Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-12-29


ocrity, for which nature had de-
signed them. The baron attached
himself to a musical society which
hoped to float on his title, but the
society soon fell to pieces, and the
Baron de Buissiere then vanished
from the public eye.
THE TURN OF THE TIDE.
About that time the tide that had
carried the Halliday family onward
aud upward began to turn. First
it was whispered that neither of the
two brilliant marriages was fruitful
of happiness. The husbands we're
not the sort Of men they had ap-
peared to be, and their titles soon
lost the glitter they had once worn.
Rumor spoke of separations, but on
this point | am not quite clear.
That was aboutsix years ago. Then
came the day Of financial reverses.
| The panic storm of 1873 struck
Ben Halliday as it struck many
others, and damaged him very seri-
ously. Almost his whole capital
was invested in mines and in secuyi-
ties which fell with frightful rapid
ity. Hundreds of thousands were
swept away before he could see
them going. Grief soon came to
add poignancy to misfortune. Death
entered his family and cast a
shadow that was not to pass away.
One of his daughters, Madge, was
accidentally shot by a gentleman
{ who was cleaning his revolver
! Next came the death of the Count
ess Pourtales, who died while trav'
cling in a sleeping-car on the Pa
cifc railroad. After this came the
: loss of his wife, whose death, likC
I others of the family, was attended
: by circumstances peculiarly sad
|, While personal sorrow thus encir
! ! cled him, his financial condition
: grew worse and worse. One re
!, verse followed another until he wa
!. , almost utterly ruined. Then, whel
!, both family and fortune were gon,
J Ia Young SON and the Baroness d
:, Buissiere, then abroad, were tn
! only children remaining to HIM
: he abandoned 0phir Farm, leavinj
: it il the hands Of an agent, ant
taking his boy with him, returne,
to the Pacific coast, where he still
= is. What he is doing there, or hoy
: : he lives, none of his former friend
= appear to know.
! THE FAMILY FINALE.
One day last week the papers an
u nounced the arrival of the Baron
= ess de Buissiere, and said that sh
! !. was quite i'll from the effects of
= cold. The illness was more seriou
! than had been supposed, for diseaS
" developed rapidly, and on Suuda
i morning the patient died. Th
= cause Of her return was lawsui
= !. about her mothers will. He
mother had, in fact, left two will
!. and under one of these her fathe
: claimed whatever property his vii
: possessed at the time of her deatl
!" 1t was to dispute this claim of he
fathers that she came back to Ne
~ York, and to her grave. A claus
3 in one of the wills was Of an el
= ceedingly peculiar and eocentri
Z character. 1t provided that in I'll
,t event of the baroness becoming
: widow she should not again MARI
4 a Frenchman or any man Of Frenc
J. extraction within the third gener,
u =, ton, under penalty of forfeitin
y each and every claim as a legate
- What fearfully bitter commer
4 this was on what she herself ha
~ ~ done. She took her daughters
10 Europe in order that they migl
find husbands with titles, and tt
: two Frenchmen whom her daugl
n n ters married were quite as muC
:, her choice as theirs. That the
. disappointed her deeply is vel
y plainly seen in the singular vii
y But piques aud disappointment
u, are all past. The family vault b
~, ~ side the pretty chapel on Oph
~ Farm now contains the dust
q = Mrs. Halliday and five of her chi
" W dren-four daughters and one so
% p Three persons followed the body
= u the Baroness de Buissiere from Il
~ ~ railroad station to the chapel. Oh
- ~ was Mr.. Otis, who had taxi
~ ~ charge of the body and made a
-, - rangements for funeral services
" st. AIMS church; another W
W Frederick May, whose name recaI
90 the Bennett duel episode, aud Il
~ other was o faithful Irish nur
:" who had been in the Halliday fal
~ ~ lily for nearly twenty years. Oour
n1 ~ e3s and baroness and their until
~, ~, sisters, each dying before h
~ twenty-fourth year, now lie t
~ y! gether as calmly as though no viii
rs c had ever ruilled the smooth placi
ng :, ity of life.
* The Germans aud the TeIephOT
pi. Europe is playing it on Pr
in Telephone Bell in a way that
Ter utterly despises. The wonders