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Show H 1 'If if III- Hi iuBf Ute,4 A -Tr !'. A HFi HtA FKij life a Financial Genius of q I Surpassing Shrewdness and foresight Whose Life Furnishes an Example of Honesty, Thrift, Industry and Modest bui Really Intelligent Charity That Every Young Man or Woman Would Do Well to Emulate? 1 By Leonard Keene Hirshberg, v A. B, M. A., M. D. (Johns Hopkins). Itv? career of 'at Hf,tfy Green, who died ve-ciT. ve-ciT. 'j'. leavir.s &n estate estimated to be. worth cv-s-deraMy more than $100.0H.000, psychology has i carious and Interesting problem. S Vs.- Mrs. Green, as her friends and admirers ftrmlj j 1 financial genius of surpassing shrewdness and I ::it. ut-.cse life furnishes an example of honesty ! 'ai ?vfry young man or woman would do well t p-s she. as many who have studied her life and ).'ii.-j::er believe, a pitiable monomaniac with a mind sowre:ied y insane greed that she dodged her taxes, r-reJ ie: duty to her fellow men, and sacrificed even va. happiness, in the most miserly way for ;;;;t'5 SsSe? Xo car. or woman o? whom history makes record e-;r displayed both in private life and in contact wtih , oi the world a more bewildering complexity , c c"rsi!ctorT eccentricities than Hetty Green. To ' se tis p-iile which she presents to science to " ' s;;sra:e ier good qualities from her bad ones and form " -;s: estimate of her character this can be done only tv ::?s?c:i-g the mental processes which made her ;s: ;ie ras and comparing them with the processes '.. i.-e found in normal men and women, as w ell - Ls ticse which are known to produce the curious 1775 ve call misers. ' L"-e c:ber brain-twisted people. Hetty Green ' !:c"rf st tie idea that she was a miser and siloes?-:-: u: convincing many of her friends that it was ; :r,-:lc? to call her one. But consider how she L'k ecly for money's saie. She gave litt'.s to cisrity and had only a small circle of friend?. Her 55jlj? for musy years was given up almost exclusively to o-ruig tax collectors and beggars and to fighting sens of legal proceedings. She never used her f. ?s:-.li for the development of great industries- as Esefsller, Carnegie. Jarne3 J. Hill and other Tfjl'.-7 en have done, "r.cver enjoyment she got out of life seems to he been through the accumulation of money and K tii cticipation that her son might some day be the r:::st tran in the world. Even death would not jr, n'isre ier sordid career with a touch of human kind-i?:s kind-i?:s ier will reveals not a E-ing'.e bequest to charity. crJ X:t oiv that, but she drew it in such a way as to P lei-e it doubtful whether the State will be able to (jfj tcjj-t its just dues in the shape of inheritance taxes. '. jH a reply to a Chicago minister who wrote her that ' To:ld be lost to Heaven if Bhe insisted on her :zej from a $50,000 mortgage on hi3 church, s-he ' 2 u'' "ou better pray for my soul then, because .-flu going to foreclose within thirty days," and she : !: y- ' rc it various times she is charged with having tried to jH ne doctors' bills by applying to free clinics and : frr tiirtaile hospitals "for treatment for herself and S-i fc:. rne loss of her son's leg i3 raid to have been ; fc? sach penuriousness. ; ti lit,-e matters the sme spirit was shown. Once, : 5;j ft is said, she quarrelled with her washerwoman S feiise she would not reduce the amount of her bill. M a compromise Mrs. Green ordered that in tne J'y ki'Ti irhen the woman washed the petticoats s4ie ;3 ""'z only the lower half of them. This would reduce - Ue labor and would enable her to reduce the bill! y-i ail these things are to psychology convincing proof -To! the existence in Mrs. Green of the perverted type ; :) c' mentality which we call the miser, y 0-e of the first miserB of whom we have any - K ',srjI'-d?e was Dichaeus Dichaenus. a descendant of . L-! li- Byzantine monarchs, but without any