Carbon County news., 1937-11-26

W o'S n Ws
THIS WEEK..
By Lemuel r. Parton
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

| NEW YORK.-Oberlin M. Carter,
~ eighty-one years old, again ap
peals to the Supreme court in his
incessant fight Of 80 years for re
Capt. Carter aprm1SS'0n apnnv and 70 ths f1t
Again Seeks voiding of the
VindicatiOn court-martial yer
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 a 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 ac-
quaintances. He was polished in his
manner, exceedingly cordial to all
and ran toward the rapid set. He
was a very fashionable dresser.
"He generally appeared in three
or four suits of clothes daily and
Changed His his his evening ve ~ suit
Suits Four for dinner. In the
Times a Day morning ne woIe i.
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.
''In 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
hand-shaking 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, a 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.
~J, He pondered the
Commanders captains conduct
Suspicious and then went to
A~o Arouco1 the Office of the
engineering corps.
On map, he saw a retaining wall
of masonry spotted up as having
been built at a cost Of $1,000, 900.
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 $1,000, 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, ,OOO, 900 and $50, 900, 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 few
servants and ten-year-old 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
Hetty OIVeS were married in
Advice to 1902 in her moth
D.J er'S fat in Hobo
ken, Hetty Green
was quoted by the newspapers as
saying to the groom: Matthew,
you are sixty-five years old and you
have the gout. Some day my girl is
going to have $4,000 day. ] want to
be sure that she is marrying a man
who will help her take care of her
She has managed nicely. If her
S160, 1000, 600 is bringing 3 per cent,
that's not $4,000 but $13, ,178.1O day. |
For twenty-seven years she has
lived in the house near Greenwich.
Her husband died in 1925. Her for !
tune consists of many blocks Of real
estate in st. Louis, Boston and New |