Smyrna times., 1859-07-21
Romance in Real Life-A Miser's Den
Broken into.

From the San Francisco Bulletin of the 18th
ultimo, we take the following account of one
of the most noted slreet-corner brokers OF San
Francisco. By all familiar with the notabIll-
ties of that place, Il will be recognized as a
true bill of the Ind vIdual alluded TO. lie often
made it a boast, to intimate friends, that he
carried his most important paper securities on
his person, TO evsde The inQuIslt'on Ot sheriff :
officers, it being his idea that himself and his
sleeping room were exempt from personal
search by them. The narrative runs thus:
grand affair took place to-day about noon.
which was no less than entry by Deputy
sheriff Silverihorne. in;o the castle of A. j.
! King, the greasy street pawnbrOker, with an
execution for 81, 900 KING is we'll known To
the citizens of New Orleans we'll as to those
of San Francisco. He one time a mer-
chant in the former city, where he failed some
years ago, and then came to California with
the net proceeds of the operation, which are
said to have been very large. tie arrived IN
this city tome five or six years ago, and went
into the street brokerage business, buying
stocks, and lending money on Watches lewelry
and any other safe collaterals. He appears to
have worn but one suit OF clothes from the day
of his arrival until the present, and was never
known to indulge in expense, except on one or
two occasions. He once bantered john Cook.
late Assessor, 10 thrnw coin into the bay, and
tof every dollar Cook threw, King threw FIVE.
and won The bet H. disposed of about $50 on
this occasion but afterwards boasled that the
incident was worth thousands TO hun 10 the
way of an advertise neut Al the time Of the
Atlantic Telegraph Cable celebration, King
paid $50 for the aire of barouche and four
splendid white horses, with which he "splurg-
ed " at the head Of the processlOn-anUther ad-
veriisement.
With these and few other exceptions, OH
King, or Greasy King, as he is tamIliarly styled,
was, and is perhaps, the tlghest- listed Incor'
rigihle old u.iser III the State of California. =
No feeling exists in his breast, except that of
love of gain. He knew no friend, felt for no
one and for no thing, except gold, gold, and
again gold lie seems to have no relatives III
thus country, and has treated those he left III
the East with rudeness, b0astIng on the street
that, IN answer to an application of little
niece for a token of remembrance, he sent hls
toe alS, which he had purposely allowed To
grow very long
At the time Of old Kin9's residence in New
Orleans, in 1919, SO and 81 he was the pro
prIetor of a large retail dry goods and ladies
fancy store. called Kings Marble Palace. =
He was an extensive advertiser in the papers,
aud hired numbers OF boys to carry large pla
leased brradsdes of houses TO paint his notices
upon. He must have done an immense busI-
ness 10 his line; but IN '53 he suddenly " fat.
ed" and left unex pee edly ior California, leAv-
ing large creditors to whistle for their m"ney,
and curse their own stupidity in trusting hIm.
Among other debts h9 lett large number "i
notes, which be has by various shifts aVnded
pa ayng, but many Of them have been sent out
here for collection. AS It was, however, sup
posed that nothing could be made out OF the
man, none were ever prosecuted to judgment
except one, on which Judgment was rendered
in one Of our courts some months ago-and 1t
was the execution in this case that was LEVIED
by the Deputy Sheriff to-day.
King occupied a room in the third story OF
Bolton g. Bsrrow's building in Merchant street,
which he deemed ire.proof, thlef.proot. and
execution proof But he was mistaken as to
the execution part OF the proof, as the event
showed, for having TO day unwarIly left his door
open, the officer, at;hlng his opportunity, sud-
denly rushed in. AS lie did so, King seized
pistol, and presented II al the officer; but fear
! ful of his own temerity, Immediately cried out,
" It's not loaded, it's not loaded" He then
tried to stuff watches and ieweIry, which were
lying promlscuously around, in his pockets, but
was prevented by the officer, and in despair he
rushed down stairs for such legal advice as
would not cost anything. He asked the Dis
trict Attorney, whom he happened to meet
whether a man eoull enter his " castle " with
an execution, and beng told that certainly he
could the dlsconsolate man returned TO hls
room and offered the officer fve d d'LIars TO leave
and say nothing about the matter.
Upon looking around. there were actually
found, lying about. $4,000 in bags of gold
coin, watches, diamonds, stocks and other pro-
perty These were discovered in the bed
stuffed between the mattresses and under tbs
pillow. But besides this, there is an iron close
in the room, and from the revolutions made, !
is supposed that King is really worth abou
S300,000. Poor man