Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-01-15

The details Of tragic romance coms
from Madison, Wis, and. although no
names ere given. the story is vouched
for as being absolutely true. Years
ago, when the gold fever was at its dlz-
ziest height in the land Of the sunset, o
young Wisconsin miller set out TO make
his fortune on the Pacific slope. lie
was young, robust and ambitious. lie
soon had a stroke of luck and amassed
quite a snug little fortune in the gold
fields He married a San Francisco Ia
dy and they lived happily until q son
and daughter had been born to them.
Then trouble arose in the happy home,
which resulted in the father abandon
ing his family, after gathering together
the bulk of his wealth, and returning
to Wisconsin. settling near his former
home, few minutes walk from Madi-
SON. He purchased a mill and for
awhile pursued the even teuor OF his
way.
This was twenty years ago. He nev-
er told any one of his unhappy matri-
monial adventure in the far West, and
not even the few relatives he had knew
anything about his life on the Pacific
coast. Two years after his return he
married very beautiful young woman,
and. to all appearances, they lived very
happily. The wife never suspected
that her husband had not been all he
pretended to be. In time daughter
and son were born. The daughter is
now almost grown. and is said to be
unusually bright and good looking, and
the son is manly fellow 16 years old.
For a score of years the husbands ter
rible secret was known only to himself,
and the abandoned family had long
since mourned him as dead.
A few weeks ago the young lady
went to the postoffice for the mail, as
was her custom. She received letter
for her father. 1t was lady's hand
writing and bore the San Francisco
postmark. The father read the letter
amid much excitement and hastily stuck
the epistle in his pocket. The pro-
ceeding was so unusual that he attract
ed the attention of the family. A few
days later the daughter found the let
ter in q nook where her father had hid
den it. 1t was from the abandoned
wife. She said that she had by the
merest accident just heard that the
man who had married her was alive
and well, and asked if the report was
true. She said if it was she would Join
him as soon as she could possibly make
the journey. The Mortified daughter
ut once went to her father and charged
him with his crime. The man was
completely humiliated and begged his
child most piteously not to tell her
mother the contents of the letter which
she had accidently found. The father
promised to right the great wrong he
had done the two women at the earliest
possible moment. The next day he
was found dead in his stable, having
shot himself through the head. The
grief-stricken and scandalized family at
once sent the news of his death to Cal
ifornia. The telegraph merely an
nounced the tragic event a short
time ago. The details have just
cropped out. Two or three days ago
the miller's valise, packed as if for a
journey, was found under a pile of hay
in the stable. This leads to the suppo-
sition that the man had at first con-
templated flight rather than face the
disgrace of an exposure. 1t is said the
California wife will shortly visit Wis
consin and claim q part of the rich mil
ler's Chicago Journal.