The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-01-20

"a
MHO LOOK advantage OF has liberality He
I NCulu DOW 10 a Qrdyman with as much
| pOlteness as he would to a cattle king
IL II Was fond OF children and pretty girls.
| 1neg an knew him and they We're not
/ AFRAID OF him. He frequently threw a
! hdAuIul OF silver among "A crowd OF
schOol cnldren as they ran through the
street whenever anything pleased him,
no matter what il was, horse or
( a steamboat, he would certainly buv it
IT the owner could be induced to part
Win II at any price. After passing
/ ABOUT year in LlanO something hap
/ creased ms wealth, and it made him
! very angry.
can't spend what I am getting now"
/ ne SAID. what on earth am l 10 do with
/ i've or SIX times as muCh2'
/ Tediman's income was supposed To be
ABOUT Sl2e9O a month at that time. and
/ ne Was spending every cent of il about
Llano and Burnet. While staying a few
Gays on his ranch his overseer informed
MN Ihat the rats had been DESTROYING
some OF his imported game chickens
We'll said Tediman, why don't YOU
get some cats and make war on the
! rats Pussy rats, hundreds Of cats. Put
HOuce IN the papers that / want eats
thousands of cats-at the market price"
ne oNefseer did as he was directed and
1edlman got cats. Little bows brought
cats by the dozen and ranchers for a
nundreaS miles around, knowing that
I Iediman paid well for everything he
/ wanted. collected wagon loads of cats
and hauled them TO the place where they
We're reluctantly received by the subOrdin-
ateS in the absence of the millionaire
| spendthrift Tediman paid the bills. but
ne got too many cats. They became wild.
and soon began to prey upon the country
barn yards.
nile Ibis strange character was
throwing away showers Of gold with both
hands, one of his friends suggested that
a cash saloon run in a careless. free and
/ easy way might be made TO swallow up
and cause few thousand dollars to dis
appear IN a way that would be deeply in
( teresting 10 the cowboys and general
( pubic Tediman was pleased with the
, Idea. and lost no time in executing his
plans In less than week there was
! thrown Open one of the finest saloons
tnat mad ever been seen in western Texas.
Ii was called Satan's Gate, and the bar
tenders had orders never to refuse man
drink This peculiar institution flour
lshed for about two months. Strangely
enough. very few people took advantage
of the mans liberality. The money that
mad been taken over the bar was given
to the poor, and then Tediman presented
the gilded palace to one of his friends.
Upon one occasion Tediman attended a
school concert and was very much
pleased with the singing of a class of
ten orphan girls Having learned that
they We're studying music with the inten-
fine pianos 20 be sent up from San An
tonic, and when they arrived sent for the
principal of the school and turned them
over TO him with instructions that they
should be given, one to each Of the class
of ten orphan girls whose singing had
pleased him so much. During his short
career a drOuth prevailed in Texas, and
this gave Tediman an opportunity to dis
play his Iiberality in a way that will
cause him to be gratefully remembered
BY hundreds Of people. He loaned, or
rather gays his neighbOrs sufficient
money 10 pay their store accounts and
imported enough flour corn and bacon
TO supply the wants of the community
for whole year He stored large guam
titles of produce in his palace and told
the people to come and help themselves,
without money or price.
Whenever a show of any kind visited
LlanO he always bought 800 or 400 tickets,
which he distributed prOmiscuOusiy
among the children of the DOOR and new
er missed a show of any kind. and it is
confidently asserted that he was the au
thor of the famous remark The per-
Torrance was so d-n bad that it was
really good.
Tedlman's fine physical frame finally
yielded to the long assaults made upon
It by an unending spree, though his
great, massive brain and well-cultivated
mind remained sound and clear to the
end He remained about two years in
Texas. but in that short period he proved
hit in his particular line that is with
out parallel in the history of the coun-
try It is said that he spent at least
$l00O,000 during the last year of his life
lie acquired the habit of secreting sacks
OF gold and rolls of bills in secluded
hooks about his big house and barn be-
fore ne died. A great deal Of this hid
den treasure has been found. but there is
no telling how much has disappeared for
ever. A gardener found a sack of gold
IN a flower pot and a laborer discovered
a large sum scattered over the bottom OF
HsnNr 4
Ilddie, and a government bond had been
folded and used under a clock to make IL
set level The mantelpieCe in his library
was covered with golden gods. There were
many golden idols of Hindo workmanship
on an altar of ivory in a small apart-
ment which he frequently visited. 1t is
said That the strange mans mind inclined
toward some mystic religion Of the Orient
Tediman was a splendid performer on the
piano. and he often spent whole nights
seated alone improvising the most weird
strains of music.
At some period of his life he must have
been Industrious, for several large vol
umes OF manuscript were found among
MS effects. Some Of these were histories
ana other treatises upon scientific sub
lects, which must have occupied his at
tention for years
From a relative who came over from
Europe to adjust the dead mans affairs
the people Of Texas only learned thot
they had been associating with a man
Hi4p hdu DrrH reared IN a palace with
l Kings and princes Over the door of his
library was written in Greek: Every
thing is nothing
Tediman had many warm personal
friends IN Texas. but the great secret of
ms ms me was never revealed to the most
intimate or his associates When Dar
Iectly cool, which was not often. he car
RED himself with lofty. princelv dignity
Ills thirst for beer was a ceaseIesS he !
Wlderlng craze, which he never made the
least effort to control In his hammer
moods he was wax in the hands ri Ms
tflehds, and nothing was easier than for
them 70 induce him to buy gold mine. a |
cSliiope, a steamboat or mouse tran. To
Pisdse a c0mrade he would do anything
put sully his honor or his immaculate
shlrt front Il am going to marry to- /
morrow. Mr. Tediman." said a pretty a-irl |
VINO mad once spread her handkerchief !
over MS face when he was lying by the
roduslde And You shall stand on \
dDtic WoVe by a princess. the gift Of a |
raJah, lined with gOld.' was the instant !
reply On the next day Tediman an
peared AT the church. followed bv two !
-leAlcdhs bearing a magnificent Persian |
carpet Iedlman helped to spread il near
me hymeneal altar, and he requested the /
pride 10 stand on it. saving IT will hiring
you luck IL did. indeed, bring her luck, 1
lot WneH she reached her home and ex-
ahmed the beautiful present she found II /
contained many golden coins and a check 4
lor S9,Ve pinned to one cOrne-
.udhS simple folks regarded the man
Win superstition. They actually thought /
that he could transform iron or aDz- ofF,or /
metal into gold The truth made a y-arI
pam tale Mr. John Tediman-whicb in /
AZ probability was not his name-had in
ierlteo an immense fortune a large nor
. eIon on. Wnicn had been so wisely invested 1
lndt II yielded princely income The
man had evidently done somethine that
mao aroused the anger of his sovereign