The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent., 1922-10-27

Many and many a wealthy man
has concealed for years from public
knowledge the existence of home
maintained by himself, presided over
by a beautiful woman, blessed with
happy children. The celebrated cases
of the sort are too we'll known to
newspaper readers to need recalling.
The story of a millionaire who is one
day found out" to have an apart
ment uptown, an estate in the coun-
try or even a yacht where he sup
ports a lady of his choice and the
resulting children is a very old story
so we'll known that when q new
one bursts out in print people merely
shrug and say:
Another one"
Alexander Mckenzie, erstwhile re-
publican boss of North Dakota, had
a secret somewhat of this kind and
kept it secret for 80 years. But
McKenzie's secret was different from
the others. What he concealed was
not mesalliance, a mistress, a
common law marriage" or a union
in any way illegal. 1t consisted of
q marriage, a home and a family
which were, so far as the record
shows, in every way legal--a legiti-
mate ''love nest" so to speak, re-
garding which he manifested the
greatest tenderness and pride ex-
cept in North Dakota.
The stage was all set for full
public revelation of Mckenzie's Sc
cret, the New York World reports,
but it seems likely now that the cur
tain will not rise after all and that
there will be no further disclosures
nor any explanations.
A suit to break McKenzie's will
which disposes of his 100000 es-
tate was scheduled for trial in St.
Paul, Mimi, in the October court
term. Then, it was expected, his
reasons for concealing for 80 years
from his closest associates in the
northwest that he had wife and
three children at No. 721 Palisades
avenue, Yonkers, would be mads
known.
Settle Out of Court
But the mystery probably will re-
main as deep as ever. According to
Alexander Mckenzie Jr. of 0. 80 st.
Andrews place, Yonkers, one of the
principal contestants of the will, the
trial will not be held. He said that
the case will probably be settled out
of court.
The principal beneficiaries of the
will were McKenzie's children by his
first wife, Mrs. Anna c. Mckenzie
Mcdonald and Mrs. Mary B. McKen-
zie-Foster, wife of the assistant man
ager of the Canadian Pacific railway
system, both of Montreal. To them
no 10 70 hIy1l of ho fofa hn
contestants are Miss Jeanette Nc
2S, and Thomas O. Mckenzie, 81, all
of Yonkers, offspring of Mckenzie's
second marriage. Them he cut off
with $4,000 each. The Mckenzie
children of Yonkers are represented
in the suit by Ambrose Tighe of St.
Paul.
Mckenzie died last June His will,
filed in St. Paul, by it's bequests to
his second wife, who died a month
before he died, and her children, was
the first authentic record of the ex-
istence of his family in the east. AL
though as a prominent politician Nc
kenzie had many friends, many of
whom thought they were deep in his
confidence, no intimation of his Sec
ond marriage and his family reached
them until after McKenzie's death
Funeral. Then Facts
The first knowledge of the fact
was received the day after his funeral
when Judge Flannery, an intimate
friend for many years, looked over
McKenzie's personal belongings. He
found a telegram and letters tucked
away in the inside pocket of the
coat that Mckenzie wore when he
went to the hospital where he died
Judge Flannery was dumbfounded