The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-06-07
MONTE CRISTO OF THE SOUTH.
A SPECTACULAR PLCTOCRAT IS
ASTONISHING MACON, MO.
Saves the Towns Carnival From Disaster
by supplying Electric Iight In Emer'
gcncy--COntribute . Water supply
and Hires q 81 900 Special Train.

street lights and various Illuminating de
vices had been installed last week Tor tn
carnival, the pig Corlss engine at the cleo
trio light power house, with perversit,
characteristic Of the Missouri mule, blew
out its cylinder head and smashed some
score OF important parts about 1t which
only an engineer could name. Hundreds
OF dollars had been spent n preparing FOL
the Examinations which were to be the
main feature Of the carnival, and the people
were in dsmay.
The lighting plant is municipal AFFAIR
and the city fathers divided into COM
mittees and journeyed to manufacturing
towns to see what could be done instantly
to repair the damage. The earliest de-
livery of new Parts promi ed by ybody
was two weeks and the carnival was to
legin on Monday.
About this time Col. F. W. Bees, who was
looking after SOM business interests in
Texas, telegraphed the Mayor to connect
the municipal wires with the Bees carriage
factory dynamos and that he would keep
a night en- ineer on duty.
1t solved TIE prob en- Carnival stock
went up, an over body was happy. 1t
saved the enterprise from failure and put
tHOussiluS pI uOlldIS III I'Othtis VI VIC
tradesmen which else would never have
found the way there, The carriaSe fac
tory was behind it'll Texas orders. how
ever, and to furnish power for the carnival
II had to lay off the night shift of 200 men.
During tn" drought of 1901 the stream
which supplies The town with water went
dry, and the reservoirs were exhausted.
In the parks at the Blees Military Academy
were two immense arti ecal lakes, the only
water that survived the drought that year.
The town had heavy contracts to supply
the railroads with water for improvement
work then going on in the city and for
their locomotives
So dry had things become in the country
that farmers had their wells padlocked
and were charging thirsty travellers Tor
a drink of water. At this time, too, Col.
Blees's voluntary generosity rescued the
town from dilemma that threatened COM
plete business prostration. He installed
pumping engine at the lakes and ran pipes
to connect with the water mains Of the city.
The water held out unit il the fall rains came.
few years ago the Colonel taught
small private school here and was in ex-
tremely modest circumstances. He knew
that one day great German estate would
be his. but didn't say much about it. Prob
ably not more than dozen people here
knew Of his great expect ions, and even
those who had heard of them supposed
them near kin to the many newspaper
stories of fabulous Fatherland fortunes
awaiting American citizens, which some
how failed to get across the ocean.
But Col. Blees's fortune got here. His
father had extensive interests in coal aud
iron mines. Some of these properties
were In litigation, and for a while there was
doubt as to the result. But the father
finally won out and had more money than
he knew what to do with. Then he passed
to his fathers and Col. Blees crossed the
ocean to wind up the estate in the old
country. When he returned In few months
he was as quiet and transformations as he
bad always been He abandoned his little
school and lived quietly for year or two.
People began thinking that the story of
the German estate was overrated.
But after recovering his health, which
had been impaired by overwork in the
school, and his more recent toll over the
intricacies Of the family possessions, he
began building residence here. II turned
out to be the handsomest in the city.
Across the street from that he built stable
that is larger and finer than any in town.
He next acquired several hundred acres
of rolling prairie land south Of the city
limits and at a cost of $500 900 put up
military academy and tributary buildings.
which for magnifcence surpass anything
In the West.
That was an eve opener, and the people
began to talk about the Colonel and his
uoo1tb Tho spbnnl taachor had
almost at bound become a citizen Of
importance. The Republicans Of the First
district nominated him for Congress, with
the possible hope OF determining just how
many ducats the barrel contained. But
the Colon el wasn't hunting glory, and, be-
sides, the district is nearly 5000 to the good
for the Democrats,
Col Blees neSt built a carriage factory
that cover block and Is three stories
high The world was secured to find ex-
pert foremen for the various departments,
and there has not been a day since this
establishment was started five years ago
that good mechanic could not get a job
at top-notch figures. The output goes
principally to the West and South.
A shear factory and a newspaper were
the next enterprises put on their feet by
tTe up -enClnH OF tlle NOIOuel > IbATTel. me
people began to inquire as to the extent
OF the legacy. They could understand
the dimensions Of fortune that enabled
an heir to build an academy, factory or
two, and put mp beautiful home, but when
a layman begins to invest in newspaper
property even the most Indifferent becomes
Interested and wonders how long he will
last
II anybody knows how many dollars the
Colonel possesses he hasn't told it. A friend
once put the question to the Colonel him
self. The two were in the Office OF the
carriage factory.
+Do you really want to know?- asked
the Colonel
4Why, yes," said the inquirer. Il would
be delighted with the information"
Col. Blees began pulling out books and
ledgers and making a memorandum. He
worked on and his friend began to get
restless.
See here, Colonel" he said, Il don't
want TO put you TO a whole lot Of trouble.
How long is il going to take to do that2"
"Oh, think can give you an approx
mate estimate in about half a day; but Of
course it will have to be based on yester-
davis values in stock I don't like IN