of their ex- - M l:va?ance3. Ke carried his miserliness- to such an 3 "!"t that he had not the slightest regard for any ; fft '"-aa being who did not live and think in terms of ,i2 Jirice. ilrs. Green showed precisely the s?me M 'r-ptoms when she repeatedly expressed her admira-A admira-A X'"i !or tbe late Russell Sage, a man of almost if not '-'ill13 Parsimonious habits- as herself. : f "The true miser," says Dr. Charles W. Burr, pro-'Bsor pro-'Bsor of mental diseases at the University of Penn- Pi ,tJ'Taoia- "et8 pleasure from sensations which give Jm normal person pain." How well Mrs. Green fitted t . ':s description is apparent from even a casual study ; IJ her life anl habfu ' r'-'J ma7 year3 her annual income was more than r f , !"'jf;wo- and yet she rarely spent more than $3,000 t ? 'V; '00 s year to live. For a long time she occupied r'-j p r-tol'.ir a week room in a tenement house in YA fr!'1'- and at other times she occupied a modest '- c,n.' same city costing not more than $25 a r- Ecrimped aid saved on her living expenses not iir Eae had any idea that by living on a more 'i a" V'Ca!e ehe would 'mper'l her fortune, but be- rV- vend B" m'era ker aesthetic sense was so per- '" ('orn t"at She derlved a peculiar pleasure not only ' o' h'n EaYin8 of money, but from doing all sorts V- sVtfS 'ch would be revolting to a normal person. ' K hrain k discovered that 60on after a miser's ' ? tal ,-t;?comeii Permarently warped signs of this men- t - He-' '"i"55 bgin to show in his physical appearance. ' Vr tn 9h"wed all these signs. li:.s .f most Bt-rlk'rJg of the marks which mlser- the eveTv Pn a Per80n'3 body &Te to be fo"nd ln ' "fr'for , "iy who 8aw MrB' Green even 0DCe wl" i ', not fi1Jrtft1tho'!e dep-set, narrow eyes of hers. When "J them 1 y earning from, side to side they would - wi aHc , in a steady gaze that seemed perfectly ' ' ;n Mrs fP'erce fleah and bone or a bulldin8'8 walls, r f'ere '-n' face long before she reached old "- i 'irh irdapPeared the Pullar seams and wrinkles ' c'-htr dvtiate the atrPhy of the thyroid, adrenal and . ' -n Klands. In misers theae glands shrink, S ; Genius of -r- r Or Was She , yWSM Monomaniac S Furnishes f M.J by Greed 1 mesty, ivff'i- Aj rv Dodged Her Tc lodest but J"i ' 'I B (Mx Her Duty t0 1 arity x'"' v:::v'' ' W a" Men and Evei an or A:, rWiM "CBM Her Own Hat . : - 1 -Wil ' ' Money 's .:, - ', "; ' -.X;- ' ' .v - :-' ; - 1 ONVINCING as the evidence " v , '' ' I V ' ,' i' -l-'u :'- ' I a "braln-warped milder" maj . ' . ' ... ' ' ' ' , : : .'' : ' ; weight to thone who knev .... v. . ' :' 'I'-.''- ,'Vi'Vl.'V l :C''- '" $ or socially or through her numero ( s." ' ' ? 'y';'' If.' ' ' 1 -v . V v,' 2 remain one of the world's super-w '? ; , . ' r i': :'. . 'SV ' ' ; '- ' '.- ' I whom America may well be prot " - ' . ,x . ' J . s' ,i " i.t:. 'r,. i iv.ifr--r' -J liiKplrlng example to future gnner -" ' . . . y . v . ,v .-.,1' '. hi liusiiiPBS efficiency, Mrs. . ... - ' ; . rf.v : VI. " .. '. ' ' caotnlns of Industrv to be compa. -V . ... v. J;, V-'i I : . 1. pf , . .. ; - ; ' , . . - a,Y J , LI-, !";.' . . . ' : ' ' -:v ' v ; :'; ''" '" ';V. , : ' ..:.'' - K ,-: !';' ' . ' . . ... ' y . I - r " . . ' . - ' . r , ,'!-..- . . 1 . " . : , i ' .!,'-v'v".':;';- ' . I : ' - :-;-'V;y r ' '' ' .'. ' ' -. ' ;.. ' ' .- V ' - . .'. . - -'Y'- f 1 ; ! . ' .-- . ' . , p . ' . ' . '.-- ' -: . . ' ' : . : I':,- ; - ; y,:;v V'.:; ; . ; ; . ; " - . ' l'N. letty Green in Her Comely . - ' Yonlh, Before Her Marriage and j.' ' .v I V Before the Disease from Which ; i ' : z V X j.- - ? j Psychology Says She Suffered ! ' f ' " "'...".'f J -vv Had Begun- Its Inroads on Her . ;;, - ' : ' .NX Brain. And Above, Characler- y- v istic Features of a Miser (A) "3 Z.-" - ,. '-x' V High, Sloping Forehead; (B) lliv . " I ' W Deep Set, Piercinfr Eyes; (C) MEWCAK PftfSS .,x U ? " U Long Nose with Narrow Nos- , r v-, Vsr - triIs; (D-LiP8 Firm'y Com- The Rusty lilack Dress and Old-r'ashioned ' 5 "'r3. ' k -s- .