The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1910-12-10
Litigation Over Millions Left by
Late Remarkable Plunger
to Commence Next
Monday
MANY SENSATIONS PROMISED
Every Indication That Fight viii 30
Long Drawn Out-Many Claim
ants Demand Share of
Immense Estate.

Los Angeles, Cal, Dec 10-.Wlhat
promises 10 be an almost endless liti-
cation for possession of the millions
left by Elias j. C"Lucl1y) Baldwin
is scheduled to begin i'm the superior
court here Monday, when Judge Dives
VIII consider a petition for the dis
tribution of nearly the entire Bald
win estate, amounting to about s12,-
900, 600.
For many years prior to the death
of Lucky Baldwin which occurred at
his Santa Anita ranch on March 1,
1909. the public was more or less fa-
miliar with his checkered career, but
| even those persons who shared his
confidence most We're scarcely pre-
pared for the many sensational
chapters which have been inserted in
the life-story of the famous old bo-
nanza miner and turfman since he
passed from earth. If half that is ru-
mOred is true, the court proceedings
now about to begin will reveal the
persistence with which the old mil
lionaire hammered the Seventh Com
mandment. beginning before he left
Racine, Wis, way back in 1850 for the
California gold fields and continuing
up to the very end of his remarkable
career nearly sixty years later.
Many Matrimonial Tsneles.
Lucky" Baldwin's matrimonial
ventures We're not less sensational
than the startling fluctuations OF for
tune which made his life full OF ka-
leidoscope change. 1t is known that
ne was married when he started for
California, and three times after he
got hereafter proper intervals siIc-
ceeding divorce. In addition he de-
Tended four different suits for breach
of promise, and paid one judgment OF
$4,000. His life was twice attempted
by women. one of these being Anita
Baldwin. later said to be his niece.
who wounded him with a. pistol shot
in the Baldwin Hotel in San Francis
co I'm 1883. Small wonder then, that
the old millionaire when he saw death
approaching deemed IL wise to add
to his viii a specific statement deny
ing the existence of more than a sin
gle widow, i'm an effort to provide
against a possible contest i'm that di-
rection.
Although possessed by all the dew
lis that usually drive men TO destruc-
ton (with which devils he always on
good terms Lucky Baldwin had the
good sense 10 hold on to his fortune
and increase il. Many times In the
course of his sensational career il
was reported that he was broke, and
on several occasions these reports
were doubtless pretty near the truth.
But each time the astute old plunger
managed to recoup his losses and he
died leaving many millions.
One Less Struck Deep.
Litigation promises to wipe out the
bulk of the Baldwin fortune, distrfbut-
ing IL among many claimants and
scattering ii over many states, leav-
ing only the great Santa Anita ranch
as his only memorial in the state from
which he scooped millions In mines
and stocks What he had hoped at
one time would stand as an everlast-
ing monument for the diffusion of his
name and fame proved scarcely more
everlasting than a soap-butible. This
was the palatial Baldwin hotel and
theater that he erected on Market
street i'm San Francisco at a cost OF
S3.000,000. All the culture and pride
that he had We're centered in that ho-
tel. A few years after IL was built he
saw IL go up in smoke. and as he
watched the flames wrap themselves
around 1t he wept for the first time
to anyone's knowledge.