The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1873-08-01
LORD GORD0N'S CAREER.
HIstOry of HIs First Operations In this
County,

1 kle 0uuHSapOllo 4ftOaJte VI lli1
city publishes the following account
tof the early career in this country ot
Lord Gordon Gordon : Gordon Cor
don is probably not lord in fact.
His resonant and rsverberatilg nsme
does not appear st all in the British
book OF heraldry. He encourages
the designation OF Milor but when
asked In the New York court who
bis father was, he replied Well "resl
ly, gentlemen, dye know I haven't
any ideah never thought it worth
while to inquiah.'' "Lord's1 Gordcr
came to- Minnesots, in 1870, direc-
from Scotland, where he was very
much wanted and his first move
was to deposit $4,000 with Mr
Westfall, banker, ofthiS city. ''Do1'
want any interest,"" be said, in el-
swer to a question, "this is Just lit
tie pin money ! happen to have Wit
me you know, and few thousand in
interest money is nothing to mo, you
know. 1 want q trusty friend /; Ike
you, Mr.. Westfsll, and wans you TO
keep this trife, really, you see, IL
stead Of carrying it areuno n n
pockets. / shall send TO London f0c
Some money soon-a milioG or SC
Would show you credentials, you
know, bu. men Of honor" with
lofty wave OF his hand, "do not de-
scend TO such things" So he cane
among us and deposited his pin mo2
ey With Banker Westtsn. or course
his iordiy generosity was whispered
around how he didn't reslly.mslc
anything at all Of being q lord, snd
how he refused to consider the baga
telle OF interest money in city
where s loan of greenbscks brought
one per rsceDt, month. Then he sly
ly msde his plans for o hsBl. Cor
don bears eloseresemblanes to So
thern as Dundresry-R smsllish fscc;
heavy mutton-ehop side-6hlskeJs
q small nose, retrOgse; msn or ne
dium size, who gives the impression
or always commanding himself. In
requirements and power of exeeUtiDg
be seems TO be sort Of Monte Criz--
to--a good Judge OF men and su-
preme master Of "cont;ngenciea.
he has Wonde1fulrsnge oflaoguage,
from the lowest biElingsgate to the
to the most elegant and fio1ery fights,
from indeceucy, obscenity snd pro
family to the highest reaches OF cen
timent and philosophy. He has q
sharply contradictory character il ali
respects. At times in business he is
cool and fsr-sighted, striking right
to the center Of the mark, and again
he is as puerile as q school boy e0ae-
times resolute and strong, s2d agsil
weak and vsscillsting sometimes
serious, and again volatile. The on
ly element Of character in which nc
il consistent is his entire lsek Of pea
tive conviction. He was generally
polite and even couteous during his
short life in Minnesota, bat he sesmcd
to have no more moral purpose than
fsun or Yucasan ape. He had been
in Minnesota only few short weeks
when it wss whispered around that
be was planning on grand scale a
purchase of lands along the North.
ern Pacific road for q colony of pcof
Scotch emigranls The land oficeTs
OF the rcad interviewed him. "Yes''
he said, / do covet few thousand
acres Of your besntiful lands not for
myseIf-I have more than enough
for the remnant Of my poor lite bu.
for my beloved sister, for the gEatiii.
cation Of her benevolence, ,ss she would
like to present 10 some Of my Old
tenents lands in your free republic
where there may rear their families
in peace and plenty; and TO CRAFTY
my beautiful sister / would like to
buy few thousand acres-not many
thousand, you sse-ssy--gey, about
fifty thousand acres or so-juss 1T
tie for my poor people,
Then there was a buzz! The office
OF the Nothern Pacific was Ggitaisd-
Here was a lorG-s lord who spurred
interest money-and he wanted 1T
tie bit oflsnd-fifty thousand scres--
for benevolent purposes He would
like to inspect it, of course, before
purchasing. So they equipped q car
sYan and led him promptly forth. IE
was the last OF August when tho
princely retinue started from St
Paul to the Northern Pacific, undaT
command of Col. Loouis, the Gevis-
or and commander of the excursion
Can tha glories Of the caravan be told2
II was equipped for a lord. There
was half dozen teams, with q cor
riage for Milord, besides the omnibus
es, ambulances, &c. There wera
twelve men 10 do the manual labor,
with French cook and darkey walt.
ers in linen aprons and white sil'r
gloves, and the royal table was un-
loaded from the baggage wagons "a
every meal, and set out with fresl:
napkins, plate and ehiDs-unhGppilv
chinaware without the Gordon arms.
An, it was gorgeous Every luxury
that the markets OF Chicago, st. Paul
and Minneapolis could produce WA
there; and all the game Of the bound-
less prairie, from woodchuck % bufIa~
10. Champagne three times dsY,
For this creature was lord, yon ssa
"a lord as lofty snd unmindful o!
expense "a Harold Skimpole. When
the caravan had sEIirtsd Oak laks,
Milord wanted to see Fergus Fa!ls,
and when he hal done Fergus Falls
he lonzed for Morehead, and when
he had digested Morekead, he yesTn-
ed TO visit the glimpses Of the rsoo.I
beyond the Red river. So on, and or,
the deluded Loomis pressed, ever
roweIipg the sable waters. ever c&jOl-
ing end reproscbing theFrench cock,
ever perspiring between anticipation
and apprehension, and sending relays
of messengers for more potted grouss
more cranberry jelly snd more chsul-
payne. Meantime he studied tha
sphinx Milford, ard concluded tha1
he Wss queer cross betveen the
the lofty and the lowly be Was hai
lord and half lsckey; perhaps h;s
father was an English earl snd his
mother an Irish chamber-msid. IA
November they came back hali frc-
zen. Milford had selected his fit7
Thousand acres in Otter Tail AMI
Beaver counties. The Northern Pa
ciic Rsilrosd Company footed ths
bills-415, 900 for two months Tia
absurd fa-cs was at az erd. Milf1rl
Gordon did not buy the land for Bis
poor tenants, snd he never agalI'
mentioned bis benevolent sister to
anybody.