The Atlanta daily herald. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1872-1876, September 14, 1873, Image 9

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An American Tichborne. A CASE IK WHICH SOME OF THE MOST PROMINENT MEN IN PENNSYLVANIA ARE INTEREST ED—THE WONDERFUL ADVEN TURES OF A CLAIMANT TO $40,000,000. A Manch Chuuk letter tells the following remarkable story: There is now pending in ihe State courts of Pennsylvania one of the most important law suits on record. It was instituted by Mr. O. H. Wheeler, a lawyer of this place. It is for the recovery of 4,000 acres ot valuable coal lands in Luzerne county, Pa., said to bo worth $40,000,000. The hietory of the proprietorship ot the land is full of romance. Some forty years ago there died in a hos pital in Philadelphia a man named James Turnbull. He had been a man of means, and was one of the first to invest in land in this region when the discovery of anthracite coal was tardily followed by mine developments. He purchased the tract of 4,000 acres in Lu zerne county. Bad speculations subsequently led him into dissipation, and he died as stated, declaring that he still had a title to the coal land in Luzerne, although others claimed it by virtue of tax purchase. A short time before his death his wife was divorced from him, and given charge of their only child, a son, also named James. He lived with his mother in Philadelphia about ten years after his father's death; then, at the age of sir teen, went to sea. In 1852 the divorced widow, being in desti tute circumstances, and believing that her sen, if living—for she had not beard ot him for years—was the real owner of the coal lands in Luzerne coanty, which her late hus- brtitd bad neglected, came to Manch Chunk and called on Mr. O. H. Wheeler. He had formerly beeu a tnend of her husband's the two Laving bad years before real estate transactions together. To hitu she stated the cased the ownership of the land, and exhib ited certain papers .n Lei possession that once belonged to Turnbull. Wheeler t xitiuiucd the paper and searched the record. The result convinced him that young Turnbull had. through his father, a perfect title to the property. He at once set about to find, if possible, the whereabouts of the wandering heir. Advertisements were in serted in the journals of all countries, in all languages. Letters were written to every point where it was at all probable that James might be, but without avail. Not a word could be obtained that gave any clue to his whereabouts. The laud meantime had fallen into the bands of Asa Packer, the Pardees, and other famous and powerful capitalists, who still hold them. THE SON HEARD FROM. One day, in the fall of 1871, James Turn- bull's mother received a letter posted in the city of Mexico. It proved to be from her son. He whs living in Mazatlan, on the west ern coast of Mexico, and wonld, in all proba bility, be home in another year. Thus, after a ceaseless effort of twenty years, the lawyer and the mother were At last rewarded with news of the lost son. Mr. Wheeler employed a man to go at once to Mazatlftn and bring James to America. This was done, and about a year ago Turn- bull landed in Philadelphia. His career has been one of petil, hardship, and udventure. The vessel he left Philadel phia in was shipwrecked, and he and eight others of the crew were the ooly ones saved. When the boat which they succeeded in launching was picked np near the Island of St. Thomas, after boating nine days on the ocean, Turnbull was the only living occu pant. He was laid up three months m St. Thomas before he recovered from the effects of the fearful voyage after the wreck, and then embarked ou a British trader. Subse quently he went to Central America. He worked on the Isthmns of Panama until the stories of the discovery of gold in California reached that section, when with hundreds of others, he hastened to the spot. He was a Forty-niner, and made several for tunes, w hich in turn he lost at the gaming table. He tired of the reckless, lawless life of the mines in two years, aod went to Mexi co, and subsequently to Texas, where he mude money in capturing cattle for speculators in New York and Philadelphia. On the way to Mazatlan he w as blown up by the explosion of the steamer he was ou. Hundreds perished, but he was again providentially saved, lie finally leached Mazatlan, where be went to work on a canal that was being dug. He was placed over a gang of natives, and kept a ranch i where they obtained their supplies. This was ! broken open several times and robbed. One night he was attacked by a party of Mexican soldiers, and left for dead with twelve dag- i ger wounds in bis person. Recovering from these, he again became a wanderer. He spent a year among the silver mines of Pern, getting possession ot a piece ot land said to contain silver deposits. Fail ing to find them, he disposed of the property for a song. In less than a month a rich vein of silver was opened upon it. He then went to Chile and worked under Harry Meiggs, the great South American railroad