The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-07-07
RICH BUT UNcuLruRED.
Ono OF the Oddities Created by Successful
Operation In Western Mining Schemes.

Ono OF the Oddities Created by Successful
Operation In Western Mining Schemes.
There is u man in this city, says the
New York Telegram, whose peculiar
career has been In harmony with his
peculiar character. He was born in the
south, has had some education, though
he cannot be considered nm educated
man, and has lived in many parts of tho
world. lie is one of those men whose
indomitablc will power makes success
with them n foreign conclusion. He is
now about forty-fvc years of age, the
possessor of tremendous fortune,
which he has made by specializing in
western mines since 1875, when he lost
a comparatively small fortune which no
had inherited. This calamity, instead
of depressing him as it would many
men, seemed to bring out all the latent
power in his nature. lie went west inn
mcdiatcly with his large family, lived
with the greatest economy and was
happy in the confidence of his ultimate
success. This success came to him in q
very short time. He found himself to
be the possessor of an admirable judg-
ment of the value of mines, and showed
an extraordinary skill of driving hard
and close bargain. AS one of his friends
has said of him: ''IIe has made his
money by squeezing it out of others.
He would, by taking advantage Of a
mans embarrassed financial situation,
get all his property out of him, and
then, with fine magnanimity, present
his victim with fifty dollars as gift"
A few years after his advent in the
west he found himself millionaire AS
soon US the discovery was made it
dawncd upon him that the west was too
small place for him. So he came to
New York expecting to take the town
by storm But, strange rs it may seem,
he has not succeeded in this ambition.
On the contrary, there arc few people
who know that he lives in this big city.
He, the posscssor of two millions, is
thrown into the shade by scores of
New Workers, each OF whom possesses
many millions more. But he is we'll
content. His experience in New York
has taught him to affect n contempt for
wealth, though he still continues to ac-
cumulatc it. Money" he SAYS, with a
fine scorn which is very amusing to
those who know him, ''moncy is not
worth striving for. There are other
things in the world of greater impor-
lance than mere pclf." He is particu-
larly fond Of making this remark to
those persons with whom he has
business relations. lie certainly con-
vinces them that there is no use in
striving for money with him, for in the
struggle for it he is sure to win This,
however, is only one of his many aphor-
islns. lie loves to pose as a philoso-
IN I, -
around him, some of which have q
strangely familiar sound, as though
they had been said before by some one
else. He is also very religious, and he
invariably throws the cloak of his re-
Hgion over his little prevarications and
hard business dealings. His life in the
wild west seems to have inspired him
with an intense desire to be a gentle
man and to surround himself with gen
tlcmen, and his efforts thus far have re-
suited in some curious episodes. His
rude speeches to his guests at table are
the talk of those who have met him.
and his peculiar manners have already
inspired one novel writer to put him in
n story. lie has an intense admiration
for Napoleon, whom he takes for his
model, and initiates in manner which
gives delight to those who can apprc-
ciatc it. Altogether, he is most curious
example of a civilization which is rap
idly dying out, of the type which is
neither boor nor gentleman, but cross
between the two, the result of state
of social transition which produces in
him mixture of natural vulgarity only
imperfcctly concealed by veneer of
spurious refinement