- prensed. Bonnet Which Hettv Green Wore Even : v i x 4 . . ? i Green's close friend, and through When She Had an Income of $5,000,000 I ! J J ' M " - J "thar? S a ear Are, Psychology Declares, Con- U i p. , 4,r y i . y almost supernatural ability to ke rincing Proof of the Perversion of Her , iL-- '. - J . ! - those who owed her money. Wan Aesthetic Sense. This Is One Of the Symp- ' " '-v. -i- ' "V 1 v ness man whose mortgage she hel, toms of the Mental Disease Which Pro- ' S o'ttVdle duces Misers. A . y.r'"! t t v f done except In the case of men w v v C" ''' ' ': ''' ' rsty and willingness to work hard, and -become atrophied in an early stage of the mental H ; . k k , r:j vtv . . : ho lived beyond his means or U disease, and as a result tho jnteer becomes incapable ' I f , .-v!.. .- .y 'easy money" of normal love, joy, sympathy and other kindred feel- NX " ' V " In the same way she kept cl, -fi la . .Wk..-:..v : r -.sS the hundreds of tenants of the bu inSs- SJt- ' ' i - " - - jS' overtook them and they were ha' Although miserliness is a rather infrequent mental vCf -:k ---s ..?lHii&- ' for their rent and other expenses disease. It belongs to a great class of diseases which ,-.i.'-' 2 prised to find pushed under their are very common. Men and women who are able to for ih month's rent, or, perhaps-, . ,.,, ... ., , - ,., acts of charity were done, as Mrt 1 Q SMflilCAN PRESS ASSK, The Rusty l!'ack Dress and Old-r'ashioned Bonnet Which Hettv (ireen Wore Even When She Had an Income of $5,000,000 a Year Are, Psychology Declares, Convincing Con-vincing Proof of the Perversion of Her Aesthetic Sense. This Is One of the Symptoms Symp-toms of the Mental Disease Which Produces Pro-duces Misers. and "become atrophied in an early stage of the mental disease, and as a result tho .miser becomes incapable of normal love, joy, sympathy and other kindred feelings. feel-ings. Although miserliness is a rather infrequent mental disease. It belongs to a great clas3 of diseases which are very common. Men and women who are able to solve the most difficult arithmetical problems w-itb. lightning-like speed, but are imbecile or half-witted In other respects, belong to the same general clasa as misers. But strong as the evidence is that Mrs. Green's brain was warped by disease, the case is not proved until we have discovered what caused the malady. As Professor Freud, the great Austrian scientist, and other scholars have shown, misers are made, not born. The mental weakness which they develop is either tho result re-sult of some unfulfilled longing or some hidden pent-up memory. Hetty Green's obsession and delusion which burnt away all normal human feeling and put in Its place the most sordid kind of miserliness can undoubtedly he ascribed to the strife following her father's death. Tt was the long series of lawsuits which nearly robbed her of her heritage that embittered her soul and warped and twisted her brain out of all normal shape. Psychology does not attempt to deny that Hetty Green possessed extraordinary ability and that hor Intentions In-tentions were undoubtedly of the best. What it. does Insist on Is that, wealth has become a monomania with her, and that as this mental disease progressed it made her view herself and her relations to the world In an abnormal light. Her great talenls were wasted in the futile effort to make actualities of lifa conform fn her inHHne vinwiioint. Exterior of the $3-a-Week Room in Hoboken Where Ma. Green Lived for Several Years. Poychology Sny It Is Characteristic of Misers to Enjoy Living Under Conditions Which Would Be Hardships for Normal Persons Why Psychology Believes Hetty Green Was a Miser IV her face she showed the same features found in the faces of all the misers of whom science has any record. Her dress