The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-11-07
OLD COAL OIL JOHNNY
The Famous Spendthrift is Enjoying
Life in Nebraska.
PHILADELPHIA BANK PAID UP
Years Ago When johnny Was Civ
ing Away S.. 700 at a Time He
Dumped a Lot of Bank Notes
In a Philadelphia Bank.

as coal vi Johnny IS not enue0, as
most people have for a long time sup
posed. According to the New York Sun
Johnny is very much alive, in pretty
good condition physically. and In quite
comfortable circumstances. And shock
ing as IL may be to those accustomed to
holding him up as horrid warning to
the young, the fact seems beyond dis
pute that his good financial plight to-
day is the direct result of his having
been a reckless, irresponsible drunken
and pernicious spendthrift when young.
His present home Is at Lincoln, Neb.,
and the story of how he came to go
there and how he got the money on
which he Is living to-day is just as ro-
mantle as any OF those other stories
which were told about him years ago.
He Is known as John Steele, and he
IL a healthy and happy head of a fam
fly. AS he ceased being-so far as the
general public were concerned real
liable entity. and passed into history
some 80 years ago. the present genera
ton hardly know him as more than
name associated with many wildly
fantastic stories of amazing prodigai-
ity, and perhaps without some such
publication as this to rescue him from
oblivion. in a little while more the
myth finders would fall foul of his
name and argue him out OF real exist
ence.
AS 1t is. however. every one knows
something about Coal OIL Johnny's
falling into the immense wealth of
Widow McClintock. when, as her adopt
ed son. he inherited her oil-producing
lands in Western Pennsylvania in
March. 1862. This sudden acquisition
of enormous wealth turned his head.
not all at once, but speedily. He wish
ed to find In enjoyment of II an in
tensified consciousness of It's reality
Ixxf tn % 40. In.
intelligent way He married the daugh-
ter of one of his workmen, and she
taught him to write his name in a
laborious, mechanical way, and that
was all he ever learned of the art and
mystery of letters.
HOW HE SPENT THE MONEY.
Only a few months after his mar
riage he came down to Philadelphia,
taking with him a boon companion
named Slocum. whose assigned duty
was the carrying of his money and
paying IL out as he chose to squander
II. The life of prodigality and uncon-
troled dissipation into which he plung-
ed was so wild as to be almost beyond
belief. He ordered champagne. not by
the bottle. but by the basket. He gave
a $1,000 diamond to a negro minstrel
for singing song that pleased him.
He frequently bought carriages and
the teams attached when he wished to
ride a few blocks, and then presented
them to the drivers.
On one occasion he wagered a bottle
of wine that he would spend, actually
paying out "for fun" and not giving
away, $4,000 a day for so days, and
won the bottle. At another time he
received a large sum of money from
the rentals on the farm when he was
on the street and quite drunk. 1t was
in bank notes. as he always required
1t, checks being objects of suspicion
with him. and when he had stuffed 1t
into his pockets they bulged out like
those of an urchin after a raid on an
apple orchard. His coat could not set
well on him. padded with money as
he was. and he was Disguised.
Just then he caught sight of a bank,
and, rushing into 1t with the airy for
mality of: Here. take care of this
damned stuff for me. It's a nuisance"
dumped the whole pile before the re-
ceiving teller. and went away, ere that
functionary could take breath or gath
er his wits sufficiently to give any evil
dence of the deposit And when Coal
OIL Johnny. as John Steele was by this
time known. tried in a brief spasm of
sobriety to remember where ne had
left all that money. he was quite una
BILE to do so. And. he decided. to hunt
II up would involve more trouble than
him at all.
HIS ONE LUCKY INVESTMENT.
Suddenly his wealth came to an end
He had succeeded in squandering even
more than his vast income, and was
in debt OF course. he had been plum
dered mercilessly. right and left, but
had literally thrown away several for
tunes, and creditors. seeming his
downfall. were pressing him. He mort
gagged the farm for a large sum, and
plunged afresh into even wilder extray-
agance and more reckless dissipation
than before. but with less TO go upon,
and the end came quickly. HIS mad
career was over.
After short time OF abject destitu-
ton. in which ne was deserted by all
who had preyed upon him, he went to
work driving the Girard house stage,
In which guests were carried to and
from the railroad depots. Soon he
wearied of that. and somebody paid his
fare back to Oil Creek. where ne OBJ
tanned employment as a freight hand
Ter at the Depot. in which capacity he
earned SIS a month. That was not
enough to support himself and family,
and there was nothing more remunera-
tive that he could find there to do
His wife raised. by the sale of her
jewelry. a sum sufficient for the trans
portatton OF the family out to Nebras-
Ia. and there. in Lincoln, Coal Oil
Johnny settled down. They were very
poor, but managed somehow to live,
for Johnny was a willing worker at
any labor he could procure. Realizing
the evil fortune of such limitation as
had been put upon his capacities by
his ignorance. he took care that his
son, a bright lad. should receive as
good an education as was attainable
under the existing circumstances.
When the boy was ola enough ne OBJ !
tanned employment as a ticket and
freight agent at the Ashland, Neb.,
railroad station. and there his father,
Coal Johnny that was. plain John
Steele. as everybody about there knows
him, works steadily and patiently for |
the railroad company under the sons |
direction. handling freight. taking care |
OF the station. and so on. And ne is a |