The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-17
HOW M|LL|ONA|RES WHILE AWAY TIME Remarkable Pads Found Among
 Men of Wealth COUNT WHO LIVED IN BED Frenchman Listened to Story TelIers. Another Man Had Crown of His
 Head and Soes of His
 Feet Tickled.
COUNT WHO LIVED IN BED

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 One or two of our great noblemen still keep their private orchestras, and Mr. Carnegie and the Marquis of Butte nave their private pipers, but it Is a curious fact that of late years no wealthy man has thought of maintaining his own choir of singers, says Pearson's Weekly Of all the negro singers who have come to this country from the United States, In their rendering of the plantation songs and the old slave hymns once the vogue among the colored people of the southern states it is probable that Hyam Eos dykes Jubilee Band of seventy men, wom- en and children was the greatest, though the public had little opportunity of judging of its merits, as the band was brought into being was chary of allowing others to listen to the singing of which he him self was fond Curtis Donnythorpe while he lived was an ardent lover of dancing in every form. He was an invalid and therefore unable to dance himself but at the time he took the Kelby troupe of international dancers off the boards of the variety houses and induced them to enter his private enl >ploy the troupe was reputed to be the finest of it's kind in existence. MT. Donnythorpe had a dancing platform erected at Wellington house. and there was not in all Kensington a happier man than he as he lay back in his chair and watched the antics of his famous troupe. The Kelbys were strong on jigs and reels and the old English dances. and it was while shrielxing with delight at the capers cut in one of these latter that MT. Donny thorpe was seized with the heart attack from which he died
 Has Moving Pictures.
 Thousands of pounds are sunk in ap- paratus by the proprietors of some of the cinemategraph displays which enliven the music halls but it is said that the finest outfit in existence is the property of an American millionaire who spends much time in this country.
 When in the mood the owner will sit the lvelong day in a darkened room and watch the unwinding of his films
 But even this man does not give quite the devotion to his flying pictures as was given by Theodore Botley to the science and joy of eating.
 It was said that when not lingering over the delicaces in his table, for which his agents had ransacked the world, Mir Botley was sleeping deliberately work ing to excite a fresh appetite.
 Stimulating drugs he took under the di- rection of a physician, whose Sole duty it was to administer them, and favor ite plan of his was to read and talk about the pleasures of the table.
 Every book on diners and dining" ev- cry historical work, every novel contain ing passages descriptive of the prepara- tion and enjoyment of feasts and ban Quets, was laid under contribution by Mr. Botley. He invited fellow epicures to his .r-l... hse f1,Afs cola ff1a consisted of feeding and talking about the pleasure of it.
 Listened to Story TelIers.
 MT Botley died of starvation, because the doctors said, he had lost the power of assimilation of nourishng food. In this re- spect his case bore some resemblance to that of Charles P. Cashel, of whom it was said that, besides being one of the rich est stock brokers of his day, he was gifted with powers of smell approximating those of many dogs.
 To this abnormal sense of smell the doc tor attributed his end, for he ransacked the markets of the world for perfumes, the names of which would be unintelligible to the ordinary society dame He ruined his extraordinary faculty at last by his fond- ness for distilation of Brazilian flow CTS.
 These destroyed his sense of smell. and left him unable to detect leak of gas ore nlBnl DelOTe 0e TeIlTe0 to rest lie taken from his bed next morning In a state of insensiblity, from which he never rallied
 M. Pierre Lorraine French million naire lay in bed all night and day, and like the eastern monarchs in the Ara bian Nights listened to trained story tellers, with whom he surrounded him self during his waking hours.
 Even he, however, was scarcely as lazy as the Russian Count Iyanovitch who made the rafters ring with his shouts when. by way of practical joke some of his noble friends intmated their nten- ton of making /em get up and dress him self.
 The count was worth eighteen millions of rubles, and was reputed to be the laziest man of his time. From the day of his attaining his majority to that of his death he never stirred out of bed, never read, never spoke. never opened his eyes If he could help it.
 Liquid nourishment was ladled to him by retainers, and he died at last of fright because the Emperor Nicholas announced that he was coming to pay Ivanovitch a visit and would chain him to wheelbar- row and make him work in the Polish salt mines if he did not get out of bed to receive him.
 Much more sensible were the self-indul- gences of Ellis Wrotham, a wealthy Northumbrian, who was of the self made" variety.
 He realized his lack of education. but declared vehemently that nothing would ever induce him to be worried with les sons" in anything However, as a sort of compromise, and being determined to have only "the best of everything he did not mind paying the heads of the various professions enormous fees for enlighten- ment on any little point which came into his mind.
 Most extraordinary of all was the little luxury of A. B. Skidmore, who accumu- lated wealth in the provisions trade.
 He engaged two valets, one to tickle the crown of his head and the other the soles of his feet. He said he liked the sensation Immensely, and when remonstrated with by his doctor declared 1t to be lever so much better than massage" The case was recorded in the medical Journals of the time as an example of strange develop ment.
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