Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 21, Number 97, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 August 1900 — FORTUNE IS A MYTH. [ARTICLE]

FORTUNE IS A MYTH.

KANSAS CLERGYMAN DUPED BY ENGLISH SHARPS. Called to Liverpool to Secure Riches, He Wa« Drugged, Robbed and Sent Home—Miner Refuses to Die After Funeral Expenses Have Been Paid. S. J. Osborn, Speaker of the last Kansas House of Representatives, has returned from England, where he was sent by the trustees of the Wesleyan University to investigate the inheritance of Rev. T. H. James of Salina, Kan., and to find Mr. James himself. Mr. James returned to Kansas two days after Judge Osborn sailed from New York, after having been unheard of for a month. Judge Osborn believes Mr. James has been made the dupe of English attorneys who wanted to get a fee from him. “I could find no trace of any fortune for the James family.” Judge Osborn said. “I found the place in Liverpool where he boarded, and from the description of his condition by the woman who kept the boarding house I believe he had been drugged. She said -he seemed drowsy all the time. Two different men called to see him. One was his brother, but the other was some one else. It is my theory that the other man had something to do with Mr. James’ illness. I believe "he was drugged and what money he had was-takenjfrom him.” Rev. Mr. James assured himself that wealth was coming to him and announced gifts to several colleges, among them the Kansas Wesleyan College. After months of wandering he returned to his home in Kansas ill and unable to recall the de tails of his trip.. .He is still seriously ill.

HEADS OFF THE UNDERTAKER. Patient Begins to Recover After Funeral Expenses Have Been Paid. To be accounted as good as dead and have his Tuneral expenses paid in advance was the experience of Harry Ballard, a passenger on the steamer St. Paul from Nome. Ballard was put on the St. Paul from a lighter at Nome in the last stages of inflammatory rheumatism, and his friends provided hjm with a trained nurse. They also paid the money necessary for embalming the remains and for the funeral expenses in San Francisco, and gave directions to send the remains to Ballard’s mother. But Ballard would not die. He began to improve, and when the St. Paul reached the California coast Ballard was not only taking nourishment, but calling for more. He will be able to save his funeral expenses. Juvenile Train Wreckers. Arthur Taylor and George Featherstone, each about 9 years of age, are under arrest at Victor, Colo., charged with causing the wreck of the Midland Terminal passenger train half a mile east of Independence, and trying to wreck the Florence and Cripple Creek train from Bull Hill in the yards at Independence. They were detected and captured while making the second attempt at trainwrecking.

Held Up by Three Wheelmen. A fatgl hold-up is reported from Greensburg, Pa. As a party of Slavs were returning to their homes after being paid off at the mines at Pleasant Unity they were met by three men on bicycles, who ordered them to hand over their money. A general fight followed, in which one of the Slavs was killed. Each of the Slavs was robbed of $33 and the highwaymen escaped on their wheels. Bis Loss Caused by Hail. Near St. Thomas a severe hail storm destroyed 40,000 acres of the finest grain grown in North Dakota this year, even that cut and shocked being destroyed. The storm was two miles wide and twen-ty-four miles long, and many of the hail stones were from three to four inches in diameter. The loss will be over 200,000 bushels. Wears Overalls in Pnlpit. Rev. Mr. Conant, pastor of the Reformed Church at Lodi, N. J., astonished his congregation By mounting the pulpit in a pair of blue overalls a foot too short for him and wearing the coat of a small boy. A thief during the night had broken into his house and taken his clothes, his watch aad s7l in cash. Weds a Fiancee of Long Ago. Fifty years ago J. L. Wilkinson of Tannery, Pa., quarreled with the girl he loved and went west. A few years ago he returned, white haired, wrinkled and 81 years old, and the other day he and his old sweetheart were married in Wilkesborre.

River Yields a Mystery. The dismembered body of Joseph Schaeffer, farmer, who lived near the line between Baltimore and Howard counties, has been found in the Patapsco River, near Woodstock, Md., and the police are confident that murder has been done. n Buffalo Elevator Burns. The Dakota Elevator in Buffalo was burned, entailing a loss approximating $500,000. The fire started in the machinery loft, and within fifteen minutes the cupola was a mass of flames working its way downward. Queen of the Ocean. The Hamburg-American Line steamer Deutschland made a new record for the eastward passage, and the fastest time ever attained by' any ocean steamerfive days eleven hours and-forty-five minutes. Exposition for Seattle. Seattle is to hold an international exposition in 1904 in celebration of-.the 100th anniversary of the formal taking possession of the Pacific northwest by the noted explorers, Lewis and Clarke. “Barley King’’ Goes to the Wall. Henry J. O’Neill, “the barley king,” filed a petition in bankruptcy in the United States District Court in Chicago. His liabilities are stated at nearly $500,000, while his assets are only $5,000. Fatal Boiler Explosion. John Koenig was killed, Mrs. E. Schweitzer badly burned and seven other persons were injured in n boiler explosion at the works of the Carbolineum Wood Preserving Company in New Orleans. Severe Floods in Japan. Severe floods have occurred in Japan, and it is re[x>rted that 200 persons have been drowned. Railway traffic was interrupted-