The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1883-06-14
SMALL TALK
About Men and Things.

to IHE TRIBUNE gossip, and his remarkable
career is full of interest. His name originally
was Christopher Haverly, being named for
his father, poor man who lived at Curtin's
Furnace, in Center county, Pa. "Jack" or
Kit as he was called in those days,
was apprenticed to tailor, but soon got into
Jail for throwing hot goose" at his boss.
This was compromised and he went back, but
in few days renewed the attack with pair of
shears, and left the country ON foot in the night
with worldly estate amounting o$13. He went
ON to Toledo, and got ON train as assistant to
the news agent and peannt-seller He next
secured a hacker, who started him with horse
and cart in the business Of peddling fish. He
was but. about sixteen years old then. He soon
tired of the life of a fsh-peddler, and went on
to indianapolis. Here he tried his luck at cards
and became gambler In this capacity he
turned up, of course, in the oil regions during
the petroleum excitement, and speculated and
played faro. He was sometimes rich and
sometimes "broke." He made "raise" first
in Syracuse, n. Y. He entered the place of
dutch Hank" with a 81 bill, and played till
he had won $4,000, when the dealer closed the
game on him. The proprietor came in and
wanted to know what was the matter; being
told, he challenged Jack" to game of poker.
Hayerly never lacked nerve, and promptly
took him up at s., 500 hand. The Colonel ("
won. The Dutchman then proposed freeze
out hand for So, 900 side, which was accepted
and won by HaverIy He left the house with
$4,000. He started gambling house in To-
ledo, and finally drifted into the theatrical
business about 1870 by taking half interest
in happy Colonel Wagners Minstrels He was
dead broke /" in Chicago in 1873 and 1876 He
leased Hooley's theater for a while, but lost
money. lie was SO poor in the spring of 1876
that he had to change his clearinghouse, and
wore his winter clothes till July. He was always
sprightly as a cricket, however, and, by sharp
turn when Ho0ley was sold out in bankruptcy,
he obtained control of the theater took down
Hooieys name, and put up his own. From
this time on he coined money. He no sooner
made one dollar than he proceeded to invest five
IN various theatrical speculationS, constantly
expanding his business till it was beyond the
capacity of any ordinary man to manage. He
started two minstrel troops on the road, an
Uncle Toms cabin company, the church choir,
and ten Juvenile Plnafore companies, theater
III Brooklyn, two in New York, one In San
Francisco, one in London, one in Toronto. He
left Hooleys and took the old Adelphi In Chi
cago, raising it from variety show run by
Len Grover to one of the finest places of amuse-
ment in the city. About two years ago, when
this property was sold by the Government to
the First National Bank of Chicago, he built
his Monroe street theater, the finest III the
CITY,
In the meantime he not only had all these
irons in the fire, but he specialized heavily in
provisions on the Chicago board, started a run
ming exchange, bought and sold real estate,
took controlling interest in the great Chicago
race track, which had ruined Lawrence &
Martin the Tolu Rock and Rye men who built
it, and kept some fast horses himself He put
quarter of a million dollars into Colorado
mines, and never took any out
All this was no secret. The colonel made
light of friendly warnings, which were not
rare, that he was going too fast. He was the
jim Fisk of the West in his audacity, without
the INSCRIPTIONS interests of the Wall street
king. Everybody likes Haverly, and it viii
be little singular if he does not find friends
who will back him up and help him out of his
straits. If his friends stand by him, he will
probably be millionaire again in six months
Personally, Hayerly is about forty-two or
forty three years OF age slight in FORM five feet
eight or nine inches in height with thin sharp
features, long, sandy moustache, brown hair
and blue eyes. He has the courage of lion,
life.
He viii flourish again some day.
The late Senator from Colorado who was
such constant source of amusement at the
Capitol during his thirty-day term, has again
come to the front by a draft on Secretary
Folger for the price of some land sold the Gov
eminent. MIR. Tabor is very original in his
methods. He sold the site for the Beever post
f.fgsa 10 fha( So.
not know that the Attorney General had to in
struct the district attorney to examine the title
and send on q certified copy and the alb
stract; that then he had to prepare voucher
and send it TO the first auditor to examine to
see if the law had been complied with that it
then had to go to Judge Lawrence the first
comptroller, for security; that it then had to
go to Mr.. Bruce to be registered and copied
that the copy then passed on to the chief of the
warrant-room, where the warrant was drawn
on the treasurer; that this document went next
to the treasurer, who drew a draft on the local
sub-treasury; that this draft had again to pass
the first comptroller and go to the register;
that it was then returned to Treasurer Wyman,
who would mail it to his post-office address
MIR. Tabor was ignorant of all this process, so
he deposited draft on the Secretary of the
Treasury, about the only man in the Depart
ment who has nothing to do with it. Result
draft protested; cost OF information TO Mr.
Tabor, 1896.
General Phil. Sheridan is to have presented
to him a 5000 house when he comes to Wash
ington to live. The same courtesy was shown
both Grant and Sherman.
@%@
James W. Sheahan the Journalist, who has
been lying at the point of death in Chicago for
some days, was a Washington boy He sold
newspapers on the streets here and for years
swept out the store of Joseph Shillington, who
still keeps his establishment at the corner of
Four-and-a-half street and Pennsylvania ave-
nue., where he has been in business for the last
forty years. Sheahan became protege of
Stephen A. Douglas, when he grew to young
manhood, and backed by strong capitalists.
started the Chicago Times as Douglas organ.
He bought out the printing establishment of
Langdon q Rounds to start with taking every
thing from presses to miscellaneous type.
Rounds started again without partner and
to-day is a rich man, and having turned over
his business in Chicago to his son, is the best
Government printer we ever had. In his
employ at the great Government printing
at the present time is a sister of
F." Jimmy" Sheahan's.
So
General Sherman remarked yesterday that
there was an unwritten page of history with
to his trip to Mexico after the close
of the war. Andy Johnson, who saw the ris-
ing power of Grant determined to send him to
Mexico to interfere in the affairs of that coun-
try personally, with the exDectatinn that he