The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1914-03-14

small time to gossip in business hours.
Out Of business hours. 1t Is to be con-
fessed. once in a while there was dis
cussion as to the salary of Miss Vir.
gfnla Delaware, which was reported a
wholly Unstable affair. 1t was ru-
mored in stenographic circles that she
nad taken to wearing very stunning
evening gowns. Yet not the most cap
tious-though willingness did not lack
could raise voice against her. or
couple her name with any other. Rawn
and she were never seen together ex-
cept1ng during business hours: he new
er mentioned her name in any COM
pany. Once or twice a laughing voice
at the National Union, where rich men
met In numbers. tried to create some
sort Of discussion over Rawn's beau
tiful private secretary. but 1t was SO
suddenly stopped by Rawn himself
that it never was resumed.
Upon the other hand. few could
speak in definite knowledge regarding
the domestic matters Of John Rawn-
He was a man Of mystery. though one
OF known and admitted power. He
must have been accorded to him
strength of soul. grasp. readiness.
courage. he began to be accepted as
one of the large figures Of his day
alike in industry and finance. He had
by this time fully arrived in the
prominent citizen class in his chosen
metropolis. Did firemen perish. John
Rawn joined the list of those who aid
ed the widows. Was some neighbor-
ing city swept by flames. again he
joined--on the front page OF the pa
pers-those who gave succor Tor the
needy Did famine in India or China
sweep off million souls. John Rawn
on the front page-aided the sur
vivors. He was a member of the lead
ing clubs of the city. a director OF the
board of the art institute. He bought
il he did not occupy box at the opera,
had allowed his name to be mentioned
at the hanquets offered by eager souls
to celebrities of one sort or another
who proved themselves amenable to
receptions. banquets. addresses OF
welcome and what-not. anything 10
bring lesser names into print on any
page. tails TO any kite. In short, John
Rawn comported himself as a promi-
nent citizen should Ever he was the
kite, never the tail He loomed large
and growing figure in his little world.
Above all. there seemed something
uncanny in the unvaryisg facility with
which Rawn made money. There Is
no real explanation of the difference
in money making power, except that
some men make money and some DO
not. Rawn did, without any doubt or
question. Not lacking ability and calm
ness in Judgment, and not lacking full
information such as Is accorded those
said to be upon the sacred inside OF
the market, he was in and out OF Rub
ber, Coppers, Steel. at precisely the
right time His oil Investments in
California. played up and down in
proper symphony. had made him more
than million dollars, smoothly,
easily, simply. The railways market
was an open book to him. and public
utilities seemed something he could
gage while others stood and wondered.
There are times when some men win
Rawn could not lose, whether he dealt
in Ontario Silvers, Arizona Coppers.
anything he liked. He was in with
the pack when, in these last fierce
days OF individual and corporate greed.
it finished pulling down republic.
and battened, guzzled at the bowels
of the quarry. He partook with thes~
of broad knowledge of the narrow
ing raw resources of the country, and
was in with them at the death. He
was one of those to get hold of large
acreages of the passing timber lands.
he was counted with those who sought
the great coal fields for their own: ran
true to scent, with these. the trail Of
monopoly in any commodity which
the people more and more must need.
In the one matter of his relations with
a certain transcontinental railway,
Rawn made a quarter million as his
share Of the three-quarters of a billion
taken in sales OF mineral lands from
the railways land-grant holdings. That
the grants had covered only agricul-
tural lands mattered little. for when
the sleepy government at Washington
reluctantly took the trail. it was
shown a law, cunningly passed few
years earlier. which barred the repub-
lie, by virtue of a six-year statute OF
limitations. from recovering any OF its
own property! John Rawn often
laughed over that. He laughed also
when the suckers" as they called
them, bit Just as eagerly at irrigation
as they had at mines. He often laughed
it was all SO ridiculously easy to
pull down a country. when the run
ming was in good company! He was q
prominent citizen.
fTO BE CONTINUED
NJ ANo