The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-12

he was building this palace away ont bsr.
on the frontier of Texas, Careen ueveS
said a word of his family, or. for 80
matter word of his own history. His
tongue ran like a bell-c1apper on all sun
Jects but one, and that one was CarleeD
His agents had purchased cattle all over
Eas tern Texas, and as a consequence a,
the end of year or more his immense
estate was well stocked At that time
he was regarded as one of the creates.
cattlemen on the frontier.
The strange man did not limit his av-
traordinary improvements to the palaoa
that he erected. He kept a large force IN
his quarries and a little army of ma
sons We're employed for several years in
building long lines of stone fences. These
structures were not erected after the man
ner of such old tumble-down affairs "a
one often sees in some of the Older
states. The walls were of solid dressed
stone, and there were great stone pillars
around the entablature, on which were
trailing vines, clusters of grapes and
festoons of flowers, exhibiting in the
highest style of art the skill of the sculp.
tor. Between these pillars swung massive
iron gates. These are not yet ruins. bun
here on the wild hills of the San Saba.
where wolves howl at night and deer sleen
beneath the shade of the oaks, miles and
miles of these magnificent walls may bs
Dfdlfle5
and through the green valleys, while I'm
there on the mountain stands white
against the western sky that gigantic pile
of stone and mortar, of which no man can
say whether 1T is a monument to the ge-
MUS or folly of the Frenchman Carleen,
He was certainly of great advantage to
this particular part of Texas He brought
an abundance of money into the country,
and he gave thousands of people employ
ment. AS long as he prosecuted his gl-
gantic schemes this was the most pros
porous portion of the state At one time
more than 1000 people were employed upon
the ranch. He kept the road open to San
Antonio, a distance of nearly 300 miles,
and relays of horses were established every
ten or fifteen miles. He had a daily mail,
and the road was filled with teams haul
ing supplies and machinery to the famous
ranch. Carleen was very fond of the soci-
ETY. of educated men and accomplished wo-
men, and for a long time the big ranch
house, which he called the palace of st.
Cloud, was crowded with people who APP
peared to be there in search of pleasure
to the exclusion of everything else.
He had been pursuing his strange career
about seven years, living like Monte
Cristo and exciting the wonder of all
Western Texas, as if he were Caghos-
tro in lague with the devil, when one rainy
even, just before Christmas, a lady de-
scended from the overland stage in Mem
ardville This woman carried crucifx in
one hand and a Bible in the other. She in
uuired for Carleen, and then asked for a
room in which she might appeal to God
undisturbed. On the next day she wens
to the palace of st. Cloud, and as she en-
tered at one gate Carleen went out at the
other He never stopped until he was
safely ensconced inside of the White Ele-
phant in San Antonio. He never denied
that the little woman was his wife, but
that there was some terrible secret be-
tween them which nearly concealed the
mans blood every time he thought of it and
made the woman's face repulsive to him,
was beyond question. He at once plung-
ed into the widest kind of dissipation, and
his best riders and fastest ponies were
kept busy for two weeks bearing messages
between San Antonio and the ranch. At
length such mysterious affairs as existed
between the two people were arranged IN
some way, and the little woman returned
to Galveston and sailed for Europe, still
mutterng prayer and carrying her cruciiiH
in one hand and her Bible In the other.
From this time on TO the end of his ca
reer in Texas Carleen was never the same
man. He evidently labored day and night
to drive something from his mind Inc
great house was crowded with people who
were bent upon pleasure alone, and strange
where not only millions, but beautiful wo-
men We're lost and won. Carleen began to
give away money. He made one of his
neghbors present of a large pasture, and
a fine herd of COWS. To another he gave
large band of graded polled Angus steers.
To a favorite cowboy he gave a whole
drove of fine horses, and at the feet OF
beautiful singer from San Antonio ne
threw a check for 100000 in gold. Inc
daUohtar IF a qaFOplfapppY JUhO handed him
a cup of cold water from one of his own
springs was rewarded with a band OF
sheep. He attended a school exhibition
and at the close of the exercises he pre-
sented each and every one of the little boys
and girls with a check for 5000.
During the flood tide of his prosperity he
had stocked fine park of several hundred
acres with the rarest specimens of Wiid
animals from every known nook ana cor
ner of the globe. One day, just before the
final crash, when the Frenchman was In
a particularly hilarious mood, he mounted
his horse and invited every one about MS
house and in the country to help him say
these geological specimens. His guests
heated with wine, and his cowboys, al
ways eager for a frolic, were, of course
ready for such fine sport. The slaughter
lasted three whole days. Elephants, mons,
tigers and leopards We're hunted down ana
hounds and the blast of horns Deer an
telope and rare birds were spared, and al.
ter the royal sport was ended the gates OF
the park were thrown open and these al.
lowed to run wild. There were plenty OF
people who believed that the mysterious
spendthrift had found Bowie's famous
lost silver mines of the San Saba. Others
thought he was some European prince VINO
had inherited a limitless fortune, anu
there We're others who insisted that the
man was either capable Of converting tho
baser metals into gold or else he had peTN
a great pirate or an old world bank ron
Der Toward the end people did not care
to be intimate with the strange man
though hundreds were indebted TO his IL
berality for their fortunes. Carleen reallz-
ed the situation, and one fine day walked
out of the great palace of st. Cloud, anu
turned his back upon the countryawith so
little ceremony that those who knew hiih
best were most astonished He stopped III