Marble Hill press., 1921-09-22

along ihy river and morr than pncc used armed
cowboys. The state supreme court sustained
most ~ his Wnisr rights
Miller b"suu the building Of his empire by pur.
chasing LOO acres near Gilroy. hbou, - miles
south ~ san Franc.sco. Later he expanded this
% ""vo acres and made It hi. home ranch As
Tr"iis accrued be put the money back into land
cattle and sheep. by 1881 the operations ~ the
partners bad reached their peak They owned
about S1ur acres In California and had iarge
holdings In Oregon and Nevada
i once thought that I should own the hole
state of California said Miller. about 1874 Il
would have owned halt Of II. he'd not made the
mistake % buying In Oregon and Nevada and
my son. II he had lived could have bought the
other half"
1t was In lSSG TIM, Miller and Lax had sneo
cattle and i'o"n sheep. For wears their annual
sale 81 meat had averas -! St5"o"or They had
organized "ater companies had laid out town
sites aud hud built towns. They had constructed
roads aud irrigation canals and bitches
The Ranches Wrrc famous a. models Miller
spent most Of his time In their ingpccticn. Zach
ranch had 9 foreman. with three sub foreman for
cattle, sheep aud farming. Every group Of ranch
es had general manager. The1 a general
superintendent 90 the sheep interests Hut no
body ever doubted that Miller was the boss Al
each ranch was a bedroom for the boss, kept In
or day lie usually travelled Ia buggy behind
a fast team, at eighty five he frequently drove
80 miles In q dhs
Mnler's well fed and we'll lodged
The superanuuh I'd were pensioued lie was lib
cral and he demanded efficiency in return lie
gave hts foreman practically a free hand; the
man who made good" could have anything within
reason Order. ueatnrss. cleanliness we're Mller's
watchwords At ranch he became interested
tn da,k ,Fv rIv-b ba. -. ge.leA
visit he asked for them. The rats &c, EN-" said
the foreman. Rats are sign Of decay" re-
marked Miller Shortly afterward that foreman
was looking FOR BIB.
Charles Lux died in 1857 Therrupon the husl.
ness was Incorporated Miranda Lux hIs widow.
took half Of his milliondollar estate The other
half went to four brothers and sisters Of Inx In
Germany and another brother Henry Lux ~ San
Jose Henry Lux died in 1872 leaving his nth
share to his three children. Miranda Lux left n
son by her first husband; he left widow and n
son. by and by these claimants began 10 press
Miller for an accounting and for larger dividends
The autocrattc old empire-buiider resented this
and took his battle into the courts
His only ally his sonin.law J. Leroy Nickel
who had married Nellie Sarah Miller.
Mlers FIRST move was 10 allow the California
TO lapse through nonpaymeu, Of n.
'ense fees He then reorganzed si2,0ooDO0 cor.
litigation, In 1910. he agreed 10 a fye rnIliinn-dol
ar bond issue through the Bank Of California ia
'nable him TO purchase outright all the inter
'sts Of the q heirs of Chares Lux In Germanv
md the United States. This gave Miller shso.
ute control Of all the vast property The nov,
i've years were practically n continuous battle In
he courts over boundary claims, water rights and
'ther matters
Upon the death Of Henry Miller Tn 1916 M on.
oy new struggle began. When his will rns
lied for probate 1t was found That the bulk Of the
state had been transferred to trust created I'm
al3, In which he held life interest and of which
lis daughter and her husband were trustees The
ntire estate wns estimated at $4,000 600 and
ederal and state authorities Immediately began
proceedings in an attempt 10 collect inheritance
AZ ON the full amount instead Of ON the cn,ppsra.
lively small estate set down In the WILL The fed
raj government claimed 100000 and California
laimed S3,oO0O00
The amount claimed In taxes by the feserat
government increased rapidly by penalties In
lpril of 1913 the claim was nearly sT0O00o
nat year there was decision against the estate.
he property was ordered seized and sold at auc.
on- An Injunction was granted by federal