The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-10-03
HARDLY.
NEWLY RICH IN TEXAS

ID URKBURNETT, TEx.-They are ID still human, these new-rich peo- = pie in the oil country. They haven't had their money long enough tp be spoiled A dollar is still something with which things can be bought, in- stead of a magic disk which can be put out at compound interest until it is able to ruin a grandchld. They spend their on which boy blows his circus-day dol lar.
 T want diamond for ma here," said a bonanza millionaire in a Dallas jew know what sort of diamond. He already knew, of course. The bonanza rich man wants the largest and shiniest diamond he can buy. A yellow diamond is just as good as any other diamond to him.
 q judge I want one about the size of nickel,'' said "ma' "The lady on the next ranch got one the other day that was mighty near that big, and I wanta outhold her.
 No other town of 15ooo0 people in the world has sold as many silk shirts as Dallas, perhaps, since the oil excitement shirts. The shuddering sun goes into an eclipse when their wearers meet. The bonanza rich man is a secessionist in the use of color. What he wants is lots of it. The more different colors he can get on the same shirt the better he is pleased. Sometimes he displays his new affluence in a way that qualities him as an entrant for the Newport set.
 There's one of the new millionaires," I was told in another city. An intensely shiny limousine rolled slowly by. The interior was padded like cozy corner display the human exhibit within. He sat in corner, smoking a large black cigar and evidently satisfied with him. self.
 What does he do with his money?''
 Just rides around in his limousine" was told. "As long as there is any one on the street. Never invites any one to ride with him. He enjoys it all alone"
 That may be called the apex of ex- clusiveness, but some go to the other ex- treme. In one of the small towns of the oil field an old banker and his wife lived. The old man used to run the sort of bank which prevailed in the small towns of the southwest. It was a con- , stant temptation to any felon who was willing to take chance with the old mans "gat." When oil was found on his property he became worth perhaps $15,- 0oo, ,oOo, but he is still running his bank. And his aged wife-they have no chill dren-still runs a boarding house. q am worried about my money she confided to friend 1T am getting so much of it I can't lend it out any more.'
 Of another well-to-do couple it is re- in, and the reality of their good luck finally sank in. the old farmer went to his wife.
 We're rich now. ma," said he. We've got plenty of money. I'll get you anything you want now. no matter what 1t costs" The old lady deliberated for a long | time Finally she said:
 Well. pa, think I'd like to have . new ax."
 | Sometimes the end is tragic One fam | fly was actually in the fields, picking cot l ton around the derrick, when oil was struck. The father was taken to the asylum for the insane the other day. tIIz over his income tax.
 | Hotel keepers in the big cities of Texas report that when the new-rich come vis- iting, immediately after touching their fortunes, they are sometimes unable to sleep at night so worried are they that their new riches will take wings Usually they are practical. Their eccentricities I in the matter of diamonds and silk shirts and motor cars are mere surface out croppings of the inner joy. l They have skyrocketed the price of res idence property in Dallas and Wichita Falls and Fort Worth and the other towns | of the district.
 | "I like the looks of your house. said an old woman whose gnarled hands be- itrayed her life of toll to the mistress of a handsome residence in one of the
 Texas towns. Do you want to sell it?" 1 They reached conclusion on the price in five minutes. The buyer did not haggle over a few thousand dollars, but merely !, paid Then she asked permission to look
 through her new acquisition. By and by she announced that she wanted to buy
 the furniture.
 II want to move in tomorrow said she.
 That deal was made. But when the buyer came to take possession the next
 day her keen eyes noted that dozen or