Evening star., 1902-09-13


which had greatly suffered during his pub
| lie career, and began to gather up again
| the threads which had slipped from his
| personal grasp. The panic of '73 was Sc
| verely felt in Washington and all classes
| of business suffered, Mr.. Shepherds among
| the rest. He soon found that his business,
| which. has been stated, at the time he
| entered public life netted an income of from
! $4,000 to $4,000 a year, was practically
| ruined And although he had property es-
| timated at a fair valuation at Sl,9O0,OoO,
| there was an Indebtedness amounting to
| $1,3O0,OOO, and owing to the shrinkage in
the value of real estate the property could
| not cancel the indebtedness.
Went to Mexico.
| Just at that time he had an offer to go
| to Batopilas, in Mexico, to superintend some
| mines in which he had put comparatively
| small investment during his days of pros
! perity, and he resolved to accept this posi-
ton and to expatriate himself from his
home and country until he should build up
| for himself and his family another fortune.
| He went to Mexico in 1879 and has been
| there, with the exception of two visits to
| this country, ever since. The work that he
| has done in Batopilas has been marvellous,
and no one but a man of his perseVering
| grasp his untiring energy and his marvel
Gus executive ability could have ever ac-
| complished it. When he came back to
Washington In '93 in an interview had by
! follows of his work in Mexico:
Il went to Mexico first in 1879 and bought
the San Miguel mine for million dollars
| / didn't know anything about mining then,
! but an expert 1 employed examined the
| property and said there was 100000 worth
of silver in the pillars supporting the mine
and 5000 tons of ore in sight that would
run So to the ton. / came back north and
reported to the company that S1oO,o0O
would be enough for working capital. l
went back and went to work.
Those pillars produced just S3oo9o, and
after six or eight months work with the
mill the ore paid just S11 ton. There was
! half a million lost already. L had conf
dence in the mineral value of that arroyo,
| however. The old miners who had worked
the deposit before had gone ahead on
theory that the silver lay in assures near
| the surface and did not go deep in the
earth. 1 did not believe it.
! Il have gone down in that mountain to
a depth of LOO feet. 1 am now $50 feet
\ down below the bed of the river and the
| deeper l have gone the richer l have found
the silver deposit to be.
No one can conceive the obstacles that
! have been overcome down there. l found
a wilderness mainly composed of a steep
mountain side and a river. The arroyo, or
cleft in which 1t flows, Is from quarter
of mile to 250 feet wide.
''Our hacienda is there now, with i'm
mense ore mills, refining plant, for we
refine our own silver, and where we once
paid $13 a cord for wood to make steam
with, I have secured water and it runs
| everything. The wood we were once COM
PEELED to use was cut in the mountains and
| could Only be brought to US on mule back.
"I have spent s., 10000 down there and
with the exception of half a million work
| ing capital, outside of the original cost of
the property, / have taken every cent Of it
out of the ground. "
Was Arranging to Come Back.
He had about completed arrangements SO
that he could return to Washington and
| live once again among those who appre-
ciated his worth. Had his plans been COM
pleted before his death he would have come
back here wealthy man and would have
| been welcome citizen of the national CAPT.
! tai.
| A significant feature in Mr.. Shepherds
| career is that some of those who opposed
| him most bitterly during his official life
| have since become his warmeSt admirers.
| They have realized that he was working for
the best interests Of the city of his birth.
| Personal characteristics.
| Governor Shepherd was a man of noble
| presence and a splendid specimen of man
| hood Tall and broad d-shouldered he walked
| erect and gave one the impression of great
| physical strength. He was not often called
| upon to show how strong he was. but he
| gave an exhibition day down al the
| office of the board of public works when he
| took contractor who was taller and heav-
| ier than he was and threw him bodily over
| the four-foot iron railing that divided the
| room. The contractor had charged the gov
| ernor with favoring another to the detri-
| ment of himself. and when Shepherd under
| took to explain the circumstances, the
| charge was renewed and the governor, los
| ing all patience. just grabbed the fellow by
| the collar and trousers and tossed him over
| the railing. There was a crowd of other
| contractors standing on the other side and
| they broke the force of the mans fall or he
1 would have been seriously injured. The
| man afterward made an abject apology and
| the governor forgave him.
The governors face striking one
and in any gathering of men would arrest
attention. He had a well-shaped head with
broad full brow, a straight nose. firm-set
| lips and square chin, which indicated an
| indomitable will.
| Hezwas forceful speaker, using good
language, clear and concise and without
any rhetorical ornamentation. The speech
that he made in reply to the welcome ex-
illustrates his style. In that speech he
said:
| twenty-five years ago Washington was
struggling. uniformed city. great in pos
sibility, but barren In accomplishments
subject OF Jest, contumely and ridicuie for
our feIIow-citizens of the United States, and
| by-word and reproach for foreigners vis-
| fting our shores. Today 1t is the reverse.
Every American is proud of his capital, and
/ from personal hearsay our foreign neigh
borS have naugnt but kind expressions Of
admiration for the beautiful metropolis in
which we reside.
'.The work OF Regeneration was in lis in
cipiency. q rapid and q radical one. To
Il - ----Y