The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-02-08

Der. lack had his sea legs on. I
| didn't. He owned a store in Detroit
He took me there when we arrived and
he soon had me all right again. VII,
/ liam Hale, afterwards attorney general
! of Wisconsin was with u.s.
| In 1919 Smith with Ezra Coming and
a man named Speed secured the fran
! chise for telegraph in Wisconsin and be-
! gan building a large line. The system
| included Green Bay. kenosho, Ash
| land, Oconomowoc I'D other towns IL
Wisconsin and Northern Illinois The
system was a large one for 163 oper-
ators were employed. Smiths duty
| was to oversee the entire system. he
Travelled by wagon from town to town
in all kinds of weather. inspecting the
lines and offices. During that time he
passed the now famous Waukesht
springs hundreds of times with never
| a thought that the waters might be
valuable.
Business was shaky in those days"
said Smith. I'VE had wild cat money
and wild cat banks and when we sold
anything did not know whether the
money would be good the next day or
not. lived at Ashland and my wife
was often frightened by the Winnie
bago Indians. Business was not any
too good and Speed and 1 wanted t.
sell out to Coming. He was to come
and see US He came from Ithaca, New
York by way of Cincinnati instead of
by Detroit because he owed so much
money in Detroit that he was afraid to
go there. We owed so much for taxes
on our lines that we were about to lose
them but we made arrangements with
tie governor for them to be sold for
taxes and we bought them in for Z
small sum.
speed and met Coming in Chicago
later. He was to bring $4,000 with him
to buy us out. We met him and talked
till midnight, then he said, I'm busted
We said that was a good joke but we
found it was true We couldn't hold
out. I tried to get the directors of the
he @ r-,-
to help us in building a line from Mil
waukee to Madison % miles. We want
ed $1,000 and in return would help the
road by carrying their messages. The
directors said they would carry their
messages their trains. That is the
road George r. Peck is with now They
wouldn't help us and 1 got mad and
sold out for $1,000 and gave the money
to Dan Wilcox, editor of the Quincy, IL
lnois, Wing. I told him L didn't want
it. The father OF C. G. Shales, super
intendent of telegraph on the Santa Fe,
afterWard bought those telegraph ines.
Then ] sold a farm / had in WiSco1-
sn for $1,000 and with the money started
in business at GAINESVILLE, Wis. 1 sold
wagons and had one of the largest bus
mess houses in that part of the country.
took notes in payment for wagons and
have note now for S1f5 given ne by
the father of Governor Budd of Cali
fornia, that has never been paid. From
there / went to Chicago and bought
two lots on Dearborn street for $4,000
and was burned out by the Chicago
fire"
William B. Strong, formerly president
of the Santa Fe railroad, was a telegra-
pher on Smiths line and worked in Il
small office at Beloit, Wisconsin, for
meager salary. The office did not pay
and was cosed. Strong lost his place.
Smith has been near wealth many
times. Coming stuck to his telegraph
business after Smith left it and made
money during the war. He was rated
at being worth $4,000, 00o- The lots
Smith sold on Dearborn street are now
worth thousands of dollars
Smiths grandfather and uncle had
line of vessels years ago plying between
the United States and southern ports
and they were destroyed by the French.
A cousin of Smiths made application
before the court of claims in Washing