The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1895-11-28


sent down to Pittsburgh for a big safe
which she crammed full Of fmoney anG
bonds. Life was such an exciting
whirl of astonishing experiences tC
her that she forgot all about the will
and forgot that death may come as
suddenly to a rich widow as a poor
farmer Had she not done so, it is
probable the contents of more than
one pigeon-hole in the big safe would
have been added to the adopted
daughters share.
One evening in March, 1862. John
Steele, who bad been away with {
team hauling oil. returned home anG
found the house in ashes. The char
red bones Of the widow were picked
out Of the ruins. 1t was supposed
that she b ad accidently set herself
blazing, and then the house, by rash
ly using petroleum to start the kitch
en- fire.
As John Steele had been legally
adopted. he was the natural heir tC
the contents of the big safe and the
river of revenue from the oil produc-
ing farm, his possession of which was
further fortified by the widows viii
made before the change IN her fortune
This sudden acqui~ition Of enormous
wealth turned his head, not all at once
but speedily. lie wished to find en-
joymentof it in an nintensiiedconsci0us-
ness Of its reality, but was too ignor-
ant to do so in any intelligent way
He married the daughter of one Of
his workman, and she taught him to
write his name in a laborious. mechan-
ical way. and that was all he ever
learned of the art end mystery of let
ters She tried to keep him straight
but he knew too little to comprehend
self-respect, felt himself too rich TO be
trammellod by conventionalities or to
care for the opinions of others, and
thirsted for a riotous excess of sens
nous qualification, the highest pleas
ure he was capable Of
Only a few months after his mar
riage he went away to Philadelphia,
taking with him a boon companion
named Slocnm, whose assigned duty
was the carrying of his money and
paying it out as he chose TO squander
it. The life of prodigality and uncon
trolled dissipation into which he
plunged was so wild as to be almost
beyond belief. He ordered champagne
not by the bottle, but by the basket
He gave a $4,000 diamond to negro
minstrel for singing a song that pleas
ed him. He frequently bought car
riages and the teams attached when he
wished to ride a few blocks, and then
presented them to the driv eTs. On
one occasion he wagered a bottle Of
wine that he would spend, actually
ont for fou," and not giving away.
SO Geo day for sixty days, and won
the bottle AT an other time he re
ceived a large sum of money from the
rentals on the farm when he was on.
the street and qlite drunk, 1t was in
bank notes, as he always required it.
checks being objects of suspicion with
him, and when he had stuffed it into
his pockets they bulged out like those
Of an urchln after a raid on an apple
orchard. His coat could not set well
on him, padded with money as he was
and he was disgusted. Just then he
caught sight of bank, and. rushing
into it with the airy formality Of
Here. take care Of this damned stuff
for me. It's a nuisance" dumped
the whole pile before the receiving
teller, and went away, ere that funct-
ionary could take breath or gather his
wits sufficiently to give any evidence
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 he had
left all that money, he was quite un
able to do so. And, he decided, to
hunt it up would involve more trouble
than it was worth. Its loss did not
worry him at all
Suddenly his wealth came to an end
He had succeeded in squandering ev-
Ell more than his vast income, and was
in debt. OF course, he had been
piundered mercilessly. right and left.
bat had literally thrown away several
fortunes, and creditors. scenting his
downfall, We're pursuing him. He
mortgaged the farm for large sum
and plunged afresh into even wilder
extravaganza and more reckless dissi-
patton than befoIe, but with less to go
upon, andthe end came quickly. His
mad career was over.
After a short time Of abject destitu
ton. in which he was deserted by all
who preyed upon him, he went tC
work driving the Girard House stage
in which guests were carried to and
from the railroad depots. Soon lie
wearied of that, and somebody paid
his fare back to Oil Greek, where he
obtained employment as a freight
handler dt the depot, in which capaci-
t. he earned S25 a month. That was
not enough to support himself and
his family, and there was nothing
more remuneratIye that he could find
there to do.
His wife raised, by the sale Of her
jeWelry, sum sufficient for the trar s
portation Of the family out to Nebras-
ka, 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 Rea-
alizing the evil fortune Of sulh h Iimita
ton as had been put ufQa his capaci-
itas by ignorance, he took care that
his son, q bright lad, should receive as
good an education as was altainable
under the existing circumstances.
u hen the boy was old enough, he ob
tanned employment as I ticket and
freight agent at the Ashland, Neb,,
station. and thsre his fether, Coal Oil
Johnny that was, ieiain John Steele
as everybody about there knows him.
works steadily and patiently, for the
railroad company under the sons Ii
roction, handling freight, taking care
of the station and so on. And he Is
hale, hearty, a well-preserved man.
apparently about fifty three years OF
! age, seemingly well contented
But he IS by 10 means dependent