The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-12-25
) a GENEROUS MAN
Reimbursed People VINO Lost Mon .,

RI
On His Advice.
Out +, of the trickery and scandal
that were disclosed to the publib III
the investigation of the American
Asphalt bubble, the New Y FORK World
obtains a story of one man who was
conspicuous for his honesty and husi-
ness Integrity. That man wal DR..
Ludwig S. FItilbert, one of the pioreers
IN tne asphalt business and who ac- :,
cuInulated large fortune In it 81 or,
the boom days. DIR. Filbert?iSaA 8
esting STORY is related by 3
York World In this way:
bert was a descendant Of
Phia, s AID I'd a lis lE fortune + ne
found pleasure III turning a
cerment Of lis income tow.
thropy. In his way he came 10 mo ~
m;lny peopl, who we're in the iowl7
walks Of life. He was won't oIhelp
them, not cnly m; 5erially, butihun.
dreds of willows an orphan children
profited by is good advice. Scores Of
them invested thei savings Ia enter
prises that we're ,ldorsed by their
benefactor. Aspha t had made Il
large fortune for5Dr. Filbert, and So,
when the American company came to
be organized. he advised all or his
humble friends to get in on the
ground floor and invest their savings
In the stock before it had time to
reach the figures to which he conf
dently expected 1T to go. In this way
hundreds Of poor people were led to
invest all Of their Swings in what was
to prove one Of the gr ,atest financial
fizzleS of the century,"
When the collapse came, DR.. Fill
bert, according to the Worlds histo-
rlan, realized that his loss of mil
lion and half dollars, great as 1t
looked to him in his declining years,
was not nearly as serious as was the
loss of the entire savings Of the hun
dreds of poor people who were wont to
look upon him as their benefactor.
lie knew that many of them had been
left penniless and felt that he was re-
sponsible for it. lie called the mem
bers of his family together In council
and laid the facts before them. He
said that he felt that he was person.
ally responsible for these losses Of the
poor, and that in consequence it was
his duty to reimburse them all. II
am getting DID," DR.. Filbert told his
family, 'and cannot live many years.
l want to be prepared to meet my God
without the cries Of hungry women
and children in my ears. 1t will cost
me half a million dollars to repay all
these poor people for the losses they
have sustained in this miserable stock
failure. My own losses are a million
and a half, and this money will, of
course, come out Of your pockets, since
you will be deprived Of it after nv
death. But think l can face death
better with an honest name, and that
is my reason for asking you to uphold
me in the disbursement Of money that
was Intended for you." The family
Of the aged philanthropist sanctioned
Ills honest purpose, and he set about
at once to repay the persons who had
bought Asphalt stock on his advice.
lie drove to the several banks where
he kept his accounts, and notified
them that he would want to draw
100000 from each Of them on the
following day. The next morning he
drew the half million in currency,
placed 1t in q bag and drove from one
house to another where lived those
who had lost their savings in the hub
Die. Within one day he paid out
every dollar Of the money and at night
told his friends that his conscience
was clear once more.