East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1906-08-22

Wholly and Solely Due to His BrolS-
en- Hcalth-The Theft and Resigna-
tion Were Coincldcnt-IIad Been i'm
Railroad Service In England and |
cotland--Officials Offered Him u
Position in Portland
The readers of the East Oregonian
will all remember the theft of $1,000 |
in gold from the Pacific Express COM |
pany at this place somewhat less than |
a year ago and the subsequent con-
viction and sentencing to the peniten-
tiary Of young man who had been
delivering for the company for n
short time prior. It will also be re-
membered that the general public of
this place distinctly regarded John
the company at that time, as indirect
ly responsible for the theft, by having
employed the young man who did the
stealing, without having properly
looked into his antecedents and by
not keeping him under proper surveil-
lance while he worked for the COM
pany To confirm this impression,
Mr. Wilson Immediately afterward
resigned his position as agent, and
several months afterward died in Ba-
ker City. Current comment had it
that "Wilson seemed to give up after
his cGrelessness resulted in the theft
The company turned him down. etc
In all of which conclusions the public
was on a false scent from start to
finish.
From a. B. Steele, the present
agent for the Pacific Express compa-
ny at this place, the East Oregonian
reporter learns that Mr., Wilson re-
tanned to the day of his death at Ba-
ker City the full confidence and es-
TEEN of the company, which he had
enjoyed for a number of years or ever
since he entered their employ. and
that his leaving here was wholly and
solely due to his broken health; that
he would have resigned at that june
ture had the theft never taken place.
The theft and the resignation wera
simply coincident
The company officials were fully
apprised of Mr.. Wilson's poor health
and offered him a position in the Of
fices in Portland at work which he
and the managers thought would be
more congenial and less exhausting
In this they were disappointed, and
after being there a month or so he
was compelled to quit. The company
then gave him transportation to Call
ifornia, where he remained for sew
eral weeks, on full pay, his health i'm
proving very much; but as shown
later, the improvement was transit
tory.
The company then offered him a
position in the headquarters offices at
Salt Lake, promising him work which
vas light and the hours short, with
free transportation to that place,
hi off hn ie u
to Salt Lake he stopped to visit in
Baker City with old friends, and
ttere he was stricken with his last
| illness and died in that place, practi-
cally penniless John O'Connor, the
Pacific agent at Baker City, and other
friends of Wilson, "chipped in and
paid for and erected over Wilson'S
grave a $50 monument.
Wilson was from Perth, Scotland
and had been in some branch of the
railway service all his life in Eng
land and Scotland, until perhaps 10
years ago, when he left Perth and
went to Alaska. The change was
disastrous to his health and to his for.
tunes as well, and he came to the
states physically wrecked, and will
the savings of a lifetime sunk ir
profitless ventures. He brought first
class references from the old countr,
and had no difficulty in finding EN-
ployment and in making good" a
whatever he turned his hand. HI
was thoroughly capable and honest
But with his health and courage
gone, life was an uphill proposition
and the journey was intolreably diff
f'cult.
What Is known of his early life anC
before coming to America is learned
from letters Of inquiry written by hi
relatives in Scotland, who only re
Gently learned of his fate, or of hi
whereabouts for a number of years
Wilson had not written to his folk