The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-11-15
SPENOTHRlFT'S DEATH.

New York Journal
Cast off by the relatives whom he had
disgraced. Denniless and friendleSs- at
a.. William D. Holmes, a child of for
tune. who, in fifteen years, had run
through two fortunes aggrega ting Sz9o'-
OO0 sat in the lobby of the HOFFMAN
House last evening and faced a hope
less future.
This was at : O'Clock. Three hours
later he was dead in the aieohoilc ward
of Bellevue Hospital. man whose Ire
had been an utter, irTetrievable fan
IRE.
He had attracted no attention in the
busy corridor of the big hotel he was
we'll dressed. quiet. None noticed tnat
he was under the influence of drugs
and drink. None saw the hopeless nor
ror in his eyes. But suddenly he pitch
ed forward upon the floor.
POrters and beIlboys ran and picked
him up. lie was unconscious ana
breathing stentoroUsly- The pupils OF
his eyes were dilated so that they
swallowed w. the irises.
Il know this man: he comes of a
good family" said DR.. Elliott to Man
ager Caddagan. Pray, take him to a
room
He was taken upstairs, and for an
hour the doctor. assisted by others,
strove to rouse him. They said he was
suffering from alcoholic coma and
opium poisoning. But he grew worse
instead of better under treatment, and
at last the doctors deemed it Test TO
send him to BELLEVUE There he was
given heroic treatment to keep his
heart going, but all in vain. He died at
10 O'Clock.
They knew him at the hotel, but not
as a guest During the campaign he
had worked as a clerk for the Demo-
cratic national committee. He hoped
for some permanent job if the election
went to the Democrats. But when the
returns came in he gave up all hope of
future and spent his Past wages for
liquor and poppy juice. seeking forget
fulness in the ocean of his misery
Whether he sought death no one viii
ever know.
Later his story came out piecemeal
in dispatches from -Pittsburg, supple
mented by information CLEANED from
acquaintance
He was a former Pittsburger and re-
lated to members of the prominent
banking firm of n. Holmes & Sons His
father was David Holmes, a prominent
citizen and pioneer in the street rail-
way business Of the Smoky City. He
was we'll educated and graduated from
college. But he was a rich mans son,
with all the weakness and the vices
that come with idleness-
His father died and left him for
tune. 1t went through his fingers like
quicksilver. Then his aunt, Miss Jane
Holmes, died and left him between
! $3.50 600 and $500 600. With this money
/ he came to New York and plunged into
/ the gay life of the TenderlOin. he went
/ to Paris and lived there several years,
/ living prodigally, throwing his money
about as if there were no end to 1t.
/ When he was broke he came back to
/ New York. Here he eked out a pre-
/ caTious living, losing one job after an
| other because of his passion for slim
I ulants and narcotics.
J He was close to Poverty Hollow when
! friends got him the job with the Demo
cratic committee. This brought him
food and drink, particularly drink
Where he lived no one knows. But to
/ the end he wore good clothes and look
! ed neat and gentlemanIy even in his
( CUPS.
He had long since ceased to trouble
/ his relatives in PittsbUrg for loans
He had made his bed and he lay in i
( without complaining. His three cous
ms, John. Nathaniel and w. NJ. r
Holmes, viii see that the body get
decent burial, One of the cousins wired
to New York last night for particular
as to his death.
\ part of Holmes fortune is said t,
have been lost in d publishing venture
with Judge Albion TOurgee, the authO
of "A FOOLS Errand' and other novels
But the most of it went in dissipation
He never married.