The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1885-05-29
A CALIFORNIA CHARACTER.
"Reminiscences of a Singular Man

"Reminiscences u Al kaai tAitah NAN
and His Eccentric Wife.
a San Francisco special to the New
York Herald Of May 23d, says: The
death of Howard Colt will certainly call
up many "reminiscences to the Cali fol-
mans residing in New York Colt was
chiefly remarkable for two things-his
voice and his having been the husband
of Lille Hitchcock. His voice was
about as musical as a calliope, and al
most as penetrating. Partly because of
it and partly because he was such a gen
eral favorite he was made caller of the
San Francisco Stock Board, with the
comfortable salary of 81 200 a month,
The selection was happy one, and no
matter how wildly the bulls and the
bears raved and fought-and they did
rave and fight in those days-Coit's voice
could be heard above all the hurry -burly,
clear and distinct as a steam whistle.
The organ was certainly a very eXtraor-
binary one-the callers personality was
equally so-with its great height and
girth, its clean shorn face and its Glad
stonian collar, open far down on the
massive throat, and it used to be one of
the proper things to take a stranger
down and let him hear Colt call"
Colts wife was still more remarkable
A NOTED WOMAN.
She was the daughter of a wealthy pic.
neer Californian, DIR. Hitchcock, and
falling in love with the dasbing New
Yorker-for Colt came from your city
married him, and being averse to doing
anything in theusual way, she married
him clandestinely. Long before this es
capade, however, Miss Hitchcock had
made herself locally famous. She wa:
an active member of KnickerbOckel
Hose Company, No. 5. She was a VIC,
lent secessionist, had pulled down the
stars and stripes from the Occidental
Hotel and had trampled on them, ant
had marched into the room where pay
master Kenney was holding levee, wav
ing the stars and bars and singing, For
Southern rights, hurrahr = She has
brought down deer with a rifle, and haC
almost killed an insulter with an ice
pick.
MAN AND VILE PART.
Colt was a reckless fellow, and it wa
hardly a matter of surprise that two
such people should find out that the,
We're not exactly suited to each other
In fact it was rather matter of sur
prise that the two lived together as Ionl
as they did. The end came very ab
ruptly about ten years ago. Gen, Ere
mont's nice, Miss Rebecca Jones, wa
giving party at the Lick House, wher
Mrs. Colt saw her husband wander OF
with an impressionable young lady. Sh
followed the couple, broke down tn,
door of the room into which they hao
gone, and from the threshold bid he
husband goodbye forever She kept he
word, and separation from that hou
was complete. This did not seem t
dash Colts spirits over much, nor iii
the subsequent reductions of his salar
lead him to habits of carefulness. Z
AANOtt AttoL anu E'CAAlttl'Ns AtASAi ~ a
events iniammatory rheumatism close
his life when he was but II. BY q ratt
er strange chance the papers that al
nounced Colts death also contained tn
information that DR.. Hitchcock's Wi
had been proven, and that his daughtt
Lille, who has been living in retiremer
near Napa, had been left very ric
heiress.
Now that all the wooden shanties Wi
soon be ont of the way en- Lemon stree
it would be a good idea to have the III
slightly piles of brick that disfgure an
obstruct the corner of Lemon and Watt
streets at least removed out of IL
street. But we would much rather not
the fact of the brick being put into soil
walls than that they We're being merel
removed.