The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-06-07
JOHN H11roN,e DOUBLE LIFE.

He was one Of the most faithful, best
balanced men In business, was Jonn Hill
ton. He was in the office by every
morning. There he remained till his
work was done, whether that meant six,
eight or twelve hours. His lodgings be,
ing near by he lest little time out OF
doors. When he was not in tine office
evenings, his light showed that he was
in his room. Just three days in the year
he took TO himself; on regular holidays n
worked. These days were March 8,
June ~ and oct. Il. 1t was learned cas-
ually- no one prled into his affairs
that he spent most of the March day
at the cathedral, and the lther two days
in the country; he had been seen stroll
ling in the woods and fields not far from
the city and again had been met at rurai
stations tirty miles away.
His story was his own. In the office
| his account books absorbed ali his at
tention; outside, he had no associates,
barring a mocking bird that was seen
to nang by his window, but was never
heard 10 utter a note. Ten years ne naa
been with this firm of Throckmorton &
| Hopkins, brokers, rising through difrerenL
| graues until now ne mad become heAd
| c,erk. Mr.. Throckmorton engaged him
|
broker; his antecedents had been saus>
factory, but what they were mad b-en
| forgotten, so sufficient had the mans con-
duct proved Pernaps ne was not more
than 40; no doubt 1t was his close ap-
| plication and lack of exercise that made
MIN look So Naturally he must have
been of robust constitution, for withal he
was not dyspeptlc. Conventionalities he
did not slight and his good morning
to the office boy was as pleasant as
| that of Mr. Throckmorto1. The only OBJ
lection to him that was heard was that
| he set too high a standard of labor for
his fellow laborers. His employers pun
no commercial value on his doing that
his salary was small, left wholly to the
judgment Of the firm, without a WORD
| from him. '
There was a popularity about his
personal correspondence. Be 1t said at
once that the manner in which this came
ito light was no reflections upon his char
acter. There had seemed to be an ep!-
demfc OF peculation, not only locally, but
all over the country. point which had
particularly attracted the attention OF
Throckmorton & Hopkins was that In
most cases the culprits had been above
suspicion and the concerns had been
|
was too late. Considering the large inter-
ests for which it was responsible, the
firm decided to adopt Some method by
which 1t might keep informed as to the
| habits and general conduct of It's large
| force of employees. For this purpose, a
| confidential agent was engaged. 1t may
| be remarked incidentally that 1t was with
| more or less shame that 1t felt lmpelleu
to this course, but the experience of
others seemed to leave 1t no option.
| One of the first things discovered by
Paul Daskum, the agent employed, was
| that John Hilton was writing almost
! daily letters and that many were being
returned to him regularly unopened.
| These letters were placed In private
/ box at the postofiice, the NUMBER OF
which was given in. the directions Tor the
| return in the corner of the envelope,
Another feature of the corresponds
was that most of the letters were ad-
dressed to Miss Lillian Endicott in all
| sections of the couhtry-ln the summer
| season at some quiet country resort and
in the winter season at the large cities OF
occasionally at some place In California
| mr. the south. The fidelity with which
| the postal employees had endeavor d to
| locate Miss Endicott was recorded on each
envelope When street numbers w re
given the endorsement would be mo
Such street" or mo such number" "
again there would be periods when Hill
toms balky letters-for the local post
| office men had come to be interested
would be addressed to some distant post
master or some foreign or American OH
| cial in a European city or village. fAter
| due time a letter would come back ad'
| dressed in a rather feminine hand ana
| inclosed in dainty envelope. Thls
much Daskum learned from MS prother'
| who was employed in the postorlce,
II was not easy to reconcile the idiosyn-
,rasv with the generally accepted char
acter of so practical a man, Of such
drndge indeed, as Hilton was 1t has
| heen said that he was well balanced. In
all these ten years there has not been
the slightest Indication that his thoughts
were distracted from his routine work
1ull as II might be. The evenness Of his
.emperament was remarkable lie Was
never eiated. never cast down; he was
sImnlv John Hilton 3G5 days in year
and that is all ore could say. II the send
ing or receipt Of those letters gave MIN
nlea sure or pain II never could be de-
tected in his manner. Neither ala any
one ever see him write or read one OF
these letters, no envelopes or scraps coulo
be found in his waste
Every one liked Hilton Ordinarily the
discovery Of his peculiarjty by accident
would have been discounted. But In
view of the circumstances In other con-
Germs. II must be confessed that Throck-
norton & Hopkins felt trifie uneasy.
And with 1t all. Hilton was growing pale
md nervous. 1t might be that lors years
without yaction or recreation were De
ginning to tell. but 1t was at lsast an
unhappy coincidence that, after oelne
stayed off so long, the evil effects should
begin TO show just at the time when dls-
coveries of crime were an almost da-ly
occurrence. One morning he was late
and one afternoon he had fainting lit
and had to be taken home in carriage
The doctor was grave, but non-commuha-
cative. =
Dasktlm went vest After a few in
auiries in Chicago ne turned up one nlgnt
in a Minnesota village. He had been told
that it was the place where Hilton hao
been born and had spent his early days,
rrha next day he received a telegram
calling. him home. Hilton was dead.
For several days previous Hilton hao
appeared in good spirits; indeed, for the
firs. time had been almost demonstra'
tive. a fact which Mr.. Throckmortoh
cculd not fail to connect with the de
parture OF Dasl1iim, much as he disliked
to. But the pallor had not been relieved
and the power of endurance had not been
restored. Be the reason what it might,
Hutton was a broken. suffering man. His
last day was his brightest. He brought
In a bunch of arbutus that he had bought
OF q girl at the door-the first Of the
season-and arranged It on his desk In
front of a calendar picture OF the Alps,
But above all, he glanced several times
nj the clock, which in itself was with him
a sign Of feverish excitement. At
o'clock he went himself for his mall and
returned with square, violet-colored
envelope which he placed under the ar
butus and did not open till his work was
done. At o'clock, when the othSf
clerks in his room left, he was still at
work. An hour later one of them re-
turned and found him with his face rest
ing on the open letter on his desk, ap-
parently asleep in reality dead.
The letter was dated Zerenatt, Switzer-
land. 1t was written in a rather stifr
feminine hand, and said:
COfald TNrffa a folio.