The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-12-16

wrote him policies on fifty wagons and
fifty mules" on "hfteen buggies and
fifteen harnesses" and so on. Within
two weeks he wrote n $4,000 ire poll
Icy on the 'king's" new elevator at
his Woodblne farm. He also carried
a 800. 900 fire policy IN a lot Of corn
he had In Smith county. but this was
some time ago.
At Woodbine farm he made all kinds
Of improvements. He built huge sheds
and barns. He liked to talk Of his
"solid mile OF corn cribs" and his
mansion" AS a matter Of fact, this
was largely brag. His house is a COM
Portable home, u 1t Is not a manor
house." He did buy the furniture in
Woodbine, but it Is not palatial. His
mile of corn cribs would fall very
short If they were measured, though
there are a great many Of them. His
private water works plant" is not a
very extensive pipe line. Many farms
have far bigger ones, but the liking"
used to tell everybody about these
things. They brought him reputation
for wealth and lavish expenditure, and
that helped his deals.
Gillett is not such a man as would
impress most people used to refined
city life. nor would he be apt to get
very much credit in IN ordinary line
of business. But he was a 'cattle
king" and he did the part to perfec-
ton. That was the secret of his sue
cess. He was so hearty and whole
souled about everything, so lavish in
his generosity, so careless about things
that many people make much Of. that
he begot similar and yet greater care
lessness in others.
Gillett is a man of 81. He is about
five feet tall, broad-shouldered, stoutly
built, weighing about $50 pounds. He
is blue-eyed, smooth-shaven, with a
full, ruddy face, and has heavy dark
brown hair. His voice is loud and he
cuts a great lash about everything.
Gillett intended all right" and a num-
Der Of his creditors still hope he was
honest but careless" But one or two
transactions have come to light the
last few months hat would indicate
that If honest he certainly was most
astonishingly careless. For example.
here is an experience of Bohart & Co.,
of st. Joseph:
Last August J. S. Baumbaugh applied
to the Boharts for a loan on 600 head
of cattle. They were to be taken from
Gillett's pens at Woodbine to Baum
baugh's own place at Moonlight. The
Boharts loaned $35 a head. The cattle
never left Woodbine. There may have
been such cattle, but Baumbaugh him.
self could not pick them out. He said
he trusted everything to Gillett. That
was why the Boharts cut off Gilletts
line of credit. A similar incident oc-
Cured in the case of w. G. Hollister Of
Rhinehart, this county. He, too. is
mixed up in the Gillett deals. He got
a loan of $35 a head IN 400 cattle he
was to AXE from Woodbine to his farm
to feed. He never got the stock from
Woodbine. How nan more such little
discrepancies there are is not known.
II lOldl ulOu ID OVSOOo SoSSASS ~
mortgages for $s49, 760. A bill of sale
for $500 worth of articles on the ranch
is also filed in favor of J.. z. Reed.
From Herington, this county, comes a
report that just before going south Gill
lett borrowed money from cattlemen
there to buy cattle in amounts ranging
from $1,000 to $40, 900. The report is
secuted here, though it may be true. At
the Woodbine farm there is great ex-
element. There is a big force Of cow
boys on the feather edge. and there
are a score of men representing credit
ors in Kansas City, st. Joseph and Chi
cago, all hunting for cattle. One cred
itor undertook to take a trainload Of
stock he claimed to identify today, but
the others entered protest and threat
ened attachments, m he desisted.
And at the farmhouse is a Door wo-
man, left alone with her baby. to face
the storm. Mrs. Gillett is the wife Of a
"cattle king" but she a ever been
a gentle, womanly oma In the
present crisis she can only weep and
weep. She says she never understood
her husbands business. 1t is probable
she never did.
c.. H. BAUMBAUGH MISSING.
Mcpherson, Kan.-(Special.)-Since
the developments in the Grant G. Gill
lett failure, inquiries are rife in Nc
Pherson as to the whereabouts of one
c.. H. Baumbaugh. Baumbaugh is a
brother-in-law of Gillett, and for some
months past has been engaged with
Gillett in the cattle business. visiting