The herald., 1893-07-08
PIO PICO's PRIDE.
HE WOULD NOT b. MADE A SHOW
OF AT THE FAIR.
The Reason why ns Did Not Visit the
Worlds Falr-His Objection
to Anything Undig-
niaod.


governor Of this great state. is now liv-
ing in Los Angeles, hale old man of "a
years, and that he refused point blank
to attend the worlds fair at Chicago.
Pioneers who remember the ex-gover-
nor "a one of the gayest Of the gay
statesmen Of the good old days when
money grew on trees and gold bubbled
out of the ground at the slightest provo
cation will open their eyes in astonish-
ment at this statement and exclaim in q
49er's drawl:
"Wal, what has California come ter,
anyhow, when one Of ther biggest bloods
what Frisco and Sacramento ever seed
won't 60 on spree ter ther big circus at
Chicago?"
The reason why the old man refused
to take the trip is simple one. He is
80 proud that he would put the proverb-
ial old Virginia horse to shame, and he
is just as poor.
At one time the ex-executive counted
his acres in Southern California by the
thousand, and, as for town property,
why, he simply owned two.thirds OF
what is now known as the City Of the
Angels.
He (Pico) had more money than he
knew what to do with. and yet he is .
pauper today and lives upon the charity
OF three or four big-hearted gentlemen
OF his race, who allow him 90 much q
month.
His poverty has kept him away from
Chicago, notwithstanding the fact that
q committee waited upon him several
times and offered not only to pay oil of
his expenses but to keep him In the
same style that he maintained when he
occupied the gubernatorial mansion in
the pslmy days of the Golden West.
mo, / will not Co." said Don Pho
through an interpreter, ''for two good
reasons. The first 10 because am poor,
and the second is because do not in
tend to 20 to the big show to be one OF
the animals on exhibit" and he refused
to discuss the matter further.
To an intimate friend, after the COM
mittee had made its last visit and given
up in despair the ancient don put on his
most dignified look and calculated in his
most vigorous Spanish:
''Tf those gringos imagine for mo-
ment that they can take me back there
and show me in side tent at two bits q
head, they are very much mistaken"
And the old man called one OF his
amigos to assist him in his buggy and he
drove off with the air that plainly said,
"If do not own this town used to-"
This horse and buggy are all that are
left out of bis immense fortune, and the
old swell-for Don Pho Pico is still a
swell-spends most OF his time driving
about the city.
He is almost always alone, and sim
gular as it may seem for one of his
advanced age, he drives through the
most crowded streets faster and bolder
than nine.tenths of the younger drivers
His memory has begun to fail him
during the past few years. but he is in
perfect health, and it will not surprise
bis friends if he lives to be 125 years OF
age.
Don Pho Pico should be one Of the
wealthiest men in California today, but
like large percentage of his nationality
his heart WAS created first and the resi-
OF the man was built around it in q
haphazard style OF architecture.
When his wealth was so great that he
believed it could not be exhausted be
would not content himself with enter.
tanning his kinfolks and few intimate
friends. He wanted the whole state fol
a gueat, and it is said by those who
ought to know that he would entertain
several hundred people at time.
This kind of life was kept up for years
and when the hospitable Mexican gen
tleman began to get pinched for money
he sought the money lenders. and when
once in their hands no power under the
sun could cave him.
Mortgage after mortgage plsstered his
broad acres, and like hundred Of Others
of his people he woke up one morning
with the sheriff in charge, and ex.Gov
ernor Don Pho Pico realized for the first
time that he WAS a pauper, But he il
the same elegant gentleman that hs
always Was, and it Was not in the noble
old man to lower his pride by attending
the worlds fair on the charity o.
strangere.