The Ordway new era., 1913-03-28
# By
HORACE
HAZELTINE

capitalist and his heinous crimes.
When. therefore. long. bold-face type
attracted my eye with the announce
ment. Fall In Crystal Consolidated =
I started to read the subjoined article.
confident enough that some director
or directors had been spitted for bar
becue. And before had read nvs
lines came upon the name Of Robert
Cameron.
II was to believe this Introductory
paragraph, my friend was &c Crystal
Consolidated what John D. Rockefel.
Ter was to Standard Oil. yet In the
months Of our intimacy he had made
no reference to this connection; and.
though I was thoroughly familiar with
the great glass trust" as 1t was
called. and with the name Of its multi
millionaire master. strangely enough I
had never connected the Cameron
knew with this Cameron. the Captain
Of Industry.
Il am" he had said, In all modesty,
largely interested In certain line Of
industrial enterprises." That was all.
suppose should have known; and
yat. mo prophet is without honor.
save In his own country" /.
The Newspaper article I now read.
however. left no room for doubt on the
subject; and. incidentally in q single
sentence. revealed the secret OF how
Cameron had succeeded in escaping
that general recognition which 10 usu-
ally the penalty Of greatness. "He
has never sat for = photograph"
But. while this part Of the article
interested. that which followed startled
and perplexed me:
Crystal Consolidated fell to 103
today" It went on. because Of per-
sistent rumor that Robert Cameron
is seriously Ill. in New England sani-
tarium. The greatest secrecy has been
maintained as to his malady and his
whereabouts by those who are in .
position to know. It has been ascer.
tained. however. that after spending q
quiet summer at his country place.
Cragholt. on Long Island sound. near
Greenwich. he started on October II.
on his fast steam yacht Sibylla for .
cruise along the New England coast.
Ten days later the Sibylla returned,
but Mr.. Cameron was not on board.
ut Is known that he has been in
Ill health for months. and there are
those who now declare that he has
sought the seclusion Of an institution
for the treatment of nervous diseases.
near Boston. his condition being criti-
cal. So
Inquiry. today. at his Fifth avenue
home in this city. and at his Connecti-
cut country seat. was fruitless. Mr..
Cameron was at neither place. and the
servants expressed ignorance concern
ing his present address.
"At the ofiices of the Crystal Con.
solidated Manufacturing company and
at those Of the missing fnancier's
brokers. Hatch & Hastings. evasion
was the keynote of the answers to all
questions.
Whether Mr.. Cameron Is as I'll az
IL reported, or whether he 10 quite
robust. the effect Of the gossip on
Crystal Consolidated was disastrous.
A slump Of fifteen points In two hours,
this afternoon. wiped out many weak
ly margined accounts, and spread ruin
among number of spectators who
fondly imagined this law-defying
trust. Of which Cameron Is the sup
porting Atlas, as firmly intrenched az
lis the government itself.
Unless something definite 10 forth
coming regarding Mr.. Cameron's con-
dition before the market opens tomor-
row, q panic in Crystal Consolidated
is predicted. 1t closed today at 1924
bid, 103 asked: the lowest figures re.
corded this year"
1t startled me, because It showed
that at least a part Of the secret we
were guarding was secret no longer;
and It perplexed me because could
not fancy through what channel these
somewhat distorted facts had filtered
into publicity. had no doubt that
the bell, having been set rolling in
this fashion, would gain both in vol.
ume and momentum unless some ener.
getic measures were promptly taken
to check 1t. And yet, what. under the
circumstances. could we do? Subter.
fuge, l knew, would be useless, and
the truth must prove IN accelerant
In haste and with diminished appe
tite rushed through my dinner, and
moment later was speeding up thu
avenue as fast as taxicab could car
~ me, with the Cameron mansion my
destination and consultation with
Evelyn Grayson my object.
It must not be imagined that in thta
matter expected any weighty assist
ance from young woman Of such linn
yknA AyuarfAnce. h,,t aho wu. ~. o<a
cally alone in the great house and /
could, well imagine how already re
porters must be wing one with anoth
er to wiring from her admissions con
cerning her uncle.
To my infinite relief found tina,
she had returned the word. mot a,
home." to all such callers. Inquirer
from other sources had been met II
similar fashion. Omoers Of the com
pany had called in person or had tel