The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1888-03-16
FOOL e JIM

FOOL JIM
II VIC may trust general opinion, IL was q
series OF follies, beginning in boyhood and
continuing during life. James Foljambe-
aFool JIM as the boys nicxnamed him at
school-and the epithet chung to him-did, in
popular Judgment, the most silly things, aud
yet prospered. At school he was noted for
his folly as well Us for pluck and GOODNESS. II
. big boy maltreated a little one, instead OF
minding his own business, as a sensible boy
should, Fool Jim would take 1t up and thrash
the bully.
When that wretched little Dick Greene, the
son Of old Corney Greene, a sort Of odd job
man alDput town, broke his Leg by q fall from
q cherry tree, Fool Jim used to go around
and cheer up the little brat, and spend his
pocket money, of which he had plenty. for
Dicks benefit. All the leading big boys of
the school thought him a fool, but no one
dared tell him So, for, though he was not
quarrelsome, he was quick to resent an in
suit, and wa a tough customer in a rough
and tumble fight.
Foljambe left school for an academy where
they prepared boys for college, and went
afterward to college. I left it at the same
time to become under salesman and general
drudge in the grocery shop of Figgs f. GAL
chieze. I lost sight Of him then, except at
vacations, until he was graduated, and had
come home. His father, a confirmed invalid,
was very rich, and made a great fuss over
him when he returned, and was very proud
of the fact that Jim was at the head Of his
~I~.n 0H1~n,~n ~ ~r~enNen ahns,k Tim +
must say. Remembered all his old school
mates, and put on no airs. He would come
into our shop at all times and talk with me
very rich in time, old Figgs, though lie did
keep his peoples noses close othe grindstone,
never grumbled at it.
Not that Jim was an idler. He took a vast
deal of his sickly fathers hands in managing
the large plantation. No little job that was,
either. Foljambe place embraced over 1900
acres, and with the exception of 100 acres of
woodland. and about 900 Of pasture and
meadow. was closely cultivated. There was
a fine herd of Jersey cattle, then coming
into vogue, and over forty blooded horses,
besides others for pillow and wagon.
For four years there was nothing worthy Of
note, except that l got to be head salesman and
q sort Of general manager in our concern,
which, considering my age, was a big lift for
me. But old Foljambe died at this time, and
as James was motherless and an only son he
succeeded to the property. Then began the
follies Of this son, which made talk for the
country around fer years.
The first exhibition was in the matter of
che Peabody mortgage. There had been two
Peabody brothers, Nathan and David; but
David, the younger one, on his fathers death
had taken $1,000 in cash for his share, and
gone of to Mexico to seek his fortune. He
was not heard Of afterward, and was believed
to be dead. Nathan stayed on the old place.
He was a shiftless man, and though he mar
Tied Ben Merits daughter, who was a tidy
housewife and q prudent woman, be could
not get along. The farm was pretty well
worn out and he did not improve it at all.
The crops grew less and less, and Nathan
grew q crop Of debt To wipe that out ho
borrowed another 81, 900 on bond and mort
gage from the same party who held the first
mortgage to raise David's money. Things
grew worse, and at last the interest remained
unpaid for two years and proceedings were
taken to foreclose the mortgage. Nathan
took sick over it and died. The doctor said
it was typhoid fever, but every one thought
it was the trouble and that Nathan had given
up the ghost because he could not face his
difficulties. At all events, he died, leaving
his widow with one child, a girl Of IA. She
was very pretty-the image of her father
and all the Peabodys were fine looking PEG.
pie; but she had her mothers ways.
Everybody pitied the widow, for it was
well understood that the farm would bring
no more than the debt and law expenses;
in fact, that the mortgage would be obliged
to buy it in. With the exception of one spot,
the farm was a worn out sandy loan, over
run with sedge grass, the sign of sterility.
The exception was a hill, covering about
forty-two acres, apparently composed of a
tough, gravelly clay, unfit for even brick
making, and incapable Of cultivation. To be
sure, the five acres around the house, which
was at one end of the place, had been used as
a vegetable garden, and that was in a little
better order. It was O sorry piece of property.
So when sale day came, and l happened to be
over at the country town, I dropped into the
court house where the sheriff was to sell. I
found only a half dozen persons, and one Of
these was Foljambe and another was Phipps,
who held the mortgage.
The sheriff, taking that every one knew the
place, which had been with the Peabodys for
over 100 years, asked for q bid. The amount
against the property, including the legal
costs, was ST. 1884. Phipps put that in as a
bid, but remarked that he didn't want it at
any price, and any one advancing on that
might have it.
"That leaves nothing for the widow" OBJ
served Foljambe.
Suppose you bid more, then, on her ac-
count" said Phipps.
II shall, y replied Foljambe; "$3,5OO."
us that your bid, Mr.. Foljambew inquired
the sheriff.
"That is my bid, sir"
So the farm was knocked down to him.
When we were coming away Foljambe said
to me:
"Coffey, you 60 past the Peabody farm on
your way home. I wish you'd stop and tell
Mrs. Peabody that the place has brought
over 81 200 more than the debt, and she must
take out letters of administration And tell
her for me not to think of moving. She can
have the house and the garden around it free
Of rent. She's a shifty woman, and with that
start she'll get along" ."..m". ~
felt that oljambe's conduct was through
a impulse Of generosity which he could well
afford. But the general verdict was that he
was a fool. Fad he bid a hundred over
Phipps, Or even two hundred, it might have
passed, but to throw away-absolutely throw
away-$1,2 200! When they heard afterward
that he had given the widow a life estate in
the house and garden it was generally agreed
that he should have a guardian over him to
save his property.
Talk died out, however, to be revived again
by another astounding act of folly.
The Ellomah iron works, about a mile from
Brantford, had exhausted the he'd OF ore they
had been working for over forty years, aud
had to bring the crude material some dis
lance by rail and water. It began to be a
question whether it would not pay to build
q new furnace near the source of supply and
abandon the old one. Suddenly, however, a
new ore bed was opened close ut hand.
The forty-two acres Of clayey hill on the
Peabody farm was found to cover q heavy
deposit Of limonite. As that ore generally
contains impurities only fitting it for "cold
short" iron. little attention was paid to it. But
when the chemist Of the company made three
separate analyses and discovered that the usual
phosphorus was replaced by nearly 3 per cent.
Of manganese oxide. the thing took another
shape. The company offered Foljambe a
handsome royalty, which he at once declined.
he would sell outright or not at all. After
some chafering and q rough survey OF the
bed, they took all the farm but the widows
five acres, and paid $4,000.
"A fool for luck" was the general comment.
But the reputation Of Foljambe for down
right folly was at its height when it leaked
out afterward that he had settled $35,750 on
Mrs. P~eabody-that is, the interest during
life to her, and the principal to her daughter
afterward. No words suficed to express the
wonder, contempt and disgust at this act Of