The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1892-03-01
ALL DUE TO A DREAM
Some Good Fairies Sent ~ Poor Lift
Irish Boy His Fortune.

Some Good Fairies Sent n Poor Little
Irish Boy His Fortune.
There died in this city on April 6, 1890,
an honest, hard working machinist by
the name of Patrick Shine, who, having
accumulated some little wealth and
knowing that his end was near, a few
weeks previous to his death decided all
Of his property to his faithful wife,
Ellen, their union never having been
blessed with children. The loss of her
life companion Frustrated the widow,
and her grief was so great that just
three months later-on June 6, 1890
Ellen Shine, no longer able to bear up
under her load of sorrow, quietly
breathed her last to rejoin her beloved
husband in another world.
Ellen Shine died ~intestate, and her
property was taken charge of by Public
Administrator James e. Pennie, who at
once advertised and otherwise searched
for any unknown heirs, SO that if they
existed they could nave an opportunity
to present their claims.
Among the people who Fnew Ellen
Shine was Mrs. Mary Ann Johnson, of
II" SC1CSLS II L1C W a uACSndLAlC'
Mrs. Shine and Mrs. johnson were both
of them natives of County Cork, Ire
land, and whenever they met they used
to exchange "reminiscences of the days of
their youth. When Mrs. johnson learned
through the newspapers that her oil
friend had died and that the public ad-
ministrator had charge of her property
for the lack of legal claimants she was
greatly distressed, and the matter wor-
ried her for many weeks. In vain the
good cudgeled her brains in an
endeavOr to remember whether she had
ever heard Of any one related to Ellen
Shine. She could recollect no one.
The matter occupied her mind so
much that it is not at all surprising that
II night aug. 30. 1891. after retiring,
still much perturbed over the fact that
all the money should go to strangers,
Mrs. johnson had her peaceful slumbers
disturbed by a dream. She dreamed of
Ellen Shine as Il young girl home in Ire
land, surrounded by a host of relatives
and conspicuous in that visionary pic
ture from dreamland was the figure of
Rev. Father James, well known to the
dreamer.
When Mrs. johnson awoke next morn
ing she remembered her dream and
thought il strange that i'll it Father
James should be mixed up with the
youthful days of her late friend. The
more she pondered over this, to her, in
applicable fact the more she became
convinced hat the proper person to ap-
ply to for information concerning the
relatives of Ellen Shine was the old
parish priest, and she resolved at once
to write to him.
Her surmise proved correct. In due
time she received a letter from the Rev.
Father James, now known as Canon
Hegarty, in which he said that he knew
Ellen Shine well when she was still at
her Irish home, that her maiden lame
was Ellen Dooley, and that her nearest
relative living was a nephew by the name
of Joseph Cotter, residing in Il village
near Cork, called Carrignaver. The
canon also advised Mrs. johnson to turn
the case over to some attorney at once.
Judge Levy gave satisfactory judg-
ment, without more than the delay
necessary for the purpose of obtaining
the proofs of COtters claim from Ire
land, and the young Irish lad was Of
ficially notified that he was the sole
owner of a house and lot on Garden
street, and another lot in the O'Neil and
Healy tract, all left to him by an aunt
whom he had never known. by the as
sistance of the beneticent fairies of
dreamland.-San Francisco Chronicle.