good family-a Miss Sanger.
after whom one of his sons is named
and bought a fine residence on
Prairie avenue, Chicago.
But is was plainly not necessary
that George and Sanger should learn
to make sleeping cars. Mr.. Pullman
saw no reason why they should learn
to do anything else. Schools he
thought too strenuous for these cod
died darlings. Tutors were employed
TO teach them as much as they might
feel inclined to learn. This system
proved very classic, indeed; for about
the only thing that the boys did learn
was that they were faSulously rich |
md that there was nothing that fab /