The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-24
A QUEER MILLIONAIRE.
ROW NICHOLAS LONGwORTH GOT
Ills START.

When Rolling in Riches Mistaken
for a Blind BegEar by Poor La
borer Although EnormOusIy
Wealthy He Had but one Pair OF
shoes. aud Those He Never Tied.
Cincinnati Dispatch in New York World
The famous suit OF John w. Flora
against the rich Longsworth estate for
SO0'oo. now pending In the United States
court for the southern district Of Ohio.
in which Flora claims that daughter OF
the late Nicholas Longworth, ST., was
his mother. recalls one Of the oldest char
acters among milllonaires Of America.
Nicholas Longworth was born at New
ark N. j., on Jan. 16 1872. His father
had been a man Of large property, but
in consequence Of being tory during
the revolution his possessions were confis-
Gated and he and his family impover-
ished Young Nicholas childhood was
passed in Indulgence. and Il IS said that
he was apprenticed to a shoemaker when
mere lad to learn the trade as a means
Of livelihood However this may be, 1t is
certain that when very young he went
to South Carolina as clerk for his elder
brother. The climate Of the south did not
suit his health, and he returned to New
ark and began the study of law
He was poor, and the east was over
crowded, even at that early day, and Of
fered but few inducements to young
man entirely dependent upon his own
efforts Ohio was then the Far West, q"
and emigration was setting in toward il
rapidly.
In 1903. at the age Of twenty-one he
removed to the little village OF Cincin-
natl and fixed upon this place as his
future home. He was admitted to the
bar. His first client was "A man accused
OF stealing a horse. Longworth secured
his acquittal, but the fellow had no
money to pay his counsel, and. in the
absence of funds, gave Longworth two
secondhand copper stills, which were his
property These the lawyer accented
thinking that he could easily dispose Of
them for cash, as they were rare and val
liable there in those days. They were in
the Keeping OF Mr.. Joel Williams who
was building "A distillery at the time, and
as he had confidently reckoned upon us
ing the two stills in his possession he was
considerably nonplussed when LongwOrth
presented his order for them. In his ex-
tremity he offered to purchase them from
Of barren land in the town, which was
then worth little or nothing. Longworth
accepted the offer His thirty-three acres
OF barren land was soon in the very heart
Of Cincinnati, and long before his death
We're valued at $1,000 600.
Mr. Longworth continued carefully to
invest his gains in real estate The prices
paid by him increased, of course. with
the rise In the value Of property, but as
he was persuaded that the limit had not
yet been reached, he extended his opera
tons without fear of loss. He sold many
OF his original purchases, but continued
until the day of his death the largest
landowner in the city. In 1850 his taxes
We're over $1,000 and in the same year
the taxes of William b. Astor amounted
TO S23ll6. At the time Of his death. Mr..
Longworths estate was valued at SIS.
OO,OOO and is doubtless worth fully one
third more at the present day.
In MS own way-and a quaint singu-
lar way II was-Mr. Longworth was ex-
ceedingly charitable Long after he was
worth millions, and when every moment
OF MS time was valuable he was SUPER
numerary township trustee This was
an office which required the expenditure
of considerable portion of his time, and
brought him I'm constant contact with
some of the most wretched of the lowest
classes of the poor. He was always in
his office at stated times, and with a
patience and kindness worthy OF ali adj
miratlon listened to the sad tales Of the
INDECENT, and provided such aid as was
necessary, oftentmes giving it out of his
own purse when the public funds failed
If people in need were willing to work,
he would place them In the way of doing
so. He was the owner Of a stone quarry
on Deer creek, the trace of which may
still be seen in the lines of the new Gil
bert avenue; and he kept in his office
a supply Of picks and shoVels. When
stout beggar asked him for aims, he
would inquire if he was willing to 20 to
work. If answered affirmatively, he
would give him pick and shovel and
start him for the quarry where the wages
were promptly paid every night. Many
awaited themselves of the opportunity.
and worked for him faithfully; but others
gave the quarry "a wide BERTH" and sold
the pick and shovel for money or liquor
It was his custom to buy large quantities
of breadtlckets from the bakers and to
distribute them to those whom he con-
sidered worthy, and he would also keep
on hand large quantities Of shoes, dry
goods, &c, which he gave away In the
same manner.
Mr. Frank Pentland, who was once in
his employ, relates the following Incl
dent
zone morning, just after Mr.. Long
worth had gone to his Office near the
Third street entrance, where he was ac-
customed to receive applicants for char
ity, he was accosted by a man who crayed
assistance. In answer to a question as
to his needs, he replied that his main
want was pair of shoes and a glance at
his feet showed that he spoke truthfully.
Mr.. Longworth appeared to take his
measure at a glance, and impulsively
shaking his right foot Che seldom wore
his shoes ted). kicked the shoe over to
the applicant saying:
TRY that on, my man. How does 1t
ht?"
" 'Illigant, your honor
" Well, try that, now said he, kicking
off the other. How viii they dor
" Illigant, yer honor; ihgantl May
many a blessing
Sc Well. well; 20 now--that'll do and
turning to Pentland, who was then a
young man in his service, ordered him
to the house to get another pair. Frank
obeyed but was told by Mrs. Longworth
that those he wore from the house were
all that he had. The result was that
Frank was hurried off to William Hart S
shoe store for new ones, with instructions
to ask Mr.. Hart for the kind / always
buy: don't pay over $50 for them"
Yet many persons charged this man
with stinginess-a charge to which every
rich man lays himself open who does not