The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-01-16
A ROMANTIC CAREER.
The Way Rockland Man Dined and
Wined Away His Fortune.

Treasurer McCloon, one Of the four Deer
Island convicts who were pardoned at Bos-
ton this week, for heroism in rescuing the
remnant of the wrecked schooner Juliet of
Winthrop Point, has had romantic career
according to history of his life which was
published in Chicago, Thursday.
McCloon's father was a wealthy merchant
and shipbuilder at Rockland, Me-, and was
worth at least 100000 at the time of his
death. The Inheritance was divided between
the mother second daughter and the son, he
receiving one-third of the whole fortune.
The residue was equally divided among other
heirs. One of the daughters, soon after the
disposition of the estate married an ex-Lieu-
tenant Governor of Massachusetts, now one
of the most prominent members of the bar of
that State.
Silas became the husband of a young lady
distinguished in the society of HaVerhill,
Mass, for her great beauty and accomplish
ment. A 100000 residence at ROckland was
his first investment.
The next was the fatal purchase of a half
interest on an incompleted invention of q
Yankee to utilize steam without allowing an
exhaust. Thousands after thousands of dol
lars melted away in the scheme The hnan-
cial hacker, inexperienced and perfectly in
sane with enthusiasm fastened off to Europe
with the imperfect models and Illustrations
to introduce to the old world an unpatented
patent that was destined to revoluti0nize the
power supplying methods OF the universe.
Sharpers at London and Paris saw the weak
ness of both man and machine and while at
testing to the marvellous worth of the one
showed no hesitation in patroniZing the ap-
parently inexhaustible wealth of the other
Young McCloon, it is said, had dined and
wined himself opt of nearly 100000 when
his married sister, then in Paris with her
husband, had him spirited off to America
one night. He stuck to the invention sharp
ers until all his available resources were dis
sipated. Nothing was left but the Rockland
house and a limestone quarry, that yielded
an income of $4,000. These he gave to his
wife, convinced that ne was irreclaimable.
His mother gave to him with lavish hand,
but when she saw he was falling lower with
each gift she withheld her favOrs for his
own sake, thinking to nerve him to better
deeds His sisters closed the doors of their
gave him purse with which to start anew
in the West, exacting promise that he
would never return unless he had overcome
his unfortunate appetite.
In February 1877, young McClOon passed
through Chicago on his way to the Black
Hills, then the scene of the gold excitement.
He had not allowed an intoXicant to touch
his lips for full a month. At Omaha, while
the overland train was waiting for lunch, he
bought a bottle Of ale. The next night, while
tuC kAdlu SPCSulAS peoO OiODOhs oAlhii
station in Nebraska, the station agent was
shocked to see a body fall and apparently
roll under the wheels. He took the uneon-
scious man into the station and restored him.
1t was the young New Englander. He had
miraculously escaped with a few bruises on
his head.
The following train carried the man on to
Cheyenne. There, for some days, he sur
prised the border men by his muniicence
and princely ways. On the fourth day he
awakened with meagre $500 remnant of the
$4,000 which his mother had given for the
first installment on the purchase of cattle
ranch.
His next effort at reformation was made in
exile on Medicine Bow mountain where for
four months he remained searching for gold
At the expiration of that period having
suffered the adverse fate of most gold hunt-
ers McCloon returned to his wife and TWO
children in Maine, sure that circumstances
had redeemed him and resolved to recover Dy
hard labor the fortune he had SO reekiessly
squandered. His release from tne cohvlcts
cell for bravery is the first that has been
heard from him since then.