The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-01-05

a right To possess and right well he
used tlat c#liAne : and strength in the
days that followed
me next il0isienr the house below
was IN {; tumult Almost at the same
time the Doctor, who had been sent for
at once but lived some distance away,
came III, together with police officers
who had been summoned by the fright
ened servants With them were four or
five newspaper correspondents and sew
eral nelghbors. Dr. Bruce and tho
bishop met this miscellaneous crowd at |
the head OF the stairs and succeeded in
excluding all except those whose pres
4 ence was necessary. With these the two
friends learned all the facts ever known
about "the Sterling tragedy as the
papers in their sensational accounts
next day called it,
Mr.. Sterling had gone into his room
that evening about $ o. clock, and that
was the last seen of him until in half
IL. Our shot was heard and servant
Who was in the hall ran into the room
and found the owner of the house dead
on the floor, killed by his own hand.
Felicia at the time was sitting by her
mother. Rose was reading in the Ii
brary. She ran up stairs, saw her father
as he was being lifted upon the couch
by the servants and then ran screaming
into her mothers room, where she flung
herself down on the foot of the bed in
swoon. Mrs. Sterling had at first
tainted at the shock, then rallied with
wonderful swiftness and sent mes
senger to call DR.. Bruce. She had then
insisted on seeing her husband In spite
of Felicia, she had compelled Clara and
the housemaid, terrified and trembling,
to support her while she crossed the
hall and entered the room where her
, husband lay. She had looked upon him
with a fearless face, had gone back into
her own room, was laid on the bed, and
as DR.. Bruce and the bishop entered the
: house she, with a prayer of forgiveness
! for herself and her husband on her
} quivering lips, had died, with Felicia
/ bending over her and Rose still lying
= senseless at her feet.
3 So great and swift had been the en-
, trance of grim death into that palace
, of luxury that Sunday night, but the
3 full cause of his coming was not known
2 until the facts in regard to Mr.. Ster-
9 lings business affairs were finally dis
g closed.
Then it was learned that for some
time he had been facing financial ruin
J owing to certain speculations that had
t in months time swept his supposed
wealth into complete destruction. With
d the cunning and desperation of a man
: who battles for his very life, when he
n saw his money, which was all the life
t he ever valued, slipping from him he
b had put off the evil day to the last mo-
+ ment Sunday afternoon, however, he
had received news that proved to him
a beyond doubt the fact of his utter
+ ruin The very house that he called his,
the chairs in which he sat, his carriage,
: the dishes from which he ate, had all
Il been bought by money for which he
d himself had never really done an homes
stroke of pure labor
/, It had all rested on tissue of decei
10 and speculation that had no foundation
in real values He knew the fact bette
Sc than any one else, but he had hoped
L with the hope that such men Away
have, that the same methods tina
or brought him the money would also pre-
&c vent its loss He had been deceived il
4 this. as many others have been. A
soon as the truth that he was practical
ly beggar had dawned upon him h
saw no escape from suicide. 1t was tn
r. irresistible result of such life as h
had lived. He had made money his god
n As soon as thai god had gone out of hi
lg little world there was nothing more t
Id worship, and when mans object Q
p worship is gone he has no more to liv
- for Thus died the great millionaire
Charles R. Sterling, and, verify, he die
= as the fool dieth. for what is the gal
70 or the loss of money compared with th
Sc unsearehable riches of eternal life, whic
st are far beyond the reach of worldl
tt speculation, loss or change?
Mrs. Sterling's death was the resu
> of shock She had not been taken int
:, her husbands confidence for years, br
~. she knew that the source of his wealt
NO was precarious Her life for sever;
years had been a death in life III
Va Rolfes always gave the impression tn;
they could endure more disaster III
zee moved than any one else Mrs Sterlil
ON illustrated the old family traditio
.ce when she was carried into the roo
,e where her husband lay, but the feeb
zee tenement could not hold the spirit, al
70 it gave up the ghost, torn and weallent
by long years of suffering and disa
N pointment.
th The effect of this triple blow, Il
death of father and mother and the 10
he Of property, was instantly apparent
led the sisters The horror of events stup
his fed Rose for weeks She lay unmov
The by sympathy or any effort to rally. 81
IN did not seem yet to realize that t
Suit money which had been so large pa
,op of her very existence was gone. Ev
rlv when she was told that she and Felic
of must leave tie house and be depende
Ma upon relatives and friends she did n
IN, seem to understand what it meant
led Felicia, however, was fully conscio