The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1937-12-02
WHO'S NEWS
FA5& VssEEst
BY lemuel r. Parton
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
NEW YORK.-Oberlin M. Carter,
Y eighty-one years old, again APP
peals to the Supreme court in his
incessant fight of 80 years for re-
admission to the
Capt. Carter army and the
Again Seeks voiding of the
V;,d;cot;on court-martial YER
dict which sent
him to prison for fraud Powerful
influence has backed the former
captain and his friends call him
"the American Dreyfus."
The case against him, on charges
of fraud involving many millions,
was one of the notorious scandals Of
the Mckinley administration. He
had been in charge of river and har-
Dor reclamation at Savannah.
Handsome, gifted, of distin-
guished family, Captain Carter was
second in scholarship only to Robert
E. Lee in all the history of West
Point. A newspaper account of
March, 1889, reveals him at Savan-
nah just before the turn of his for
tunes:
Captain Carter was an exceed
ingly popular man in club circles
and among his numerous female &C
quaintances. He was polished in his
manner, exceedingly cordial to all
and ran toward the rapid set. He
was very fashionable dresser.
''He generally appeared in three
or four suits of clothes daily and
-. never failed to don
Cfdnged nus his evening suit
Suits Four for dinner. In the
TINE. NJ, morning he wore
his business suit,
but by lunch time he appeared in
his bicycle suit. After taking spin
about the principal streets of Sa-
vannah for a couple of hours, he
next appeared in his driving suit.
Late in the afternoon, he would ap-
pear in his riding suit.
SIN the yachting season, he was
far in the lead of other followers
of the water. He had seven distinct
ways of shaking hands"
The quick-change record, or the
Misunderstanding or something upped
him to the job of helping man the
teacups at the American embassy
in London. AS he prepared to leave
Savannah, there were routs, assem-
blies, fetes and army blow-outs to
honor him on his departure.
Seeing him off at the boat was
Commander E. Gillette, salty,
weather-beaten old sea dog. Cap
tain Carter's gush of affection en-
barrassed him. The captain insist
ed that the commander make use Of
his house.
The old commander was inclined
to suspect over-generous persons.
Commanders captains conduct
Suspicious and then went to
A. A-,us.J the Office of the
engineering corps.
On a map, he saw retaining wall
of masonry spotted up as having
been built at cost of $1,000, eco.
Then he strolled down the river,
looking for the wall It wasn't there.
He kept on exploring. He reported
to the war Office that 1000, 900 had
been spent for nothing more than
marks on paper.
THE courts awarded to Mrs. Mat
L thew Astor Wilks, daughter of
Hetty Green, the entire estate of
her brother, the late Col Edward
H. R. Green, estimated as between
$50, 900, 900 and s80,000,0 900. This, with
a similar amount inherited from her
mother, and the fortune bequeathed
by her husband, makes her, accord
ing to all current estimates, the
richest woman in the world.
She is much like her mother. Six
ty-six years old, she lives in an I'M
pretentious house on Electric hill"
in Greenwich, Conn.,, with a few
servants and ten-year-oid collie
dog named Prince-as did her moth
er in her later years. And like her
mother, she does her own market
ing, driving to town every day or
two in a small car.
The late Matthew Astor Wilks was
a great-grandson of John Jacob As
tor. When they
1efty IiUeS were married in
AdUice to 1909, in her moth
p~:Jar~,, er's fiat in Hobo
ken, Hetty Green
was quoted by the newspapers as
saying to the groom: Matthew,
you are sixty-fve years old and
you have the govt. Some day my
girl is going to have $4,000 day. I
want to be sure that she is marrying
man who will help her take care OF
her money"
She has managed nicely. If her
$160, 000,0 900 is bringing 3 per cent,
that's not $4,000 but S13, 178.10 day.
For twenty-seven years she has
lived in the house near Greenwich.
Her husband died in 1926. Her for
tune consists of many blocks of real
estate in St. Louis, Boston and New
York and railroad and other securi-
ties. She has no box at the opera,
assumes no grandeur of the reigning
dowager and lets Observation-Disclosures
per capita wealth in America-run
itself without her aid. Her partici-
patton in public affairs consists
mainly of her annual contribution to
the Greenwich Firemen's associa-
ton.
g Consolidated News Features.
WNU Service.