Omaha daily bee., 1896-08-08

ing his name when he fell back fainting on
his pillow. In a few hours more he was
dead, but the miners who were about the
bedside had each added his signature be-
meath the words OF the deceased in attesta-
tion of the fact that they had witnessed
Schaub's last will and testament.
That piece of shingle was admitted in the
probate courts of Arizona as the will of
Jacob Schaub and is still filed among the
legal documents of the territory There
was Of course the formal procedure of ad-
vertising for heirs of kinship and the usual
period of waiting for heirs and creditors TO
turn up, but none ever came to light except
William Il. Davis of Tucson and DR.. Samuel
Brinker of Prescott, who were named as
Schaubs heirs. They each proved that they
had befriended the poor German in days
when he had a hard struggle with the
world, that they were the "Bill Davis" and
the Doctor Brinker" meant in the words on
the shingle Each of them got. first and
last some $4,000 in cash from the estate.
The richest man in Los Angeles county,
Louis Phillips of Spadra, got his wealth
through the Kindness of a man who had
been many years in the new El Dorado and
had lost all home ties and knew not what
relatives he had living. The San Jose
ranch was owned from 1850 until 1859 by a
Pennsylvania Dutchman named Spileman
He got 1t for song from the MeXicans and
used 1t as vast range for cattle. 1t con-
sisted of about $4,000 acres, and was worth
in those days, wnen Los Angeles and San
Diego were lazy adobe pueblos and there
was no railroad west Of the Missouri river
and but a few white people lived in all
southern California, about 5000 The
ranch lay in the eastern part of Los An
geles county. Nothing grew there before
the days of irrigation and Yankee thrifO
but bunch grass and foxtail. Spileman em-
ployed young ranchman, Louis Phillips. a
Prussian, who was the best vaquero
in the region. The two men were inti-
mt Tn hnnn in
| volved in trouble with the Mexican cattle
| men on the range about his and he had
notice one day that he would have two
| days in which to quit the country. He had
been too long a ranger to look lightly upon
| such a demand, for had he not seen too
many COW punchers and cattlemen lying
| dead in the grass and chaparral miles
away from any habitation with bullets
through them. Calling his faithful lieu
tenant, Phillips, to him he explained the
| situation.
ut means death at almost any hour by
an unknown assassin If l stay here" said
| Spileman "and now why can't you take this
range and pay me what you see fit? I've
not chick or hen in the world 10 think of
and you can get what there is in it,
Phillips said that all he had in the world
was a few thousand dollars, and that was
| too small q sum to pay for such property
Finally it was agreed that Phillips should
| take the San Jose ranch and its cattle fol
| 900, paying $4,000 down and then sending
| the remaining $4,000 at the close of the sea
son to his friend Spleman in San Fran
cisco. The sale of the cattle that fal
yielded to Phillips over $4,000, and he SEN
all the proceeds to his former employer ant
friend and got a deed in full for the grea
ranch. The war came in 1861, and all the
cattlemen made money very fast. In tel
years Phillips was worth over s150,000. To
day he has an income of fully 100000 4
year, and his possessions are worth ovel
81, SOC, 900. Parts of the cattle range thai
he got from his friend on such advantage.
Gus terms have been sold at S4O0 and $500
an acre for orange groves. The city OF
Pomona had sprung up and grown ovei
several square miles of the range, and the
great Chino sugar beet factory and the 5000
acres of beets cover a corner of the prop
erty. Spileman went broke years ago In
the Mining exchange in San Francisco, and
has been dead many years.