The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1906-12-28
"THE CUBAN MORGAN"
Romantic Life Of the DefauIter, Who
Dr.ooad Cehaiioe Dou,n

Dragged ceballcs Down.
The tale of Manuel Silveria is one
for a novelist. 1t has too much Of
romance and mystery about it for the
limited space of a crowded newspapers
iron-bound columns-it needs room to
stretch out and unfold itself little by
little, revealing in successive chapters
the AIMING twists and contortions
Of intrigue, ambition, trickery, and
fight.
They say any man can acquire
wealth who will pay the price. Not
so, Manuel Silveira was ready and
willing to pay the price, the trouble
was he didn't know how to keep from
paying to much So he lost out, and
from being a money baron he is a
fugitive on a cattle ship, hunting for
a place to hide where no one can find
him out
Silviera is a sraniard-"Little Sill
veira" they call him here, because
of his small stature. He is fair-haired
and blue-eyed, with the alertness Of
manner and the vivacity of spirit that
go properly with the man the Spain
ards call 'muy sympatico." And he has
the genuine love of grandeur, the
lOrdly swing, the reckless extrava-
gance that fit some men for the rapid
dissipation of fortunes. Besides these
characteristics he had plenty Of nerve
and daring in speculation and in bus
mess enterprise. He enjoyed tackling
large problems, and the more hopeless
some of his projects looked to the cool
scrutiny of less audacious investors
the more his 1ambuoyant enthusiasm
rose to the emergency. He was known
in Havana sometimes as the Cuban
Morgan" FL Morgan Cubano, but that
was only after the exploitation OF some
of his later gigantic schemes had just
flied the suspicion that he aimed at
the absorption by his own companies
of everything that was worth while
in the land
"El Morgan Cubano" began his life
in Havana as a clerk. He worked
hard and saved money. He was gay
but not frivolous then, and ambition
drove him on BY and by as he saved
he made investments for himself, made
more money and saved more. Then
he branched out became a broker on
his own account, then banker, and
| then high fnancier. He married
! a beautiful wife, and had two lovely
daughters. He bought for them a
! splendid mansion on the Prado, the
most fashionable street in Havana, and
there they lived IN style that would
have made a Spanish viceroy envious.
There were jewels and costly gowns
for the ladies; horses and carriages,
and big fast expensive automobiles,
There was lavish entertainment for
the friends and social equals of the
family and the house at So Prado was
one Of the show sights of the city
The money for all this prodigal
way of living came from wide range
of business enterprises and invest
ments. Manuel Silveira was in long
of list companies, and in his individ-
ual capacity represented certain houses
in New York that intrusted to him the
conduct of enterprises running into the
hundreds of thousands of dollars. The
underlying concern of them all was
silveira C Co, a concern composed OF
Manuel Silveira and the firm of Beola
& Co, bankers, of Gibara Beola put
in $27, 500 and Silveria supplied $12,-
500, making the total capital of the
concern only $4,000 They were and
are known as Silveira & Co., bankers
and one of the mysteries of the pres
ent situation is that the bank is still,
bpen. doing business just as usual
y~gith no sign about the place that any
Shing unusual has occurred, although
he head of the house has run away
Fhd is accused by his business associ
K ates of New York with taking a mil
lion and a quarter with him in colo
cash.-Havana Corner of the New
Work Times.