A NATIONAL BENEFACTOR 259 
publisher of the New York Herald, because of damaging state- 
ments about “sham dividends” on preferred stock of the Wa- 
bash Railway, and won a verdict for $25,000. Ordinarily 
he overlooked such unfair attacks and forgot them as quickly 
as possible. 
After his Wall Street disaster in the summer of 1887, Field 
looked around for a buyer for his paper and a few months 
later sold it under pressure of his debts. It had not been a 
satisfactory investment. Most individuals, he had discovered, 
possess a rather limited ability and should keep within those 
limits. His own forte was promotion rather than competitive 
operation; he was too fair-minded and chivalrous to challenge 
successfully the standards that then prevailed among Ameri- 
can newspapers. 
