Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-02-01

money, too, by fixing up matters with all
his cher GnlieS before his death. "Uncle
Billy had been one Of the boys in his
earlier days, and later on. at the period OF
his affluence. he had not forgotten the
companions OF his more youthful joys. 1t
was said that there were no less than TOUR
ladies' who lived handsomely at Mr..
O'Brien's expense during his later years.
Not that they were all his mistresses by
any means. but at some time or otAer IN
their lives Re had relations with them,
and he felt the Obligation to care for them.
Uncle Billy was III FOR several months
before he died, and during his Illness he
took his old partner and friend Flood into
his confidence. and between them theV
provided for all the ladies N the handsOm-
estmznner. To each was decided the beau
tiful house she dwelt in and sufficient
sum TO support II, together with furni-
ture, horses. carriages, etc. RumOr put
the cost of all this 10 Uncle Billy's estate
at $500, 0o, butt was all done quietly. and
not a soul out Flood knew. From each
of the ladies was taken a cast-irOn dOcU-
ment signed, sealed and delivered, Teleas-
ing W. : O'Brien and his estate from any
claim whatsoever.
But, alas, Uncle Billy forgot one ina
morata Of the days Of his poverty. A
Mexican woman in humble life called
one day at the Nevada Bank not long af-
ter O'Brien's death and asked To see Mr..
Flood. The latter recognized her at once.
She had been a friend of Uncle Billy's
when Flood and O'Brien kept the
Auction Lunch and Saloon" The wO-
man, who seemed quite poor, asked if Mr..
O'BTien had not lett her some little keep
sake. Flood said he had not. HE must
have forgotten me-" she said, and then
she pulled from her pockets a bundle of
TGllnN faded love If I lfi
written in mixture or pretty bad Eng
lish and horrible Spanish, and said; He
used to think so much of me. l was
greatly shocked TO hear OF his DEATH"
The woman did not ask for anything but
the cOOl-headed Flood knew that he must
get those letters, for an innocent woman
with that budget was too dangerous a
quantity TO allow TO lun loose in COM
muHity filled with hungry and unscTupu-
lOus lawyers. He sent for his cO-eXecu-
tor, j. Y. Coleman. nephew of Uncle Bill
ly, and the two took the woman into a
private room. Whatever took place there
nobody knows, but the letters passed into
Floods possession. and il was afteFward
learned that the OBrien estate was
charged with $40, 900 illegal expenses in
securing certain quitclaIm deeds"
The dead Ralst0n was prey to adYen-
turesses as long as he lived. He was a
his mistresses by the dozen. His bache-
lOr apartments on Commercial street.
which occupied a whole floor, and We're
fitted up in regal style. were the scene OF
many champagne supper to choice but
sOiled cOterie of friends. After his death
his estate was not openly attacked for the
excellent reason perhaps that there was
nothing to be gained by it, for RalstOn
died pauper. Sharon. who took charge
Of the affairs ard wound up the estate,
did, however, pay some sums to two or
three of the women who had been depend
ent upon RalstOn. and by that means Sc
cured "quitclaim deeds So to speak. out
OF the wreck Of the RalstOn estates was
saved for his widow the country residence
known as Little Belmont" and SO. 900
to support the family. This has all been
dissipated.
Another case in point is that of Thomas
Blythe, an Englishman, who came to
san Francisco years ago. and died last
spring, leaving an estate valued at ST.
100000. He was a bachelor and very &C.
centric-at the same time very immoral.
He had not been under the ground a week
before the estate was attacked by two
mIstresses. each claiming to be the wife.
Other women put in claims, until it
seemed as if a large portion of the late
Thomas time must nave been taken up
turing MS lie IN bEdECulBE 10E dlQlLlODS
to his haTem. The estate is still in the
courts, and meantime efforts are being
made to find Mr. Z 'ytbe's kin. if my ex-
ist. One daughter has turned up in Eng
land, but there are doubts OF her gen
uineness. The chances are that. under
Sullivan's decision. the mistress who can
show proof OF the earliest voluntary CO.
habitation will get the estate in the end.
The late Gen. Cotton. whose epistolary
to the science OF railway
Jobbery and bribery year or more ago
oCcasioned no little comment. is another
who lett legacy 10 his administrators in /
the form Of breyet widow. At the time
Of his death there were whispers that Col
toms injuries. which ended in his de-
cease, were not the result Of fall from
horse, as was given out, but were infiict-
ed IL a midnight encounter with an amor
Gus prOwler whom he had encountered in
his (COlton's bird cage. OF course. such
a story could not be verified. As Il was.
there was enough Of a scandal for Stan
ford and Croker and the Cotton family to
lush up. Of course, the mistress had no
rights and could not assert none. but she
,O1ld make mischief and kick up a dread
III scandal. and she was paid s20,000 and
old TO 90 to Europe aRd never come back. !
ia vent.