£20,000,000 BOY KILLED.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 188, 9 August 1919, Page 19

£20,000,000 BOY KILLED.

PATHOS OF GUARDED LIFE. Vinson Walsh McLean, the ten-year-old boy who when born was known as the £20,000,000 baby, was killed recently by a motor car while crossing the road in front of his* parents' house In a suburb of Washington. He Is the son of Mr. Edward Beale McLean, and would probably have inherited the fortunes of his grandparents, John McLean, owner of the "Cincinnati Enquirer," and Thomas E. Walsh, the Colorado "mining king." The boy was surrounded by guards from the day of his birth to prevent him from being kidnapped, even his perambulator In babyhood' having a steel network over the top. It was probably the guards who were Indirectly responsible for his death, as the boy was in the act of escaping for a few minutes' freedom when run down by a motor car. '. Though the boy was brought up like a prince, there was much that was pathetic In his.life. He was practically never alone, either nurses or guards being constantly at band. An 'instance of the constant surveillance to which the boy's every movement was subjected Is furnished by an incident which occurred Tecently, when one of his pet fowls escaped and the boy followed It through the front gates of the j house down the street. Some thirty other' youngsters joined in the chase. The young multi-millionaire's taste of joyful freedom was very brief, for he was immediately pursued and captured by half a dozen guardians. The boy had six motor cars of his own,! but had to live in the house and grounds, which were surrounded by a steel fence. He had five mansions In various parts of the United States in which he kept his collcc. tlons of animals, of whlca he was Immensely fond. They include a flock of 56 Shropshire sheep, a flock of white Brahma chickens, a Russian wolfhound, 6 terriers, 2 Great Danes, and 20 other dogs, and several ponies. "When the boy was born the late King Leopold of Belgium, who was a partner of Thomas Walsh, the boy's grandfather, sent j him as a present a rosewood and gold cradle.