Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-05-11


piled that he would gladly take ,nem
through. He spent half day with them,
taking them from one part of the mines
to another and showing them all Of the
them called the remainder of the party off
to one side, and after few moments
whispering this man came to the bright
eyed little miner and offered him a dollar.
The miner looked at it a moment and at
last asked, What Is this for?
"'Oh,' replied the Boston capitalist, you
have been very kind to us today. You have
spent the whole morning with us, and have
gone to a great deal Of gtrouble in showing
us about the mines. We; want to give you
this as sort of a testimonial of our graft
tude. You need not object to taking it, for
we are well-to-do, and lcan afford it
"'How much are you WORTH said the
miner.
'"1 don't know replied the capitalist as
he put his thumbs in the armhole of his
vest. I should say that my assets would
figure up at least S150,0O0, and am, per-
haps. the poorest man in the party
We'll replied the miner. who, by the
way, was Mr.. Jones, don't think ought
to take this from you. l like money.
only fair to tell you that my income is
now S25O,000 a month. On the whole, gem
tlemen, really don't think 1 ought to take
it. And with this. he handed the man
back his dollar"
Stories About the Late Senator Hearst
You must have known George Hearst
very well, general said l. Yes, replied
Gen Greathouse, 1.-The late Senator Hearst
and myself were strong friends. I was his
legal adviser for years. Hearst was
really great man. He rough dia-
mond but he was solitaire of the purest
wafer / first met him in 1870, and l was
associated with him, more or less, up 10
the time of his death. Hearst was born IN
Missouri, about sixty miles from ST. LOUIS
-, 10 urn
land to California in 1851, with about 500
in his pocket. He went into the mines as
soon as he got to California, sometimes
handling the pick for others for wages, and
sometimes working his own claims. In this
way ne soon learned all about mines, ana
he eventually became the best judge OF
mines in the west. II was not long before
he made a strike which netted him Sl5Un.
,Ie soon lost Ibis, and again went to work
for wages When the Comstock was dis
covered in Nevada Hearst was still work
ing in the mines of California. He had al
ready be come known as an expert miner.
Some of the Comstock gold brought to
him, end his opinion was asked as to IT.
He asGayed it, and the result was that he
decided to go to Nevada and LOOK at IL.
He lad some money saved. This he took
with him, and he bought good many feet
in several locations along the lode. He be
gan to mine, and he sent several mule
loads of ore to San Francisco AT TINS time
there were no mills near the Comstock,
ard these loads brought him $4,000. TIE
Comstock was then thought TO be gold
nine but /: turned out ~ per cent of gold,
and the remainder of the ore was silver.
Well, Hearst remained here for several
years and then came back to San Fran
cisco with S60o,otJ or MG01o3 ahead. He
invested this in real estate and mines. He
bought a big ranch at San Luis Obispo.
which contained G0.00O acres, which cost
him $4,000, and made other good invest
mentS.
George HcnrSt's Marriage.
This was about 1859 He had now been
away from home about eight years, and his
life had been so busy that he had hardly
written back to his people to tell them
how he was getting along. 1t was so full
of ups and downs that me said nothing
about his business operations. and the
family did not know whether he was poor
or rich. About 1869 he put his business
in the hands of an agent and went back to
Missouri TO visit his mother. The Hearsts
were simple country people in Missouri,
and when he came back home bringing
some presents with him it was thought by
them that he might possibly be worth as
much as $4,000. During his stay there
was picnic some distance from the place
where they We're living. and Hearst invited
twenty or thirty people to go with him.
To the horror of his mother, he hired
special car for the occasion. She remon-
strated with him upon his extravaganza,
but he told her he could Stand it. and he
was. 1t was during :>this visit that he
met his future wife, Miss phoebe Apperson
She lived near by. He fell in love with
her and asked her to marry him. He did
not say he was rich, nor did he tell her
parents of his financial standing. They de-
cidediy objected to the match. They
thought that California was about as far
off as Kamschatka, and they forbade
Phoebe to have anything to do with him.
Miss Phoebe however, was in love with
George Hearst and the result was run
away match. Even after his marriage he
did not tell his wife much about his ric hes.
She had the idea that he was only moder-
ately well-to-do, and that they would live
much like the families about them in Mis-
souri,. She expected to have to do her own
cooking, especially after she had asked
Hearst as to the prices of servants, and
was told that the poorest of them in Cali
fornia got from $40 to $50 a month. She
was, of course, greatly surprised when she
arrived in California and found herself
the wife of a millionaire. She was, how
ever, we'll fitted for the position. She was
well educated when she left Missouri, but
she kept up her studies after her marriage.
She now speaks several languages and is
we'll up on art. She made George Hearst
a splendid wife. Her business judgment
is excellent, and she is amply able TO man
age her vast estate. She is now living in
Washington.
Some of Hearst's Speculations.
Few of the California millionares had
continued Gen. Greenhouse. when he re-
turned from this Missouri trip he found
that his agent had made bad investments
during his absence, and that he was about
500, 600 out The Comstock property had
gone down, and the most of the balance of
his money was in real estate. He went
again into the mines, buying and selling.
For a time he made but little. He was
just about able to pay his taxes and keep
up his rent. So it ran ON until about 1871, |
when he arranged with Haggin and Tevis |
to so into partnership with them and to |
buy mines. They were to put up the |
money, and he was to put in his experience |
and judgment a mining expert. They |
relied principally upon him in this matter, |
and the result was that they made a vast |
amount together. 1 have known nearly |
every successful miner in the United |
States" continued Gen. Greathouse, land |
have met all of the prominent mining ex- |
perts. l don't believe there was ever a |
man in the United States who approached |
George Hearst in his knowledge of mines |
and mining. He seemed to be born for the |
business, and was an intuitive geologist |
and metallurgist. He knew how to work |
mine, and the mines which he reported |
upon after examination good seldom |
turned out otherwise. l know of instances |
N which he has lost large sums of money |
n mines mil he S1Du Ono |