LIVES RUINED BY SUCCESS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11197, 20 August 1898, Page 6

LIVES RUINED BY SUCCESS.

, Success' is generally supposed to be the best thing for which a man ; can. pray, but , unfortunately #be records of humanity prove i that there have been only too many crises of I liyea which have been.absolutely wrecked.by ' too early or top great a success. It has been '' said by Boinesnge that it requires a strong man' to.: . support failure; 'but an 'infinitely stronger individual to support success, for ~; the effect of the same on a weaknature is ' bftendisaßtrous in the extreme.^ ■ ' -The writer is, aware of^an instance where a man^ who for many months had put money '. dt racehorses without achieving any result save loss, was'persuaded on one occasion to | put £50-on a certain animal, which, being ' What is called', an " outsider," was backed at very long, odds, The horse' in question won, and the ; inan netted something like £2000. Emboldened by his success, he staked the ' whole amount on. another horse, which alsp came in first, so that in a-very short space !of tjme.his-fiSOibaci changfldinto £10;000.; ■• . 'What was the'result^ Until then a fairly temperate man,;be now began to indulge'in well nigl) ,every;«n in' the' calendar. One 'by one his friends' deserted him, until only the lowest and shadiest-turf people would associate with him. '"he sank deeper ■[ and: deeper in- the- mire, and at lergth died, in the.!workhouse; and was buried by the parish. His. success had proved also his ruin.1' ■■'•■.'.: -.■;• '■■.'■'' ' /'''.'. ■' '. . ... •' •;: ' ll i It is- not; priJy,, .on', the turf, however, that ' good■ ■'fortune' often, proves disastrous, for ' I cominig from the land of "book-makers" to I the more '■ classic region of book-writers, we • find; a. young author, who for many years had bean nnableto catch'the ear;of the reading .. 'publici absolutely ■: ruined v by: the extra? J prdinar.y success (>f a novel which" at last hit ' the tastopt.the people "He: was run after j by ' the highest in ; ".the land, dinners were i given in. his honour, and columns were written about him in/the press. Had ha been '. mad^pfgoodistuft'this,encoujagementwould \ bavespurreUhimon to a new.and eyenbetter ' work; but ianfojtunately it; did just the reverse. He becime lazy and apathetic, and for a long time gave up writing entirely; ; J , • ' When at length he resumed his pen and • or'p'duced. another' volume it was'so poor in ! s^yla and weaken ..plot that it proved; an i igbominious . and once s mpre\ the waters iof obscurity closed over our friend, j He eventually became a hack journalist, and ; drifted into absolute poverty. ■ ..° ■' ? All this iavery sad, and of course it points tofthe tendency inherent in human nature to [ " rest on its oatf .">.'] When a man hears the Wo;rld ringing with his praises he begins,to tell himself that further effort is unnecessary. Bijt/glas! the world has a poor memory, and gopn forgetp.- The heio of yesterday is the starving wretch pi to-day, and if successful men wfeuld ' but remember this fact there would be;fewer, cases making up'theblack: list of lives ruined by success. ' ' ' '; ; Bven-'snccess of a more prosaic kind often wprks havoc with a man's nature, as witness the following. A. young fellow entered the office of a,firm-of East Indian merchants in the capacityofjunior clerk. ,He was intelli- • gent, active, and diligent, the first to .arrife io'the moining.the last to leave in the evening. , ..-' •.."-. "■'-;..•■ ■•■■■■ "' '". '.'- ;/ .'"■'i.' His excellent points attracted the, attentiph.of his employer*, who gradually pro-_ : mpted him step by step.until in a compara- '. tively short, space of time he found himself ; manager of the office, with a staff of thirty' subordinates beneath his control, v ; . • From that day his- downfall commenced.; He confided : to.;his' associates' that he was, the luckiest fellow1 in the world—thkt thfe» firm^'ad'absoiute confidence, in';him--and; tbjat, doubtiesisj in ih'e qpurse of..time bjaj would, be taken , into t partnership. ~'. He js launched ont'.iuto a style, of living qaite in- \ consistent with bis improved.means; giving' "iswagger" dinners to his friends,tand so; forth. . He became unpunctual in his attend- j ance at the office, and one afternoon, after a, lunch, at a' certain city restaurant, he "was. foolish enough to return to his duties in an intoxicated condition. .. ' . ; , ■The firm, much disgnsted, asked him to; resign immediately,- and a month later he >■ was starting at the bottom of the ladder once ■■ more, earning afew shillings per week in a shady firm where references were not required.' Consumed by remorse and despair, he iook to drink in real earnest, and soon afterwards destroyed himself by means of ■ poison.. Hejeft a brief message to the effect; that " ho had been too successful," hence his fall. Sad, very sad but unfortunately only too true.' . '. -. > '■ ■'■'.