The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-04-12

Drannan the Mormon, Kalstop, sharon.
Hopkins, Flood, Fair. Msckay- TN
w0rthyClildren OF Rich Men.

Brannan, the Mormon, was h pioneer
rich man of the CITY, says a writer IN the
San Francisco Examiner. Brannan was q
Mormon elder, who brought out here a ship.
load of Latter Day Saints before she dis
covery Of gold. When he started from New
York it was the intention of Bingham
Young to found a Mormon empire on the
shores of the Pacific, hnt Brigham halted
by the way and built the New Zion at Salt
Lake City.
When the gold discovery came he utilized
his followers in mining, carefully collecting
one-tenth of what they MINED as a r
tithes. This tithing money started him on
the way to fortune, and when Brigham de-
manded the tithes Brannan laughed at him.
The Mormon president cursed -Brannan'
Brannan laughed and vent ON making
money. He was worth $5,0oD,000 IN 1900
when the first vigilance committee was
formed. He gave freely to every public
purpose. He scattered his fortune III q
hundred ventures, and finally IL day the
crash came. 1t was forced BY Bfannanss
drinking and his neglect of business.
Brannan went to Sonora. where he hau
been granted big concessions by the Mexl-
can government; but his and was held by
the Yaaui Indians, and he could never az
cure possession. He returned mere Just be-
fore his death. When / saw him he was IN
a cheap lodging house, for which he paid 20
cents ! night. He told me, with grim
humor. that he had met that day In the
streets no less than three men whom he
started on the road to wealth. and each one
passed by on the other side. Yet when ne
said this he want bitter, and when ne lett
1..tY.~A ~-ax3a ~ ", a yuara, tSVnnSH sac Than
IN a few months Il be on my feet again.
There's plenty Of life in the old mar yet
The next millionaire to succeed Brannan
was Milton s. Latham. a lawyer, who de-
yeloped great taste for building railroads
and developing industrial enterprises. lie
ffties. filed it with costly paintings. held
superb receptions. He sank $6,oC0.oOo in q
railroad, and this, with other disastrous
ventures. swamped him. His fine mansion
was converted into a boarding house.
A contemporary of Latham was II. l.. A.
Phoebe, q shrewd Frenchman. who once
owned acres in South San Fran
built houses, drew morn rents,
and was soon many times a
millionaire. He quarreled with his fam
ily, and sent them back to France with
ample means. Then he built q superb
house on Stockton street, overlooking the
beautiful bay.
If its mirrored and frescoed walls could
speak they would tell Of S~ardanapalian
banauets and of orgies in which hours
from Paris took a prominent part. But
evil DAYS fell on Phoebe. Like SO many
others, he lost his head, drank too much
brandy, and n morning WAS found dead
in his beautiful rooms with . pistol bullet
such fearful confusion that very little was
saved from the wreck. His noble mansion
was degraded to the sarvioe of a boarding
house.
But af all the men who have flashed like
meteors through the California financial
armament, by all odds the most brilliant,
as we'll as the most lamented, was Ralston.
He combined nerve, energy and audaoity.
Ralston gained his nerve and much of his
remarkable GOODNESS in time of danger as a
pilot on the Mississippi river. AS presi-
dent Of the Bank of California Ralston had
unlimited credit. He built the Laurel pal
ace at Belmont. thirty miles from the city.
the coast. There he dispensed hospitality
that has never been equaled in this coun-
try. But the food of silver and gold from
the Comstock, which had put this eager
life into the vein of San Francisco, began
to run low. Ralston felt the change first,
for he had planned everything on such
royal lines that no retrenchment was posi-
BILE. Tn great hotel, which was to cost
s. $1,000, 900. had absorbed that much before
it had risen more than one story above the
foundation, and ultimately cost $6, DOC, 900.
He drew money from the bank to tide over
his affairs. but times grew worse, the bo-
nanza millionaires controlled the situation,
ure of Ralston's overdratts came, and the
Bank of California was on the verge OF
failure, and Ralston drowned himself in
the bay.
Sharon, Ralston's partner, had nearly as
much tragedy in his life, though he died in
his bed. lie had phenomenal success as Il
miner and manipulation of mining stocks.
failure crippled him for q few years. In
1883 Sarah Althea Hill, a Missouri girl,
brought suit against him for divorce and
division of his estate, alleging that he had
married her by contract. The publication
of the arrest of Sharon III these charges
produced a great sensation. 1t would have
been money and reputation gained Tor
Sharon il he had paid her Il quarter of a
million and thus sealed her lips. Although
Sharon pretended to care nothing for these
exposures, his intimate friends knew that
he was morbidly sensitive. Every taunt,
every caricature, every sheer told on him..
The climax was reached when Judge Sulli-
van gave Judgment i'll favor of the woman.
Sharon lived long enough to know that the
upper courts would ultimately reverse
Judge Sullivan's decision. He died fully
ten Gears before his time, worn out by the
passions aroused by the divorce suit.
Sarah Althea is the latest victim. Herbril-
liant mind is wrecked, and she ia now COM
1nuning with spirits and fighting over again
the battles for the millions that she is
fated never to grasp.
Old Mark Hopkins was the financial
brains of the big four on the coast. He
was q remarkable mathematician, and no
one ever surpassed him in skill in drafting
contracts and making estimates. Hopkins
had no pleasure aside from the accumula-
ton of wealth. Neither Hopkins nor his
wife left any bequests to charity. Directly
across from the Hopkins castle is a large
lot belonging to ex-senator James G.
Fair, the bonanza millionaire. Fair is re-
carded by many as the ablest of the firm
that included Flood. Mackay, O'Brisn and
himself. He is still i'll the prime of life,
but he ID working now merely for ths sake
of retaining his wealth and the power it
carries with it.
Nine years ago Mrs. Fair obtained q d.
vorce from her husband. He made no de-
Tense, and she secured freedom and S 1900
000. She was an Irish woman of no educa-
ton, who had helped Fair when poor. She
bore him five children. Great wealth
proved II curse to the children. The eldest
boy is just dad, & victim of drink. The
second son is now in Europe, but he liz
likely to follow in the footsteps of his
brother. Neither was ever trusted by the
father. He simply gave the lads an allow
long before their boards came. The girls
have always behaved themselves, but, of
course they are no help to the man who has
millions.