St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-08-26
AMOUNT Of the alleged claim should be

amount OF Tue alleReu claim SHOULD DC
filed.
1.-The bond required will be S., COO, 900.
understand" said MIR, Blair. When this
decision had been reached. Alleys
lawyers promptly assured him that he
had notOserstated the amount.
IL expected there would be some
thing OF the, kind necessary" said Mr..
Blairin his quiet way, and SO brought
this along
This proved to be small black bag
which he had brought with him into the
courtroom. He now opened 1t and
spread before the judge S5.0C0.000 III
government bonds.
"Thefe will answer, SUPPOSE" he in
CURED.
The judge, when he had recovered
from his surprise. said he thought they,
would. But" lie went on, IL Will
make you custodian of them. with the
distinct understanding that none of
them shall be used while it is part Of
the bond"
Your honor need have no fear on
that score" was Mr.. Blair's reassuring
response. Il only brought IN a few
this morning for this purpose. They
are sOme that | will have no use for
while the matter is pending"
He Likes TO Go Afoot
Mr.. Blair seldom drives. always pre-
ferring To travel afoot. When, however,
the distance forbids walking, he
harnesses up sUrry-looking nag III a
ramshackle vehicle that saw its best
days generation ago. His only son
and heir lives in magnificent style at
Belvidere, n. D., and drives Steeds of
great value and beauty.
why is it. Mr.. Blair" friend once
asked him. THAT your son rides i'll such
splendid state, while you Jog along in
this wretched style"
"Well.you See," said the millionaire"
dryly. Il never had the advantage of a
rich father"
Years ago Mr.. Blair used TO take an
occasional flyer in politics, and in 1866
was the republican candidate for gov
ernor of New Jersey. There was sort
of taclt understanding that he was to
furnish the money and the wirepuiler
of his party were to do the rest. As is
usual i'll such cases, he was badly beaten
at the polls. He took his defeat good
humoredly, and said that his experience
reminded him of Western man who
drove lot of hogs: from St. Louis.
where hogs were low. to Chicago, where
they were high, and finding that before
he got there the hog market had twisted
around. so that the swine were higher
In st. Louis than i'll Chicago, drove the
hogs back again, reaching st. Louis
just in time to find a depression in the
st. Louis market. which was matched
by an elevation in Chicago. The man
said that he had not made much money
out of the transaction, but he had had
the society Of the hogs.
well. l am like that fellow" said
Mr.. Blair. IL have not been elected
governor. but l have had the society of
hogs"
His One Mistake.
Mr.. Blair was never bested but once
in business transaction, and that was
by Kansas City man. Some years ago
tue old millionaire concluded to invest
some of his money in Kansas City real
estate. While looking over the field he
fell in with sharp, pushing real estate
Spectator named Shafer. TO all ap-
pearanceS Shafer was a man after the
mllllonaire'S own heart, and SO he en-
gagged him TO secure every piece of
unimproved property in and near
Kansas City that could be
bought at reasonable figure.
Having completed his arrangements
with Shafer, Mr. Blair returned East,
aud whenever Shafer purchased piece
of real estate he would write to his ELL
pi0yer for the amount he had agreed to
pay and Mr.. Blair would send him
draft. Things ran along smoothly for
several months, and then one day MIR.
Blair received information that made
him pack his vai:Se and start Tor Kansas
City without delay. Once in Kansas
City it did not take him long to find
out that Shafer had swindled him from
the first. II Shafer bought a lot for
$1,000, he would write to Mr.. Blair to
send him $1,000, and in this way he had
already made comfortable fortune out
of the old man. After learning how he
had been victimiZed Mr. Blair lost no
time i'll having Shafer arrested. Then
Shafer tried to frlghten MIR. Blair, but
his threats only made him more deter
mined than ever - zt--
1ried to have Him Murdered.
The affair caused great excitement in
Kansas City. but MIR. Blair stuck to his
text, and after while Shater became so
desperate that he hired ruffian to kill
him, but the fellow was unsuccessful.
Then Shafer agreed to restore the
money he had stolen if MIR. Blair would
Withdraw the criminal charges, but the
latter declined the proposition and left
Kansas City with Shafer under heavy
bonds. Mr.. Blalr's relatives urged him
W oCLllC LiiG CdSO ludSluuCll DIS OfidIGE
was repentant aud willing to restore all
he had stolen, but the plucky old mans
reply was:
''Do you suppose l would settle with
that seoundrel now on any condition
whatever? Not by a jugfulI The
wretch tried to get a rutfian to kill me
out there, and the wretch came plaguey
near doing it, too, and if it cost me an
even million, will hang to Shafer till
see him behind the bars of the state
prison." When Shafer saw that set
Element was out Of the question he for
feiled his bonds, and has not been seen
in Kansas City since.
MIR. Blair has handsomely endowed
all academy at BlairStown, which bears
his name. and has also founded pro-
fesSoTships Iii Princeton and LAFAYETTE
colleges, besides contributing gener-
0uSly 10 the support OF a number of
Western colleges. notably those along
the lines of railway built by him.
When he dies the larger part of his
great fortune will go to his two chill
dren-the son already mentioned and a
daughter, the latter the widow nf the
late Charles Scribner, the well-knoWu
publisher.
ALI in all, John /. Blair is a UNIQUE
figure among the miIlionaires of the
country, and we shall not look upon his
like again.
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