The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-03-23
CAREER OF A CONVICT.
The StrnnR Fortunes OF n Mar Recon v
Released for Heroism-An Heir to n
Large Fortune, which He ~Squnndered.

The Strange Fortunes OF n Man Recon v
Released for Heroisn-An Heir to n
Large Fortune, which He S~qunndered.
Sllas McCloon, n of the four Deer
Island convicts who were pardoncd ut
Boston for hcroism in rcscuing the rem
nant OF the crew of the wrecked schoo-
ner Juliet. off Winthrop's Point, has
had q romantic career. according to Il
history Of his life, which is published
here to-day.
McCloon's father was n wealthy mer-
chant and ship-builder of Rockland,
Me and was worth at least 81, 500, 600
at the time Of his death. Tie inherit
ancc was divided between the mother,
two daughters, and the son, he receiv-
ing in accordance with the provisions OF
the will onc-third Of the whole fortune.
Tho residue was equally divided among
the other heirs. One of the daughters,
soon after the disposition of the estate,
married an cX-Lieutcnant-Govcrnor of
Massachusetts, now one of the most
prominent members of the bar in that
state. Si!as became the husband of n
young lady distinguished in the society
of Haverhill, Mass, for her great beauty
and accomplishments. 4 500, 900 resi-
dence Mt Rockland was his first invest
mcnt. His next was the fatal purchase
of n half interest in the incompletcd
invention of Il Yankee to utilize steam
without allowing an exhaust. Thou
sands after thousands of dollars melted
away in the scheme. The financial
hacker, inexperienced and insane with
enthusiasm, hastcned off to Europe with
imperfect models and illustrations to
introduce to the Old World an unpat-
entcd invention that was destined to
rcvolutionize power. Sharpers at Lon
don and Paris saw the weakness of both
h man and the machine, and while
attesting to the marvellous worth of
one showed no hesitation III patroniZing
the apparently i~neNhaustiblc wealth of
the other. Young McCloon, it is said,
had dincd and wincd himself out of
nearly $500, 600 when his married sister,
then in Paris with her husband, had
him spirited off to America one night.
He stuck to the invention until all his
resources were dissipatcd, nothing being
left but the Rockland house and q lime
stone quarry that yielded an income Of
S., 200. These he one day gave to his
wife, convinced that he was irreclaim-
able. His mother gave to him money
with a lavish hand, but when she saw
that he was falling lower with each gift
she withheld her favors. His sisters
closed the doors of their rich homes
against him.
At last his mother gave him a purse
with which to start new in the West.
cXacting a promise that he would never
return unless he had overcome his un-
fortunate habits. In February, 1877,
young McCloon passed through Chicago
on his way to the Black Hills, thcn the
scene of n gold excitement. He had
not allowed an intoxicant to touch his
lips for a month. At Omaha, while the
overland train was waiting for lunch,
he bought a bottle Of ale. The next
night, while the train was speeding past
Gibbon, a small station in Nebraska,
the station agent was shocked to see a
body fall and apparently roll under the
wheels. He took the unconscious man
into the station and restored him. 1t
was the young New Highlander. He
had m%iraculously escaped with a few
bruises on the head. The following
train took him on to Cheyenne. Then
for some days he surp1 .sed the border
men by his munificence. On the fourth
day he awakened with a meagre 5000
remnant of the $40, 900 which his
mother had given for the first instalmcnt
on the purchase of a cattle ranch. His
next effort ut reformation was made
when an exile on the Medicine Bow
Mountain Range, where for four months
he remained searching for gold. At the
expiration of that period, having suf-
fered the adverse fate of most cold
hunters, McCloon returned home to his
wife and two children in Maine, sure
that circumstances had redeemed him,
and resolved to recover by hard labor
the fortune he had 80 recklessly squan-
dered.
His release from a convict's cell for
bravery is the first that has been heard
from him since then.
ENOUGH OF lit will be some time
before the Southern portion of the Uni
| tod Iofoo will uoto for another o~uoJ: