By Lamaroe This morning there will be, in many minds, a lacy feeling' of satisfaction at the prospect of being immediately advised of the advent of a fortune. From Calcutta or from Dublin may come a cable intimating that the reader of these lines—assuming he or she has taken the necessary qualifying ticket or number—is entitled to regard one of the young performers at Epsom on Wednesday as specially charged with the duty of bringing about a financial earthquake. The feeling persistently excludes consideration of those feeble animals which merely rank as "starters." The optimist severely. confines attention to the winner—or, perhaps, the second or third to come into the limelight, As the day passes and no-one airings up from the Club, no cable comes and there is no hint horse being drawn in Shanghai, hope tends to burn less brightly, It is kept alive reservati fateful message has gone by a circuitous route, the bank has been advised and the bank is closed on Sundays, or there has byon some for administrative reasons. dint of much. despair does not assert itself until Monday comes and, with it, the usual brilliant st ie Tuck of the lucky ores the plain Shanghailander will realize how stupid he has been. He has thought in. his innocence that by seribling down his came in the a polite letter to the Bank—Banks will do almost anything if they get volitencss—and thus acquiring, due course, a mystical num: er, he stands'a chance of being independent for ever of the operations of extraterritoriality, the gold-bar exchange, the municipal orchestra, and Mr. Coghian's traffic regulation Palpably he has failed to take proper precautions. To begin with he has probably bought more than one ticket; he has omitted to join the merchant service and take command of a, tramp steamer; he has _not hastily disguised himself ax a widowed stenographer; he has refused the offer of employment, a in a Broadway cabaret; he has not even appropriated an invalid mother. He. has foolishly contented himself, with being an honest broker, supporting with modest firmness, a modest family and broking as cheerfully as anyone can. in these days when the tael displays the qualities of " leaden met. He has mo lehis to can boast of a Club.
h testifies to his popularity and, alco, his generosity. He hopes, if the typhoons permit, before long to money to t his sing! of London other Shanghailander: lawyer, merchant, doctor, tradesman of being barred ists are not to-morrow, the arid will be told that there is such a place as Shang-bai and that there is a man whose irrepronchable conduct, sublime philosophy and generous fon have singled him out for the mark of Fortune's ap—proval. He will be irked, of the need for declaring intentions will be confirms the luck which threatens him, He may find it difficult to " proceed with the ordinary task of carrying ow his daily routine, He may be approached by a few determined invokers of his charity. Me may feel it most embarrassing to contemplate the chance of being indifferent to. the opinions of those with whom policy and the exigencies of his job required him to agree against his will, He may endeavour to persuade the insistent press inquiries that no-one ought to be in the slightest degree interested in I's affairs. Then there will" be consideration of the abstruse mathematical calewlations me volved by offers to buy hal shares in his potential fortune. It is safe to say that before 24 hours are out he will wish that his number had not drawn a arse, There lies a good sugges tion for sweep promoters, They benefit many at the expense of the few. The real victims of this gambling carnival are the The beneficiaries are the "also rans." For, year after year, at the expenditure of an infinitesimal sum, they enjoy the privilege of dreaming dreams which never come true. They build castles in the air. They draw up lists of the people whom they would incontentently insult if they were made suddenly independent of filthy lucre. They taste several hours of intense and blessed expecttion and then the news comes that the fortune has gone els where to some individual who, for all the care taken by the Vrees to expose his or her most timate affairs, must remain hacowy and insiga or vade the has sains remember that in the life of no great or success. full man ix it over recorded a turning point in als the winning of Uy Sweep. They mas other times that they ness or sticcess. this crisis it is essen th they should still nour the idea" of achieving it. Tu short they have derived from the Iventure the most inspiring philosophy combined with romantic episode of fantastic illusion. ce and philosophy can be destroyed only by contact with relentless a couraging Mr, Snowden's perverse ideas the subject of super-tax, The rashness of refusing to take to remove this obvious ibility. for the—favour odds may Tack of fence is regrettable. After all Shanghai possesses many} brokers—the salt of. the earth of the Whangpoo's City—and it would be anis could, suddenty-permit. Reuter to. telegraph across the "lobe the story of his fe, his intentions in regard to the trifle of a quarter of a million now within his grasp and other thrilling details suchos ely to be available before very long in respect of the! curiously unexpected folk who have drawn Cameronian, Geyes~ eas or—with due deference, to. the "North-China Daily News"—even Shell Transport.
Supposing all this pessimism were falsified by the event, let the picture be given of the coming of luck to a Shanghai broker to-day—or for broker read a1 reality, such the actual by the Sweep why should not the or; these periodical incitement the dreaming of pleasant dreams work thoroughly the Inck of the draw exclusively to fictitious or deceased persons? If li were known for example that the shade of Charles James Fox had drawn the rite the scope for enterprise would be uno less expansive and one living person at least would be spared the rigours of the ordeal which minent for someone oF
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.