The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1869-09-23

full manufacturer, but rude, unlettered,
and without much mental resource to help
him pass away his time, who retired from
business at the age of sixty, and built
himself splendid mansion-he called it
c,gstle-on the shore of a lovely lake, in
the highlands of Scotland, far away from
the highways of travel, in order that his
aristocratic seclusion might not be invad
ed bytour sts,or desecrated by the plebeian
rail and the whiz of the democratic loco
motive. When the castle was finished,
and his grounds were laid out to his or
der, he suddenly discovered he had moth
ing to do to occupy his time. He was no
company to himself, and he and his wife
were mentally as opposed to each ether
as vinegar and oil. Friends and acquaint-
ances occasionally came to visit him ; but
HE lived too far out Of the beaten track to|
expect visits from any but idlers, and
what the Scotch call "sorners," and as his
conversation was not amusing, and as he
never lent or gave away money, even such
waits and strays from the great fold OF
humanity seldom ventured into his remote
seclusion.
He was too proud to go back to the
great city and recommence business which
might have been the best thing for him
to have done under the circumstances. So
he continued to dwell in his mountain
Fortress without an object IN life, or any
amusement that he cared about. He had
nothing to do but to fish, or to shoot, and
he cared nothing for either of these modes
of pastime After about six months of it,
he ordered a boat upon the lake to 60, as
he said, fishing for salmon. Unobserved
L he 81 Il 1JeHo t,~
the boat, and few yards of rope line,
and rowed himself away into. the middle
i of the lake. He was never seen again
alive The boat drifted on shore without
him in the evening, and three days after,
ward his body was drawn from the bottom
of the lake with the gr1ndstone tied round
his neck Et
The third little story is equally sugges-
tive. A very hard working professional
man, careful, prudent, abstemious, but
somewhat eccentric, retired from busy
life with thirty thousand pounds, in or
der, as he said, to enjoy himself, and pass
the evening of his life in the mild radi-
] ance of the setting sun. But it was not
to be. A serious and, as it proved, fatal
4 illness overlook him Before, as he express
ed it, "he had been three months out of
!, business.'' He did not sufferrmuch, and
Il BY no means anticipated fatal termma-
} tion to his malady. After ten days con
fnement to his room he was somewhat
alarmed by the grave face and demeanor
ofhis usually hearty and cheerful medical
!, attendant Il think" said the latter,
, that it is my duty to, recommend to you,
; if you have any worldly affairs to settle,
3 that you should settle them" The pa
!; tient sprang up IN bed. do you mean
! totell me, doctor. that am dying?" ooh
: no said the doctor kindly; 81 hope not
, and l trust that many years are in
store for you; still, if there is any matter
: of business for you to settle, settle it. Life
: is always uncertain; and it is best to be
i prepared for all contingencies. -'-'o ~.'
n doctor" said the sick man, 'you can
: not deceive. You think l am dying, and
L you do not want to- tell me the truth
t Well! I have toiledq and, struggled, and
screwed, and saved for forty years, and
: thought that at the last was going to en-
JOY myself for little while before the
? end. And now you tell mel am, dying
: All can say is, it isa-." He added
: two words that were very tragic, very
! comic, very lamentable, very unrepeata
! Bile; turned his face to the Nafl1and never
: spoke more. l.3oI t. .nlsI5 s4s. atff.s, 80.
d Fourth on my list of the unhappy rich
! is gentleman who retired at the age OF
I fifty, from large and prosperous business
: with the expectation that his share of the
; partnership would amount to halt a mil
lion sterling. This expectation was not
: realized On a settlement of accounts
! and valuation of the assets between him
n ~ I,
share fell little, but not much, short OF
! two hundred thousand pounds. This was
E grievous disappointment 52All his life
! from very earlyyouth, he had oYerworked
his weary brain. ssfeE.sa.. ,,.f....,,
5 He had. been unwisely eager to grow
; rich, and had overtasked the energies
: both Of his body and mind, in the at
tempt to build up fortune, and to be.
come the founder of a family that should
I rank among the first in, the country in
which he resided. He loved wealth fol-
its own sake, and with a love beyond
!, reason. Though clear fortunefof two
r hundred thousand pounds, or even hall
the money, would seem to most men some
!. thing to be grateful for, and to be well
] enjoyed and we'll secured, it did not seem
so to this greedy man, who had made
! money his idol, and the only object OF
: reverence in the world. His brain was
] weakened BY the hard work expended in
/ making and taking caueiof s,magnif-
fcent, but to him disappointing sum, and
he ,brooded so much over, the failure to
reach the half million he had so long cal.
! culated on anassing, that Symptoms Of
J federation of intellect were soon apparent
! Ito his family. 2 His brain softened, and in
! less than O twelvemontii after the wind
Z ing up of bis partnership, his mind was
/ wholly gone, and it BECAME necessary. to
i Il.