Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1880-07-02
Spending Three Thousand Dollars Day.

A few miles above Oil City, Pa, when Oil
began to be found all along the creek, lived
an elderly lady known as the widow Nc
Clintock. Several valuable wells were
found on her property, and in 1864 she had
received $50, 000-s12,000 Of it in gold-as
the revenue of few months from her in
terest in the wells. She had an adopted
son named John Steele. He was quiet,
steady, but not over intelligent farmer,
nearing his twenty -first birth day. la the
winter of 1854 the Widow McChntock was
kindling fire in her stove and poured pc
troleum upon it to quicken it, An eXplo-
sion followed and she was burned to death.
Her property was left to her adopted son.
He was married and living happily with
his wife and two children. Ills Income
had never been above $40 :. Mouth previ-
GUS to the finding of oil ia tie region. He
became of age soon after the death OF the
Widow McClintock, and became the pos
SCISSOR of an income of So, 900 day. This
unsettled the young mans mind He had
never been so miles away from his home,
and when an oily and unprincipled advent
urer named E N. Slocum, WHO had drifted
into the oil regions from Cleveland, Ohio,
fastened himself Oil young Steyle, and paint
ed in glowing terms the magnificent life
he might lead in the great cities, the sim
ple-mlnded, millionaire deserted his wife
and children and accompanied Slocum 20
Philadelphia. AS "Coa!-oll johnny.
young Steele soon became famous for his
unl,eard-of exirayagances. He soon ran
through his property, and he became
mental IN the safvice of a negro minstrel
troupe he had furnished the money to es-
tablish The minst els finally discarded
s'Coal-oil Johnny" entirely, and he return
ed. ragged and on foot, To the farm he had
left three years before prince among the
oil millionaires. Pending Steeles's inevl-
table ruin, the gentlemen who were m una
ging his property succeeded in divertlng
SIS 900 from Steele s income, which they
gave to his wife, with Instructions to de-
posit it in bank, and to keep The fact Sc
cret from her husband when he retained
home penniless as thay were certain he
would. Mrs. Steele placed the money in
the Venango County Bank. en-, of the en-
| terprises of the notorious finn of Culver,
Penn & Co. A short time after the mon
ey was deposited the bunk failed ana has
never paid penny to the hundreds of de-
positors who suffered to the extent of mill
ions. Thus. III three years, one of the
largest fortul es ever made in the Oil re-
giuns vanished as completely and ire
claimaby AS if it had been all converted
into bank-noteS and consigned to the con-
sumlng flames of q furnace. johnny
Steele 3 widow received him and forgave
him all his cruel neglect and criminal
prodigality. He secured a position at his
old occupation. as teamster, at 500 a
month. Subsequently he was made bag
| gage-master ON one of the railroads in this
region He became as economical and
saving as he had been the opposite. After
a few years service he had saved enough
money to purchase farm back of Frank
| lin, where he row lives, with $4,000 in the
bank and a happy wife and family. The
excuses that Slocum was able to indulge
at Steele's expense ruined his health. and
he died miserable death about ten years
ago.
A WAKE FOREST STUDENT WHO Cur
HIS WAY TnRoUGH.-A student named
Davis. from up in Cherokee county, gradu-
ated this session at Wake Forest. Five
years ago he went to that college with five
cents in his pocket-all his money. They
told him he'd better go back, but he VOW
ed he'd stay around there and live on the
wind but that he'd GO through. And stick
| he did. He cut VIC cd for citizens and f.
| nally all the professors gave him the con-
| tract to cut up their winter wood. Pro-
| lessor Royal was in the chapel one morn
| ing and heard d terrible racket outside,
like Cannon touched off, and it WAS
Davis who had finished all of pile of
wood except some great knotty sticks that
| he had split by boring holes and ramming
| in powder. He cut six hundred aud odd
dollars out of wood daring his term and
! graduated only twenty five dollars in debt
| for the whole five years. He learned to
sing and taught singing schools in the
country during the spare Saturdays. That
made him some money. He gratiua ed
mencement speech was ssHe. to tue line,
let the clips fall where they may" He
has got his axe with him and intends to
lay it away in his study, and label it;
| "With this cut my Way through" He
| has already been Offered professorshlp in
some college eidsuiae tN. CO. Times.