Omaha daily bee., 1902-06-26
WASHTUB TO FORTUNE
TOiling Omaha Woman Probably Only
Hsirsss Of Rich Californian.
HAS GLIMPSE OF CLOUDS SILVER LINING
Eccentric old Man, Believed to BE
Her Father-in-Law, Dies at
Los Angeles and Leaves
Large Amount of Cash.

Yesterdays mail carried to the public ad-
ministrator at Los Angeles, Cal, a letter
that may be the means Of taking a weary
little Omaha woman from the slavery OF the
washtub and placing her in a home OF her
own. with real lace curtains at the windows
real Brussels on the floor. real china on the
table. real silk on her figure, real Ice in
the refrigerator and real Joy in her heart.
In fact, place her in such circumstances
as the possession Of $142, 900 warrants.
She is Mrs. Charles Hill, jr., and for years
she has lived and labored in a little brown
house that is numbered 742 Bancroft street,
hut that sits back behind other houses, OBJ
scure. decrepit and as forlorn as the lonely
woman herself. The only view" she gets
Is such as she addresses to the heaven tnat
has seemed TO forget her and the only lights
within the walls are two children, a girl
of II and a boy Of 8, who are running pare
footed now, but who, this time next year.
may be wearing tailor-made dresses ana
suits, colonial shoes and even Panama mats
But the chain that holds all these Things
for them is as yet wholly circumstantlaI'
II must be proved that they are the grand
children and hence the heirs OF a Charles
Hill who died at Los Angeles June /, leav-
ing no known relatives, but abundant
wealth. He had been in the California city
seven years, living humbly at rooming
houses.
Finds Fortune In Cash.
Death came to the old man suddenly and
when he was alone. The coroner investi-
gated and found in a belt about his body
s. 1000 in bills and a few dollars in silver In
The pockets of his trousers. Then he found
something else. 1t was a deposit check for
10000 that investigation proved was
-z.t1., 4, IIiIIt, mama at tho IninO Rank of
Savings of Los Angeles. The body was
buried respectfully, the estate placed In
the hands of the public administrator and
the newspaper reporters given one day OF
easy work.
The news was t~elegraphed everywhere
and a paper containing the story found It's
way to II. ]. Waffle of Monroe, Neb., who Is
a fireman on the Burlington and a brother
to Mrs. Charles Hill. jr., of Omaha. He
came to this city at once and the two Wis
iited Attorneys L. J. Piatti and George w.
cooper Tuesday for counsel. The lawyers
were chary at first, but the woman is one
of convincing modesty and she relates a
chain Of evidence that the attorneys con-
slider strong enough to warrant them In
making a thorough Investigation of the
matter.
She says that she and Charles Hill were
Alalh Atd JNaAp P6S 1900 NAoNA
and that her husband was then prosperous
in a small way. Later his health failed,
be could not hold any position requiring
constant attention and finally was forced to
do such work as he could find, when we'll
enough, about the railroad yards. His adj
versity preyed on his mind and seven years
ago he died In the asylum at Hastings, after
being confined there seventeen months, in
sane.
Hears from His Father.
Shortly after they were married he told
mis- wife that he had received a letter from
his father, for whom he was named and
with whom he had been in Dakota when a
boy, and that the old gentleman had pros
pered In southern California and decided
to remain there.
The letter was never answered, but the
husband often mentioned his father and
wondered how he was enjoying his life Of
ease in California. The wife and mother
had died in Dakota years before and there
were no other members of the family.
When the son became insane, his wife,
finding the scanty purse fast emptying, de-
termined to appeal to the father for aid,
but her husbands mind was too far gone
to permit of his assisting in the hunt and
she was never able to locate the Californian,
who had been described to her as a moody
man who talked little and wrote less. After
death relieved the sufferer she had to turn
her attention wholly to the support Of her.
self and children and finally, discouraged
by what seemed a relentless fate, she buried
herself in an obscure corner Of Omaha to
escape the sight Of old friends and asso-
oiates and resigned herself to the yoke Of
the honest poor.
Waits and Hopes.
Since then she has heard nothing signih-
cant until her brother came with the paper
containing the account OF the death OF the
eccentric Californian. She has placed the
affair, with a picture of her husband, in the
hands Of her attorneys and gone back to
her humble home TO wait, to hope-and to
be brave II nothing comes Of 1t.
Mortality Statistics.
The following births and deaths have