Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-08-19
FINDS A FORTUNE
IS HIS AF TER A
LAPSE Of YEARS
Fl. Bayard Soldier Whose Par
entS Were Drowned in the
JohnstoWn Flood is Heir to
$4,000,
icy nossrse ,ooSn.l ssserA, LEASED WIRE,

tBY MORNING JOURNAL SPECIAL LEAsEo wlFEl
Fort Bayard, n. NJ, Aug. 1S.-HOw
Fcrt Bayard's army sanitorium for
the tuberculous figures in a sequel %
the great Johnston flood of 1889,
through the unusual experience of
one of it's soldiers, Sergeant First
Glass John w. Morris, Q. M. c., and
how in the concluding chapter of
those experiences, Sergeant Morris
has Just become the beneficiary of
valuable estate which, without his
knowledge, has been held in trust for
him during the past thirty years at
Johnstown, are here related through
a series of events which for their
Isthos, providentially, and human in
tcrest read almost like a standard
book of fiction.
Sergeant Norris spent his early
boyhood days in Johnstown, Penn
sylvania. At the time of the flood
he was but eighteen months old.
That disaster robbed him of his par
ents, three brothers, and four sisters,
and left him with only a s'ster-a
mere child, only six and half years
CIDER than he. Following the flood
they were taken care of by neigh
Dor until TIE sister became old
enough to work, when she returned to
Johnstown with her child brother
and secured o. positions sergeant
Morris was but eight years old at
that ime, but the memories of his
p'aymates there have ever remained
flesh in his mind.
Four years later the little family
moved to Pittsburg, where the sister
seain obtained work, and Morris Went
TO the Westinghouse plant to learn
the electrical trade. He completed
the trade at the age of seventeen,
and a year later, his sister having
married, he enlisted in the marines.
In that service he completed two en-
listments and was discharged as
sergeant. Almost immediately he
re-enlisted, this time in the army
and his second enlistment in that
branch of the service will expire Feb
ruary 16 of next year His army
career carried him throughout our
island possessions, including the
Philippines. where he saw active SER
vice.
Upon Sergeant Morris return to
the United States he was assigned -
duty at the Fort Bayard hospital.
There he soon proved his ability as
an electrician and was given charge
of installing the hospitals under
ground telephone system. lie de-
signed. estimated and installed the
system with such skill that larger
duties were Immediately laid upon
him. He was made chief engineer at
the hospital power plant and IS at
present in charge of the entire light
ing system there.
Last November, during the influen-
"a epidemic, Sergeant Morris lost the
only member of his family-the Sis
ter who had mothered him from his
rfancy-when she, together with her
husband and their little boy, sue
ccmbed to the ravages of that dis
ease.
1t is a woeful feeling, the realiza-
ton that one is entirely bereft OF
home and kinsmen, and the con-
seriousness of a complete severence OF
childhood ties. A loneliness that on
w those thus situated can appreciate
came into the life of Sergeant Nor
ri, and he determined to try SOME
method to re-establish those ties that
were formed with playmates in ms
JohnstoWn home. But twenty years
produce many changes, and OLD
time friends are hard to find, par
tioularIy when thousands of miles
separate tie searcher from his, quest.
THE quick success that attended this
undertaking, with the addition OF the
surprising good news that came along
with it, would cause it to seem, tere-
fore. little less than providential.
Sergeant Norris method was 20
address an appeal to the mayor of
YOUNGSTOWN, in which he recounted
his boyhood experiences there, fur
rfishing those incidents WITHIN his
memory that would aid in establish
ing his identity. and naming group