and all her habits of life displayed the perversion perver-sion of the aesthetic sense which is an important symptom of the mental disease that produces misers. Sufficient cause for the disease known as miserliness is founo in the bitter legal bailies which followed .Mrs. Green's father's death and which nearly robbed her of her heritage. She declared Russell Sage, a man almost as parsimonious as herself, an ideal type of citizen and business man. Long before she reached old age her face revealed (he peculiar pe-culiar scams and wrinkles which indicate the atrophy of the thyroid, thy-roid, adrenal and other ductless glands. This condition of these glands is a symptom which shows itself in an early stage of the misers' mental disease and makes them incapable of normal love, joy, sympathy and olher kindred feelings. She derived pleasure not only from the saving of money, but from dressing, living and behaving in a way that would give normal persons extreme pain. Copyright, JlllR, by the Star Ouinpnny. (.5 leat Britain Rights Hc3orved. Or Was She a Pitiable Monomaniac So Dominated by Greed That She Dodged Her Taxes, Ignored Her Duty to Her Fellow Men and Even Sacrificed Her Own Happiness for Money's Sake? CONVINCING as the evidence that the late Mrs. Hetty Green V7aS a "braln-warped mifcer" may be to psychologists, it will have no! weight to those who knew her Intimately either In business or socially or through her numerous charltleB. To them she will ever remain one of the world's super-women, a brilliant financial genius ot whom America may well be proud, and ne whose life furnishes an liiKplrlng example to future generations. In business efficiency, Mrs. Green's friends say, there are few caotnlns of Industrv to be compared with her. Until almost the day 1 nf her rlonth she oersona y di- letty Green in Her Comely Yonlh, Before Her Marriage and Before the Disease from Which Psychology Says She Suffered Had Begun- Its Inroads on Her Brain. And Above, Characteristic Character-istic Features of a Miser (A) High, Sloping Forehead; (B) rected the multifarious details ot business enterprises which extended ex-tended into every part of the country coun-try and yielded an annual profit in excess of $5,000,000. And she did it all in a little office not more than ten feet square, and with the assistance of only a clerk, a typewriter type-writer girl and an office boy. Her ability as a manipulator of large Investments Is proverbial in the world's financial centres, where for years she operated with phenomenal phe-nomenal success. Her first appearance appear-ance in Wall Street was made soon after her husband had lost a million mill-ion dollars there. It took her only a few months to convince the men who had ruined him that she was more than a match for them at their own game. Just how much Hetty Green's Influence often had to do with keeping the country's financial interests in-terests on a sound basis and preventing pre-venting their embarking on wildcat wild-cat schemes will never be fully known. But it is a matter of history his-tory ln Wall Street that on more, than one occasion her Insistence bn" honest, conservative methods prevented pre-vented serious disaster. Once when she had $1,600,000 o deposits in one of Collis P. Huntington's Hunt-ington's banks, she became convinced con-vinced that he was using the bank's money In some investments that she regarded as ticklish. She protested pro-tested to Mr. Huntington in vain. Then she went to the cashier of the bank and demanded every cent she had on deposit right away and not ln checks, but in cash. The news of Mrs. Green's 'withdrawal 'with-drawal from the Huntington bank started the rumor that it was going go-ing to smash. As a matter of fact, it did have a narrow escape. After that Mr. Huntington and . others like him were more ready to heed Mrs. Green's advice, and they found