The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1867-01-26
WHOLE E. No. 472.
A BEGGARED MILLIoNAIRE.

4
/ a short time ago brief item, chroni
lcling the sale Of the Steele farm, on Oh
Greek. for taxes due tie government
started on its voyage on the sea of news
lPaperdom. The paragraph will doubtless
Ee read By many witout second thought
but those few lines might easily form the
text for a discourse as lengthy as the NOR
al law. It is hardly an exeggeration t
state that WhSrever petroleum is knowr,
the name of Johnny Steele" the young
prince of Venango county. has beer
heard. while the accounts of his apparent
! ly bOundless wealth aud reckless ex2end-
lures we're told in hundreds of papers,
from the New York Herald down or up.
Soon after the sale of the farm, lh clos
ing act, brief history of the same may
not be entirely without interest, which
the Crawford Journal thus narrates:
This farm. more generally known ''ou
the creek, as the widow McCintock farm.
il Immediately opposite the Touring little
town OF Housewife, aud was among the
first of The oil producing farms of the
valley. Early in 1868 the Van Slyke
well on this farm. struck and flowed for
some time at the rate of $4,000 barrels
per day. and several wells yielding from
200 10 800 barrels were struck at subse
quent periods. Besides there we're many
smaller wells, and the territory, though
sadly missmansged, is still regarded as
among the bsst in the oil regions. Ia
1864. widow McClintock died from the
effects of burns received while kindliny
a FIRE with crude oil. At this time. the
average daily income from the landed in
terest of the farm was $4,000, and by
her VIII the property, with all her possess
sious In money, was left, without reser-
walton. to her adopted son, John W.
Steele. then about twenty years af age.
In The iron sac where the old lady kept
her money, was found $4,000, two.
thirds of the amount i'll greenbacks and
the balance in gold. Mrs. McClintock
was hardly cold in her coffin before youug
Steele, who appears to have had nothing
vicious iu his opposition, was surround
ed by set of vampires, who clung to
him as long as he had doller remaining
The young milliouaire's had was evident
y turned by his good fortune, as had been
that of many an older man who made his
''plle IN oil, and he was of the impress
ion that his money would accumulate too
rapidly unless 1t was actually thrown
away, and throw 1t away be did. Many
of the stories concerning his career in
New York and Philadelphia SAVIOR strong.
ly yf fiction, and wohld net be credited
were they not authenticated. Wine, Wo-
men, horses, faro and general debauchery
soon made wreck OF that princeIy for
tune, and In twenty months Johnny Steele
squandered two mlllious of dollars. Hon.
John Morrissey, NJ. g., event through"
him at faro TO the amount Of 500. 900
In Two nights; he bought high priced
turn outs. and after driving them an hour
or two gave them away; equipped large
minstrel troupe, and presented each mem
Der with diamond ring aud pin, and
kept about him besides two or three men
who were robbing him day after day
lie Is now filling the honorable position
of doorkeeper for Skif & Gaylord's min
strels, the company he organized; and is,
to use very expressive but not strict Y
classical phr Sc, completely "plsyed OUT
The wealth. obtained by those who
worked so assiduously 20 effect Steel's
ruin, gave little permanent benefit to its
Possessors. The person most brazen
and chiefly instrumental in bringing
about the present condition of affairs,
WAS the notorious Seth Slocum, who hung
around this city several weeks last sum
nler. He was worth at one time over
$780, 900, which he had captured"
from Steele, and laid aside for rainy
day, but when the latIer's money vanish
ed, this amount soon took unto itself
wings, and he is at preeent known among
his old associates as dead beat" At
last accounts Siocum was incarcerated in
the Jail of a DeighbOring county for vari-
Gus breeches OF the Law, and was unable
TO obtain bail in the sum of $500. Ex-
emph6cat ons these of the old adage,
''easy come, easy CO." or the other,
"fools and their money are soon parted !"