The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-12-24

500 people. Menardville went on q
boom, and the Los F1Oritas ranch. only
10 miles away, presented a scene OF
hustle and activity which made the
natives stare in wonder and amaze
ment- Mr.. Carleen had leased hund-
reds and thousands of square miles Of
grazing lands. and around all this vas
scope OF country he began 20 erect a
wire fence. He instantly broke ground
for the purpose OF establishing a home
place on the banks OF b San Saba
quarring rock, while other hundreds
were engaged in digging for b foun-
datiOn of his house. It o. him two
years to complete this immense struc-
ture. It covers at least a half an acre
of ground, and is five stories high, and
altogether one of n most beautiful
and astounding pieces OF architecture
in America to-day. The walls are OF
pure White marble, while great columns
of blush granite supDort a magnii-
cen porch extending around two sides
Of the entire structure. Artists came
from Paris to exert their kill on the
ceiling and walls. During the time
that he was building his palace away
out her on the frontier OF Texas, Car
leen never said a word Of his family.
"a ~ NAAN< wan ~ AAS "
history. His tongue ran like a bell
clapper on all subjects but one, and
one was Carleen. His agents had
purchased cattle all owe eastern Texas
and Is a consequence at the end Of a
year or more his immense estate was
well stocked. At that time he was re-
garded as one of the greatest cattle
men on the frontier.
The strange man did not limit his
extraordinary Improvements to the
palace hat he erected. He kept a
large force in his quarrieS, n a little
army OF masons were employed for
several years in building long lines of
stone fences. These structures were
not erected after the n Of such
Die tumble down affairs as 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 sculptor.
Between these pillars swung massive
iron gates. These are not yet ruins,
but here on the wild hills of the San
Saba, where wolves howl at night and
deer sleep beneath the shade Of the
cakes, miles and miles Of these magnf-
fcent walls may be seen winding over
the undulating prairies and through
the green valleys, while up there on
the mountain stand white against the
western sky that gigantic pile of stone
and mortar, of which no man can say
whether it is a to the ge-
Mus or folly of the Frenchman Car
leen. He was certainly of great ad-
vantage to this particular part of Tex
as. He brought IN abundance Of
money into the country, and he gave
thousands of people employment. AS
long as he prosecuted his gigantic
schemes this was the most prosperous
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 eS-
tablished every 10 or Is miles. He had
a daily mail n the road was filled
with teams hauling supplies m ma
chinery to the amOuS ranch. Carleen
was very fond of the society of edu-
Gated men and accomplished women,
and for a long time the big ranch
house, which he called the place of st.
Cloud, was crowded with people who
appeared to be there in search of
pleasure to the exclusion Of every
thing else.
He had been pursuing his strange
career about Z years, living like a
Monte Cristo n exciting the wonder
of all western Texas, as if he were a
Cagliostro in league with the devil,
when n rainy day, just before
Christmas, a lady descended from the
overland stage in Menardville. This
woman carried a crucifix in one hand
and a Bible in the other. She inquired
for ~ r1oon md fhnr oclyo1 fo~ n ,~ao~o
in which she might appeal to God I'M
disturbed. On the next day she went
to the palace of st. Cloud, and as she
entered at gate Carleen went out
at the other. He never stopped until
he was safely enScOnced inside the
White Elephant in San Antonio. He
never denied that the little woman was
his wife, but that there was some ter
rible secret between them which near
Ivy CONCEALED the mans blood every
time he thought of it, and made the
wOman's a repulsive to him., was
beyond question. He at once plunged
into the widest kind of dissipation,
n his best riders and fastest ponies
were kept busy for two weeks bearing
messages between San Antonio and the
ranch. At length such mysterious at
fairs as existed between the two peo-
PAC NJ III SOAAlS oAAO
the little woman returned to Galveston
and sailed for Europe, still muttering
prayer and carrying her crucifix in one
hand and her Bible in the other. From
this time ON to the end of his career
in Texas Carleen was never the same
man. He evidently labored day and
night to drive something from his
min The great house was crowded
with people who were bent upon pleas
ure alone, and strange rumors ~circulat
ed as to games of cards where not only
millions, but beautiful women were
lost and Carleen began to give
away money. He made one of his
~neigthbors a present of a large pasture
and a fine herd of cows. To another he
gave a large band of graded polled
Angus steers. To a favorite cowboy hi
gave a whole drove of fine horses, anl
at the feet OF a beautiful singer from
San Antonio he threw a check for 500
600 in gold. The daughter of a game.
keeper who handed hi. a cup Of colo
| water from one of his own springs was