it of the soundest. Hetty Green had such a quiet, unostentatious way of accomplishing accomplish-ing her financial coups that she won the name of the "gum-shoe financier." She delighted in throwing throw-ing a veil of secrecy around everything every-thing she did, both in business and-private and-private life. This applied particularly particu-larly to her charities. If there was anything she despised de-spised more than lawyers it wa3 the wealthy man or woman who gave not for the mere joy of doing good, but for the sake of the publicity pub-licity they would get. Consequently Consequent-ly she FOt thp rpnntatinn nf hai'ncr Deep Set, Piercing Eyes; (C) close-fisted and uncharitable, when Long Jv'ose with Narrow Nos- as, a matter of fact she gave away trils; (D) Lips Firmly Com- d"rin her lltetlM maQy millions pressed. of dollars. The Countess Learv was Mrs, Green's close friend, and through her she made many liberal benefactions bene-factions of which the world never Beard. From the start of her business career Hetty Green showed an almost supernatural ability to keep track of the' personal affairs of those who owed her money. Jfany a struggling householder or business busi-ness man whose mortgage she held will testify that when he was hard pressed to raise the interest Mrs. Green granted him a liberal extension ex-tension of time or lowered the rate of payment. But this was never done except in the case of men who could convince her of their honesty hon-esty and willingness to work hard. She had no patience with the man who lived beyond his means or the one who was always hunting for "easy money." In the same way she kept close watch of the personal affairs of the hundreds of tenants of the buildings s-he owned. When ill health overtook them and they were having difficulty in raising the money for their rent and other expenses they would often be pleasantly surprised sur-prised to find pushed under their door some morning a receipted bill for tho month's rent, or, perhaps-, a good-sized check. All these little acts of charity were done, as Mrs. Green herself expressed it, "without "with-out any fuss or feathers. The recipients often never met face to face the grim-visaged but kind-hearted old woman to whom they owed tbir financial salvation. The economies which Hetty Green practised in her daily life wers-as wers-as badly misunderstood by the public as her charities. She scrimped and saved not for tho mere joy of piling up more millions, but because she firmly believed that by so doing she was- setting the world a good example. Much of the wrong impression which Hetty .Green gave to the world was due to the unshakable strength of her convictions. Once her keen analytical mind had formed an opinion on any subject nothing on earth could turn her from it. It was her firm conviction that the Government was making great wealth pay more than its just share of the State's expenses that caused her to be denounced as an unpa-triotlc unpa-triotlc and unscrupulous tax dodger. "The Bible," said Mrs, Green, a few years before her death, "has been my guide all my life. I lived by it and tried to square mv life by the Golden Rule. I dealt squarely and honestly by everybody." Dorothy Dix, the well-known newspaper writer, who knew Mrs. Green well, was one of the many who believed that when she spoke those words she told the truth. "Hetty Green, '' says Dorothy Dix. "was a woman who often gave herself instead of giving money, whose stinginess was an eccentricitv, a woman who never gave a beggar a penny, but who during a panic, built long rows- of houses to give men work. She was a woman of such indomitable strength of mind andbody that it seemed impossible that she could die, yet now she has gone where the richest are the poorest. And from my intimate knowledge of her I know she deserves-to deserves-to fare well on that far journey." |