The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-11-03
TALES OF LOST FORTUNES.
Hard-Luck Stories of Men Who Might
Have Been Millionaires.
(Tit-Bits.)

That the DAYS of romance ere by no
means over is proved by the story OF
]. T. COwan, a Texas cattleman. VINO,
while looking through some old family
papers few weeks ago, discovered the
clue to fortune far beyond the widest
dreams of aVaTice.
The papers which came thus dramat-
ically to light were deeds relating TO
100 acres of land in the very heart OF
New York, where an acre is worth al
most Cnything from million pounds
upward. Mr.. Cowan is the lineal de-
scendant and heir of a Welshman
named Hartsfelder, who emigrated to
New York in 1872 and purchased an es-
tate of land on which the homes and
business houses Of milllonaires have
since sprung up like mushrooms; and
this city FL Dorado should be the prop
erty of the Dallas cattleman, who has
discovered the original deeds granting
1t to his ancestor. Prominent Wall
street men. it is said. have offered Mr..
Cowan $4,000 600 for his rights; but he
has turned his back even on this enor-
nous offer.
1t is of Dallas, by the way. that an
other story. equally romantic. IS told.
Sixty years ago one Joseph Hancock,
a Hampshire man. migrated TO Dallas,
then open, uncultivated country, and
purchased a square mile of land, which
he farmed for couple of years. Then
the gold fever fired his veins. He sold
his farm for a few pounds and made
his way to California on what proved
a fruitless and heart breaking quest Of
the yellow metal
Long years passed. and Hancock. now
an old and Door man. took it into his
head to revisit mis- old Dallas farm-to
find that a city had risen in the mean
time on his barren and despiSed acres,
and that huee business blocks, costly
dwelling houses. railways and parks. or
an estimated value OF G10 100000. COW
cred every acre Of the land where he
once fought Indians and hunted the
buffalo. And all the old man said when
he realized what an immense fortune
he had lost. was this: Had / re-
manned here l should have been a mill
lionaire, but my foresight was not
good"
But one need not cross the seas to
encounter similar cases of lost for
tunes. Seventy-tWO years ago an uncle
of a provincial alderman enigrated TO
the states and became the owner of a
large tract OF Improbable land in the
northeast corner of the state of Illinois,
but finding himself unable single-hand-
ed to cope with so much land he wrote
home to invite his sister, with her hus-
terpTise.
six months later the aldermans
mother arrived. only TO find that her
brother had died in the meantime, and
that the government had taken pos
session Of his land. She was unable to
establish her kinship and claim, and
after some years of hardship, during
which she lost her husband, she re-
turned to England with two young chill
Of % gH n nf nftgx y
was one On the land thus lost a great
part OF the city OF Chicago has since
risen, and thus, under happier circum-
stances, the lady would have been an
American multi-milliOnaire.
Not long ago too, We remember,
among the inmates of the Guiloford
Union WorkhOuse was a man who
claimed to be the owner of the site Of
johannesburg. He had had a career
which outstripped fiction. Born IN
| Sussex seVenty-two years ago, he be-
came a cadet IN the East India COM
pany's service, had many a brush
with Malay pirates. served through
the Kaffir war Of 1928 and narrowly
| escaped death AZ the taking OF Sebas-
tOpOl. He commanded the Calcutta
naval brigade in the Indian mutiny;
served under Gordon in China. where
he received a spear thrust in the chest;
was resident magistrate II BOMBAY
presidency, and then drifted TO sheep
farming in South Africa. 1t was at
this stage of his variegated career that
he. In his own words, purchased 49,
600 acres Of land for a mere song.
gave $500 for it. and the land which I
! purchased is now occupied by the town
of Johannesburg"
The BOer uprising speedily followed
this purchase. The man fought against
them, and, when the Beers were grant
ed their independence. he refused
| point blank TO take the oath Of al
legiance TO the republic. Il refused"
the old man said TO an interviewer, Ito
Become traitor TO my country. and
all my property was confiscated In the
archives of Pretoria are the deeds Of
the land marked as having been for
feited for refusal to take the OATH
To give but two more examples of
millions that have been missed, VIII
liam Richfold, the shepherd who was
the first 10 disclose the hidden riches
of Baliarat. died heart broken and a
pauper: and Donald Gordon thought
himself a lucky man when he sold his
Rockhampt0n farm OF square nile
at pound an acre. little dreaming
that beneath its surface were the un-
told millions of gold which have made
Mt. Morgan mine the synonym for
fabulous wealth the whole world over.