THE WORLD'S RICHEST MAN.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 294, 11 December 1900, Page 3

THE WORLD'S RICHEST MAN.

AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE MOCKERY

OF WEALTH.

Riches-are not everything in this world. The richest man iv America—maybe he is the richest ma_ In the world—illustrates the aphorism. The population of China is not more difficult to estimate than his for-' tune. Well-informed people say he is worth as much as £10,000,000.

His name is John V). Rockefeller.

He works as a labourer in the fields four months out of every year—works in overalls from dawn till dusk. And at dusk homeward the Croesus plods his weary way—to a supper of stale bread and skimmed milk. Skimmed, mind you! No cream for John D. Rockefeller, it woe'd make him very sick. >.o cream, no butter, no meat, no French pastry—no pastry of any kind, in fact—no fresh bread, -no'white bread, no champagne, no Burgundy, no cauliflower au gratin, no nice sauces or gravies, no

Oh, it would make your mouth water to read a list of the good things John D. Rockefeller CAN'T HAVE.

Talk about living on 15 cents a day! It's safe to say that if the richest man in America did not deal with tradesmen who make a good stiff profit on everything they sell, his food would not cost him much more than that.

And it isn't because he is stingy, but because he has dyspepsia.

Dyspepsia, as any doctor will tell you, means starvation. John D. Rockefeller is just as truly a starving man as if he were a tramp rummaging for crusts in ash barrels. A furnace with a draught choked so that lt will hot burn is as useless as one that cannot get fuel.

If John D. Rockefeller bo worth $200,000----000 it is safe to say that he would give $100,000,000 for a new stomach. It is safe to say that he would give ? 150,000 000— ?175,000,000-,?109,000,000!

1-or a new, good stomach that would laugh at pie-crust, Welsh "rabbit," and lobster salad at midnight.

Think of it! All the philosophers of all the ages have agreed that health is the first essential to human happiness. Wealth is not an essential to happiness at all; it ls only an incident that may help or hinder happiness, according to circumstances. John D. Rockefeller is one of the unhealthlest— therefore uuhappiest—men on the. Continent.

He returned from Europe recently starving as usual. 'The doctors who earn large fees by telling him what he mustn't eatheld a consultation over him and decided that he was in a very bad way. They packed him off to the Adirondacks, and he must stay there for many months.

He mustn't bother his head about the Standard. Oil Company, which is paying $48,000,000 in dividends this year, to say nothing of the profits from Its ten great banks and trust companies. He mustn't sit up late, he mustn't smoke, he mustn't drink anything but skimmed milk and nasty mineral waters, he mustn't eat anything but crackers, lie must take a long walk every day, whether he feels like it or not; he must wear a flannel pad on his stomach, like a sick baby; he must watch his temperature to see that he does not get overheated, and no matter how thirsty he may be he must not drink water or milk that is cooler than his own blood.

Mr Rockefeller has been a sufferer from acute chronic dyspepsia for about fifteen years. The disease is said to be hereditary and therefore in no sense a punishment for his own over-indulgence.

He was not seriously alarmed about his condition until the spring of 1891. The disease reached so acute a stage at that timethat the multi-millionaire was obliged to givo up all his business activities. His weight fell off nearly 40 pounds. It was found that money could not buy relief and that he must work for lt literally with the sweat of his brow.

He retired to his palace at Tarrytown, overlooking the Hudson River, dressed in a suit of overalls, and joined his men in the fields. He arose at five every morning and worked till sunset. His energy would have secured Mm a position anywhere for a dollar a day.

Gradually the colour came back to his face, the pains and nervousness diminished, and he gained in weight. After nearly four months of this heroic treatment Mr Rockefeller Was again able to return to his oflice and assume his many responsibilities. This programme is repeated every summer. The life of a labourer for four months a year enables him to barely put through the winter. Every summer he is obliged to become a labourer again for his health's sake. That is all the fun he gets out of his vacation.

it is another curious paradox that the richest man in America must walk, despite all his horses, while the poorest man with a nickel may ride. Mr Rockefeller's town house is on Fifty-fourth street, near Fifth Avenue. It Is so essential that he should have regular exercise that even in the winter months be almost invariably walks from Ms house to Twenty-third street before entering Ms luxurious carriage, which carries him to his oflice in lower Broadway If the weather permit he often walks the entire distance.

Mr Rockefeller may often be seen in the stormiest weather plodding his way downtown, while his most poorly-paid clerk Is comfortably seated In a warm car rushing past him. His mngniflcent stables and strings of horses and luxurious carriageshe has three automobiles alone — cannot avail to relieve him of a fraction of his long, cold morning walk.

The classical myth of Tantalus,who while starving saw visions of food before him which disappeared. when he reached for it, is more than realised in the case of the Standard Oil king. Mr Rockefeller may develop an appetite, but all his millions cannot enable Mm to gratify it and enjoy a good digestion. In the popular imagination the millionaire's table is crowded with the choicest foods and rarest wines. Mr Rockefeller sits down each day to a simple bowl of crackers and skimmed milk and drinks a little tepid barley water. As a special luxury, when his stomach is unusually strong, he may eat brown or graham bread, but never with butter. Any fatty substance causes him agonies of Indigestion. This simple meal must be eaten very slowly. To devour even a soda cracker hastily would be disastrous.

"Delicacies of the season" are unattainable luxuries to the great millionaire. Even the fruits and berries of summer are forbidden. It is a strange example of the irony of fate that the man who could have the lirst fruit of every kind brought from the ends of the earth must particularly avoid them, since the earliest fruit is most dangerous for Mm. The only fruit allowed him is iv the height of the season, and-even then he must confine himself to the juice which is carefully strai-ned. The lightest tobacco Impairs Mr Rockefeller's digestion and heart action, undoing the good work of days and weeks of hard work in the fields. So toe may not court my Lady Nicotine, who carries solace to the pauper and even the prisoner. He ls said to be very fond of the water. Dyspepsia makes such a pastime impossible for him.—Exchange.