Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-05-22

means. At the close Of his congress
ional term he settled in New York
city and has lived there ever since.
He was one of the promoters Of the
first telegraph company and Of Cyrus
Fields cable across the Atlantic. He
was a member of the syndicate which
built the first railroad in the state of
New York, between Schenectady and
Troy. He was associated with the
construction and development of sew
eral OF the trans-continental roads
and the big trunk lines Of the North
| west, and often boasted that he had
money. at least 5000 miles of railway.
which. he claims, is more than any
other man has ever built without H.
nancial assistance.
Mr.. Sage is supposed to be worth
10000 in stocks and bonds. which
are slowed away in the vaults of nine
different safe deposit companies. He
has accounts with many banks. and
| always insists upon being paid inter
est on his deposits. II Is estimated
that he has $1OO, 900 900 loaned out on
securities. His business goes right
along. notwithstanding mis- Illness, be-
| ing in charge of Mr.. Osborn, his sec.
| retary, and Mr. Slocum, ais brother
In-law. They are the only people who
\ know anything about his affairs; they
are the only people he trusts at all,
and ne has always heen very suspic-
ious Of them But he had to trust
| somebody.
For years, as ne has grown old,
| people have been wondering what
will become of his money He has
never had any children and has no
relatives except Mrs. Sage and her
brother. She is good woman
highly esteemed and beloved by ev-
eryone who knows ner-and her life
has been a martyrdom. Her husband
| has been as stingy to her as he has
| been to everybody else, and she has
been compelled to save and scrape
and economize like the wife of me-
| chanic
Mrs. Sage was a Miss Slocum of
Syracuse. and traces her descent
eight generations direct from Miles
Standisn. She married Mr.. Sage in
1869. and has been devoted wife
Helen Gould is her most intimate
friend. and they are engaged together
| in religious and charitable work. Ey'
erybody hopes that the old gentleman
| may die without will, so that his
enormous fortune may come under
| her control; because she is a wise wo
| man and will do good with the mon
l. ey.
Nobody knows whether he has
| made will or not. Two years ago
when he was asked the direct ques
ton, he replied that ne had never
made Will, but was seriously con
sidering the subject. If he nas made
one since he wrote It himself to avoiG
paying a lawyer, and has taken nont
OF his friends into his confidence
Those who know him best do not be
| lieve there is will. They argue tha
ne could never bring himself to con
! slider the necessity of letting go Of hi,
money or leaving it behind. and II h'
dies intestate it will all go to Mrs
| Sage. 1t may be expected, however
| that claimants will appear, and tina
the lawyers will try to get some of 1t
Several years ago bogus nephew
appeared in Illinois and filed tn,
newspapers with tne stories of his al
legged uncle's meanness. The tall
was published In every paper in th'
4, country: how Mr.. Sage had loane,
$500 to his namesake, the only SOL
of his only brother, and insisted upol
having mortgage upon a little hom'
as security When the note came du,
his nephew" was unable 10 pay 1
l and the uncle foreclosed the mort
gage, Mr.. Sage denied the stor!
again and again, but II kept reappear
| ing in the newspapers. | asked hin
about 1t once, and ne told me that HI
had never heard OF suc1 fellow
] that ne never loaned money to hi:
relatives; that he never had nep
hew; that he only had one brother
VINO died unmarried. A newspaper
reporter with sense of fairness ant
a love of truth, visited the count,
court house and made search, bu
he was unable to find the record O.
any foreclosure or any mortgage.
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