El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-08-09

his death was fast recouping the losses
OF few years ago.
Gates, the Wire King.
John W. Gates was essentially and
peculiarly an American product. Lack
ing a background, one does not have to
live up to a set of ideals, or bow down
to the gods of the conventions. One
stands alone. as it were, in space Thus
Mr.. Gates rather enjoyed than other
wise the celebrity he attained as a
gambler. Bet you million" was IA
chance phrase of his that has become
ella ssical.
He was a big. thick set, jolly man,
with a glad smile and a large fund of
humor. When, not long ago, somebody
asked him for what purpose he was in
the Wall street game, he replied: For
fun. 1 have got more money now than
1 can spend" At the WaIdorf-Astoria
where he made his headquarters, it is
said of him by the page boys. who did
him eager service, that he ::never takes
receipt for tip
Started Life on Farm.
Gates began life as a boy on farm,
at Turner's Junction (Which is now
South Chicago), and the first money
he ever had was earned by husking
corn. Today heis supposed to be worth
about s2O,O0O0OO
In some ways he resembled that
equally picturesque character of an
earlier generation, Col Jim" Fisk. He
had the same sort OF fondness for
throwing money around, and like Fisk.
he found substantial qualification in
carrying a "wad" of $1,000 bills in his
pocket. 1t was characteristic Of the
man that, on an occasion not very long
ago, he should have amused himself
by scattering franc pieces from the top
of the Eiffel Tower in Paris-a per-
Torrance for which he was promptly
arrested and fined.
Plays Trick on Son.
Whatever Gates did he did suddenly
Thus. while only Is years of age, he
became enamored of a plump farmers
lass in the neighborhood Of Turner's
Junction mode love 90 her with char
acteristic rapidity, and married her out
of hand. A year later, while himself
mere boy, he became the father of
son who, now grown to manhood, he
described as the best youngster in the
world"
Some years ago the youngster in
question took a flyer" in the stock
market. buying heavily. When he found
himself loser to the extent of a good
many thousands of dollars, he discov-
cred that his father had been selling
the shares which he had bought John
w. gave the money back to him with
derisive grin, saying: Il thought bet
ter of you, Charlie. Was 1t for this
that your Pop taught you to play penny
ante?"
Makes Barbed Wire.
When John W. was as yet under 20
he opened a hardware store at Tur-
ner's Junction. But soon afterward he
went into the business OF making
barbed wire, setting up a small fac
tory of his own. 1t proved a most
profitable enterprise, yielding a net
gain of. SO percent a week, or something
like $4,000 in the first year. From
that time on he did nothing but make
money, until in 1889, he began the sys-
tematic absorption of all the barbed
wire plants in this country, organizing
them into what came to be known as
the barbed wire trust
Hunted Brothers. Murderer.
In most mems live there occurs a
tragedy of some kind. With Gates 1t
was a murder. His brother, Charles,
the companion of his boyhood, loved
a young woman named Cornelia Jester,
of Warrensburg, Mo. They were to be
married, and nobody disapproved the
match, except the girls brother. Alex