The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-08-15

. Europe. I pass over the fancy dress balls I gave for friends in the Latin quarter, my hiring the orchestra at
 Maxim's to play nothing but Mexican and American airs for an evening at a time; my presents to Parisian singers
 and long list of costly friEolities that
 fiatterers made me believe would secure
 me fame and popularity forever. Tn my saner moments I tried to be- come a business man. Some one sug- gested that a weekly illustrated paper | that would give Spanish-Americans in Europe the latest news from Mexico, Central America and especially Cuba would be profitable. That investment
 cost me about s4O,0OO remember pay
 ing more than $2,000 in one month for
 cablegrams. The beautiful scheme fell l flat.
 1 Disguised with business ventures. d
 resolved to make hurried tour of Eu-
 rope and get back to Mexico. In Milan, however, I met some more of my New
 York friends and was once more a
 creature of pleasure. For three months dallied in Italy. I went across the l Adriatic to Greece with a party of
 French and Spanish genteImen to whom was the financial host, and We
 spent all of the month of August, 1899,
 in an old place, which we leased with 1 all it's servants and full equipment for
 fabulous sum.
 l 'On Christmas day. 1899, my moth- CTS brother, who had become friglten-
 ed at my recklessness came to me in
 Madrid, and together we took account
 of stock. I had some S17O,0OO left Un-
 ele was surprised that had anything at all.
 Again looked about for a business
 investment. This time I put 0,0OO
 at one time into a private company ! that was to manufacture from old l Castilian recipes a lot of table sauces for use in all parts of the world. saw
 millions in it. I soon found that my
 money was the only capital paid in. | For nine months a lot of scheming Spaniards lived on my monthly outlays of cash for conducting the concern. At 1 last We had on hand a dozen different peppery sauces and condiments in
 quantities enough to float ship. | Meanwhile we incurred a debt of some
 sS5,000 for advertising in hundreds of
 publications in Europe. When had
 spent $76,O0O altogether in table sauces
 quit, and going to Malta never went 1 back to see the property or to face an-
 gry creditors.
 l "Once more in Italy, I abandoned business ideas as altogether too expen- sive for me. I preferred to have some- thing for my money. hunted up my
 former delightful but costly compan-
 ions.
 More months of joy and more thou
 sands to my borrowing friends for ex-
 penses followed. We went in a steam
 yacht over to Alexandria, to Tunis and
 tripoli and went up the Nile until we
 grew weary of the monotony.
 T tired of Europe and hearing that
 there were opportunities for me to
 make money and live we'll at the same time in Havana, I Sailed for Cuba.
 There invested $22,0O0 in tobacco
 plantation, only to find after I had
 made & beautiful hacienda out of
 wilderness that the title was imperfect.
 Then was mad. I8had no further use 1 for business and went back to Paris in the winter of 190O-91. l Next landed in, London,t where my fathers money. T half-heartedly
 tried to get employment as translator of Spanish into English, meanwhile
 living at the Hotel Metropole. More of my old friends came about
 me and a gay life took every dollar I
 had left. I spent the last cent of my
 fortune on dinner with a2friend. l "Fer weeks after that lived on ! money raised at pawnbrokers. sacri-
 feed all my personal effects bit by bit. The last was my fathers diamond studed watch. Then I borrowed money
 for a while, for had learned the art from lending to my companions times without number
 | T got work in an olive importing I house in London where my Spanish and
 Italian helped me, but the duties were too exacting and I was discharged. | Then got work on Brazilian steamer | and was let go at Rio Janeiro. 'I had worked my way on a coffee | boat up to Costa Rica and finally got to the City of Mexico again. I worked l in Yucatan as a sort of timekeeper dur ing the fall of 1901 for a company of
 Americans who were planting rubber
 trees on contract. I think that my
 knowledge of Spanish was my sole 1 qualification for the work, easy as it
 was. would get my book accounts
 muddled in spite of my efforts to be correct.
 | "The old liking for wine and incidence
 came upon me and one day was dis
 charged I knew of an old family in Chiapas who had known my father
 years ago. I went to see them and to ! beg for shelter there until knew what
 to do, but when I drew near the hacienda I was too ashamed to reveal
 myself to such good people and inform them how I had thrown away my
 fathers fortune.
 1 Several months I worked on cof- fee plantation in the neighborhood for 80 cents day, Mexican money, and my
 board and lodging. Those were my saddest days. There I was ordered
 about like a peon, and cursed because
 I liked mescal too much.
 l "A few years before I might have 1 bought all the coffee fincas in the val | lev, and besides have a few thousand dollars to throw to the birds. I dream ed time and again that I had my for tune back again and was once more in '