The Adair County news., 1921-08-02
CUBA is FREE
OF FL PoTE'
Island Republic Reioices at the
Death of its Richest Mil
Iionaire.
CRUEL power OF WEALTH
Peasant Trod Down Millions as He
Piled up Riches on Misfortunes
OF others-Lived and Died
q Brute.

Havana.-"El Pote'' is dead and all
Cuba rejoices. The peasant who be-
came a millionaire many times over
and used his wealth to WELD a cruel
power died as he had lived, haunted
and hated, a victim of his own power.
In 40 years he established a career
lurld with tragedy, dark with sordid
scheming, tremendous with both sue
cess and failure. A year ago reputed
the richest man in Cuba, he came to
miserable end at his own hands, and
| almost his last words were that the
wealth which cost him 40 years Of
unremitting toll to accumulate did not
yield him one hour of happiness.
Jose Lopez Rodrigues was.known to
virtually every one in Cuba. He was
a strange, sinister figure, and even in
death he furnishes a remarkable ex-
ample of what can be accomplished
by the constant, ruthless application of
power to single task. Ferve ell
Pote (the pot boils) was his watch
word, his motto, the rule of his sordid
life and it was from this that he came
! to be called eel Pote," the name with
which millions became familiar. For
years he thrived, at the expense Of
| others. Then the fortunes of war
| turned against him, and, fearing the
loss of all his ill-gotten gains, he COM
mitted suicide by hanging himself with
twisted sheet.
Filthy of Body.
Not more than five feet in height,
'El POte" had the powerful, thickset
frame typical of the Gallego peasant,
He wore the oldest clothes he could
find and was foul of mind and speech
and filthy of body.
Jose Lopez Rodriguez was born in
Spain and emigrated to Cuba in his
fifteenth year, fleeing from the hard
| conditions of the Gallego peasant life.
In Havana for a while he worked with
| pick and shovel, but as soon as he
could he abandoned such hard manual
labor to work for an old secondhand
book dealer, peddling the books from
| house to house. One morning his aged
employer was found dead in his bed
and young Lopez Rodrigues, who slept
on the premises, was arrested on sus-
picion of murder, but after spending
some time in prison he was released
for lack of sufficient evidence to in
! 1ict
The widow of the murdered book
~eller continued the business and
| Lopez Rodriguez, after his release
from prison returned to his old en-
ployment. One morning the widow
was found hanging in her room, but,
no evidence being found to confirm
a suspicion that there had been foul
| play, verdict of suicide was returned.
By the time the young employee had
saved up some money and he bought
the business.
Piles Dollar on Dollar.
Living upon almost nothing and
working tirelessly, he steadily in
creased his trade and piled one dollar
on another until with the passage of
the years his fortune grew to re-
spectacle dimensions.
When, after the wealth Of Cubans
had been drained by three years Of
revolution and embargo, the American
fleet blockaded Havana in 1898, Gel
Pote"-fOr by that time he had come
universally to be known by his sobri-
quet-was able to acquire for cash
large properties for 1.-THE of their
value, and" when the Cuban republic
was set up he was a rich man among
men who had been ruined. The latter
were compelled to go to him for cash
which he alone was able to lend. And
soft came to pass that many of those
to whom the government of the young
republic was entrusted were his
debtors-which he never allowed them
to forget.
He secured a monopoly on all Cuban
printing, for which scandal scores
went to Jail. Then he got control of
one of the biggest banks and wrecked
that. borrowing" no less than SILL
100000 without security of any kind
He loaned millions, but always de-
manded from 30 to 100 per cent in
terest.
1t is believed that after the pay,
ment of all debts the estate of Jose
Lopez Rodriguez will be worth some
where around 100000, proving that
it was not the fear of penury that
drove him to end his life in the
fashion by which his employer 4C
years ago had died and which had
marked the beginning of his own pros
perity.