P. T. Barnum：Struggles and Triumphs, Additional Excerpt 53

Every morning I used to look at the “wants” in the _Sun_ for something that would suit me; and I had many a wildgoose chase in following up those “wants.” In some instances success depended upon my advancing from three hundred to five hundred dollars; in other cases a new patent life-pill, or a self-acting mouse trap was to make my fortune. An advertisement announcing “An immense speculation on a small capital! $10,000 easily made in one year!” turned out to be an offer of Professor Somebody at Scudder’s American Museum to sell a hydro-oxygen microscope, offered to me at two thousand dollars--one thousand in cash and the balance in sixty and ninety days, on good security,--and warranted to secure an independence after a short public exhibition through the country. If I had the desire to undertake this exhibition and experiment, I had not the capital. Other and many similar temptations were extended, but none of them seemed to open the door of fortune to me.

Source： https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50115
Locator：Additional excerpt 53 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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