[21] There are persistent rumors of Barnum’s moral irregularity. Men have told me that he was “an old devil,” which in the salty manner in which they deliver the dictum sounds more enticing than degrading. These rumors are so persistent as to be worthy of mention--on the principle of the co-existence of smoke and fire--but they are also so vague as not to be worth much in the tracing of his character. The _New York World_ of January 17, 1897, more than five years after Barnum’s death, printed a long Sunday feature article on his moral character. According to the _World_ story, he had an illegitimate son, whose mother was a French actress performing at the American Museum. Barnum, according to the _World_, educated the boy, who later became a physician. Before Barnum’s second marriage, said the _World_, this son appeared in Bridgeport and claimed some settlement in case of the birth of a male heir, for which Barnum was anxious. The petitioner received $60,000 after he had signed a contract that he would never bother the heirs after Barnum’s death, according to the _World_. The _World_ also wrote that when one of Barnum’s daughters committed an offense against her husband for which Barnum reproved her, she snapped her fingers in his face, remarking: “How can I help it? I’m P. T. Barnum’s daughter.” These stories in the _World_ are worthy of mention because they have never been denied. The sources of information to their verification are closed completely by the comprehensible secrecy of family pride. [22] Barnum apparently thought it necessary to handle the publicity even for this complimentary dinner. He wrote the following letter to Gordon L. Ford, business manager of the _New York Tribune_: “Waldemere, Bridgeport, Conn., June 18, 1874. “MY DEAR MR. FORD: “Will you please hand the enclosed slip to Mr. Reid [Whitelaw Reid] with my compliments. The Committee on dinner are to invite Mr. Reid. If I cannot have the honor of his company (which I hope I can) I hope he will kindly send a reporter and I shall be glad to pay his expenses. There will be 150 to the dinner including some distinguished guests. “Yours, “P. T. BARNUM. “Dinner at 7 P. M., all over before 10.” Autograph Letter from the Gordon L. Ford Collection, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, New York Public Library. [23] Information to the author from Mr. A. H. Hummel, formerly attorney for Barnum & Bailey. [24] According to Major J. B. Pond, Barnum was inconsiderate of human and other animal life: “That afternoon one of the Amazons in the great Amazon march, which was a feature that year, was run over and killed by a chariot near the entrance of the ring. Mr. Barnum did not move, and I said: “‘That is dreadful, isn’t it?’ “‘Oh,’ he replied, ‘there is another waiting for a place. It is rather a benefit than a loss.’