Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1889-01-19
A TRAMP MILLIONAIRE.

Florence Long, of Shiprensburg,
Pa, aged IL, pretty, bright and viva
cious, has by midcap marriage
thrown away her opportunity fol
social alliances, and destroyed her
prospects for an inheritance of al
least half million dollars: BY pedi
gree Miss Long has no special claim
to social distinction. She is the only
daughter of "Old Christy" Longs
son. 'Old Christy" Long is one OF
the wealthiest men in the rich Cum
berland Valley, but he is a miser, and
| affects that garb and manners of the
characteristics of the tramp.
He owns almost sufficient stock in
the Cumberland Valley Railroad to
| control it, and quite sufficient to keep
the Pennsylvania Railroad out OF
long-coveted possession of that line,
| the stock of which is worth nearly
double Its par value, and pays enor-
nous dividends. Besides his large
holding of this stock, Christy Long
owns 6.0u0 acres of the fertile Cumber-
land county farming country, and
thousands cf acres of mining, timber
and farm land in other counties and
various States. Valuable as is his
railroad stock, he obtained ownership
of the bulk of it without investing a
dollar. When he got possession of it,
in fact, he did not have dollar. 1t
was in the early days of the Cumber-
land Valley Railroad. The stock on
which the money was raised to pay
for building the road was mainly
| taken by the farmers along the route,
| between Harrisburg and the Mary
land line. For years after it was
built the road did not pay. Many of
the farmers who had put their money
in it come TO look upon their stock as
so much waste paper. Christy Long
was then a tramp clock-vender and
tinker.
He travelled occasionally through
the Cumberland Valley, seeking a
livelihood among the farmers. They
regarded him as half witted, harm
less vagrant, and he was a general
butt for the juvenile rural population.
1t was not until he began to accept
from the farmers their almost forgot
ten and entirely despised certificates
of stock in the Cumberland Valley
Railroad, in payment for odd jobs in
clock mending and kettle tinkering,
that they came to look upon Christy
Long as downright lunatic.
A Well-known farmer still living in
the Cumberland Valley has to-day a
clock which Christy Long put new
hand on, job worth in those days
perhaps % cents, for which the farm
er tossed him stock certificate which
is now worth $4,000, and on which
Christy Long has drawn double that
in dividends. That was only one in
stance among scores in which the
tramp clock member took stock certif-
icates for trifiing jobs, while the farm,
ers laughed at him for being fool.
These little jobs to-day represent
over 100000 as the price Christy
Long received for doing them. He
gathered up in that way nearly all of
the available stock there was in the
Cumberland Valley and put it secure
ly away, He did not hold it many
years before the farmers woke up to
the fact that the tramp clock-mender
had suddenly become the richest man
in the valley, and that they had been
the fools.
He is worth at least a million dol
lars to-day, but he clings to his hab-
its as tramp, and will now, although
20 years old, and palsied, walk any
distance rather than pay railroad fare.
He carries his own luncheon with
him, and 1t usually consists of peck
etful of pretzels. The work he did in
clock mending and tinkering for
farmers in return for the stock that
makes him more powerful than the
great Pennsylvania Railroad in the
Cumberland Valley Railroad man
agement, would not have brought
him $50 if paid for in cash.
1t was to the great wealth of this
eccentric old man that the girl Flor
ence Long was the prospective heir
until few days ago. Then she ran
away and married young man of
questionable reputation, after her
mother had forbidden her to receive
his attentions. The young mans
name is Horace Schreiner. He is in
the employ of the Western Maryland
Railroad at Shippensburg.
Miss Stone had refused to encour-
age the attentions of young men of
good family and high social standing.
she was going to make some calls,
She went to the railroad station and
boarded a train going south. Young
Schreiner Joined her. They went to
Smithburgh, Maryland, where they
were married. The elopement be-
came known in Shippensburg half an
hour after the train left.
Schreiner's character was so well
known and he was so generally I'M
popular that an excited crowd of over
800 people assembled at the depot in
the evening determined to mob
Schreiner on the arrival of the train
from Smithburg, on which the runa-
way couple were returning home. A
brother of Schreiner's managed to in
form him by telegraph of his danger,
and the couple left the train at Way
nesboro, where they tarried until the
next day.
Before they reached Shippensburg
wiser counsel prevailed there, and
Schreiner was simply greeted with
| boots and groans as he hurried with
his bride to his brothers. house. where
! the couple have still remained. Upon
hearing of his granddaughter mar.
riage with young Schreiner old
/ Christy Long at once declared that
the Schreiner's scheme in enticing the
girl away would fail utterly, and he
then and there disinherited his grand
daughter, declaring that her name
would not appea. in his will.--Eg.
Z