Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-04
A BUSTED SYNDICATE.
Mr.. 0Connor Has Very Hard Luck
in the Oklahoma Territory.
SURRENDERED TO A REVOLVER.
Held Claim for Four Hours, but Decided
He Didn't Want it.
NEW VERSION OF THE HOMESTEAD RACE

A Britisher with a consuming desire for
sight of his native heath and handshake
from fellow countrymam, registered at
the Hotel Anderson yesterday and wrote
his name of "W. O'Connor and wife, Eng
land' in an excessively aristocratic style.
Mr.. O'Connor has spent several months
in America, and is sorry he did, if one is to
judge from the objurgations he piled upon
Johnathan's head, beginning with the genus
reporter and ending with a rather wide
sweep of the entire race of Americans. Mr..
O'Connor has been disappointed. He has
been disappointed in America and Ameri-
cans. He expected to find cities populated
with cowboys and the plains inundated
with Indians. Somehow or other his ex-
pectations were not realized, and he
is disappointed man. There were
other disappointments, too. The last
of these was, as Mrs. Parting
ton says, the most unkindest cut of all. It
was experienced IN the recent land rush in
the Cherokee strip in Oklahoma Mr..
O'Connor had spent few months preceding
the opening of the land upon ranch in
New Mexico, and had heard of many
persons securing valuable tracts of land
gratuitously from the great and generous
Government.
Syndicates Didn't Go In Oklahoma.
DESTROYS of being "in it," and with
bright visions OF becoming real estate
dealer with vast tracts of land under his
control, Mr.. O'Connor wrote home, and by
the aid of the great American mail system
formed a syndicate with moderate capital
to indulge in the land craze. While rang
ing in the West the Britisher paid but little
attention to the laborious thought of legal
questions and had an idea that the only
thing necessary to locate great claim was
to be on hand at the proper time and settle.
Accordingly he prepared an outfit and with
a nicely painted wagon took his position in
the line of landseekers.
'I did not mix.with the people about
me" said he, with strong accent, as he re-
counted the tale last night. 'as did not
think 1 needed information of any kind,
and the people certainly were very much
on the bum, as you Americans say. When
the word was given 1 drove across the line
that had been staked off and proceeded to
locate a number of claims. But something
was the matter. The people became very
abusive"
Driven From His Homestead.
''They assaulted me with uncouth and
uncomplimentary epithets, and said had
no right to any claims at all, let
alone q number of them. 1 found my
self driven from one spot to an
other and finally when I had become dis
gusted with the entire system of freedom I
found myself the legal possessor of a small
strip of damp and soggy ground, about the
poorest spot in the United States. L held
it for just four hours. Everybody who
failed to get a plot of ground tried to oust
me from my possession, and at last I sur
rendered it to a very enterprising West
erner, with true British sarcasm In his
tones, who carried two most dangerous
looking revolvers. went back to New
Mexico and, insisting upon Mrs. O'Connor's
hurrying, started back for home. I am
going to England and greatly fear America
will never see me again." and with a
patronizing glance the disappointed Mr..
O'Connor hurried up to the hotel desk and
ordered an inoffensive bellboy to carry
bottle of English '1icquers" into his room.