prince. By a sub-contract under Meiggs he made several thousand dollars, and bad he possessed a less roving dispoaitien could have remained in Chile and accumulated a handsome fortune. Completing his contract, he weDt to Brazil nnd endeavored to get himself appointed as an overseer in the diamond mines, and failed. After roving through South America for sev eral years, leading a life of the wildest ad venture, he again visited the western shore of Mexico, and then determined to return home. He wrote his mother, not knowing whether she was dead or alive. When the agent arrived from America, Turnbull had changed his mind as to retnrn- j ing home, and would eoon have been on bis way to the diamond field of South Africa. To cap the climax of his eventful life, the boat which was conveying him to the steamer which was to bear him to Philadelphia cap sized, and barely escaped with his life, losing many valuables. THE SUIT. Upon the arrival of Turnbull in this i country arrangements were at once pelected lor commencing the proceedings. The funds for conducting the suit are furnished by a 1 stock company at a venture. If it is sucess- ! iul the members will be richly rewarded; if not, they lose all. Some of the most prominent men in Penn sylvania are interested in the case, and it will be prosecuted to the fullest extent. Eminent lawyers have been engaged on both sides. It came np at the last session of the United States District Court, at Williamsport, bat was post poned on application of the defendants, as Judge Woodward, W. H. Armstrong, Esq,, and others of their counsel were members of the Constitutional Convention and could not be present A London letter to the Tribune says that Mr. Motley’s convalescence continues to show none but favorable symptoms. He returned to London, this week, from bis visit to Mr. Levenson-Gower, who left nothing nndone to make his guest’s stay delightful. Lord and Lady Granville were of the party. When Mr. Motley quitted town, he was still so weak that he had to bo carried down stairs to bis car riage. When I saw him Ibis afternoon at bis hotel, be was just in from a walk, and bad been driving in the morning boride. Ho it is pretty clear be is going on well. To-mor row be goes to Naworth Castle, in Cumber land, on a visit to Mr. Howard, a brother of Earl Carlisle, his family accompanying him. His physician says be may make the Journey, which is some seven hours by rail, without risk, and the railway authorities, with much politeness, have placed a saloon carriage at £i* disposal. From Naworth Castle Mr. Mot ley will go to Scotland, visiting Sir William Stirling Maxwell, at Keir, and perhaps ac cepting some other invitations. At&BFffYLY WHOLESALE Grocers aod Commission Merckiils, CORNER PRYOR AND DECATUR STREETS. THANKFUL for the Liberal Support Extended them by the Retail Dealers of Georgia, for the PAST FOURTEEN YEARS, take this method of assur ing their friends that they are better prepared to serve them and help them make money now than at any period in the past. Seeing is Believing- MARK JOHNSON, DEALER IJST Agricultural Implements. Guano, Seeds, Machinery, Live Stock, ALSO, Breech Loading Double-Barrel Shot Guns, Single and Double-Barrel Muzzle Loading Shot Guns’ Rifles, Pistols, Ammunition of all kinds, Paper and Metallic Shells, Game Bags, Flasks, Pouches, Belts, i Powder, Hhot and Caps, Wads, and the CELEBRATED GYRO PIGEON AND TRAP FOR SHOOTING CLUBS. Liberal Discounts to Dealers. The Most Reliable Brands of Fertilizers Now Ready For Delivery. Woodruff <2t Johnson, asnsw g.ajr,i?.:la.gkej REFOsiTORir, EVERY STYLE OF CARRIAGES, BUGGIES, AND WAGONS NOW ARRIVING AND IN STORE, AT Mark W. Johnson’s Agricultural Building, CORNER ALABAMA AND FORSYTH STREETS, .... ATLANTA. AMD ENCYCLOPEDIA. A complete Directory and Book of Reference for the use of Farmers, Mer chants, Manufacturers, Professional and Business Men generally. COME ANI) SEE. A. C. & B. F. Wyly, W. F. PECK <& CO.. WHOLESALE DEALERS IN Dry G-oo&s and Notions, Kimball House, Dccater Street, ATLANTA, GA. H ave the following goods for sale, which were bought early and at ex- tr mely low prices: 500 Pieces ('assimeremx! Jeans, 1,000 Ladies’ and Gent’s Shawls, 200 Pieces Flannel, 200 Pieces Linsey 500 Dozen Corsets, ONE THOUSAND CLOAKS AT LESS THAN NEW YORK PRICES, And everything that Is kept in a wholesale Dry Goods House. Call and Examine before you buy. W. F. PECK & CO, The Most Valuable and Practical Work ever Published in The South. 6. Cm Rogers, IVt^INTUTiFU^OTTUiEUElIFt. OF 1 SADDLES and HARNESS And Dealer in Saddle Hardware, Carriages, Buggies, the celebrated MILBURX CONCORD IRON AXLE WAGONS and Carts, Baby Carriages, Rocking Horses, Doll Carriages, Children Carts and Wagons, Goat Wagons, Velocipedes, Whips. Buggy Umbrellas, etc. «. onnnns phomptly piliiEd. ** 14 Decatur street and 15 Line street, Atlanta Ga., opposite the II. I. Kimball House. The Georgia Gazetteer and Encyclopedia of Knowledge useful to every Farmer, Merchant, Manufactu rer, Professional and Business Man in the State, compiled by JAMES P. HARRISON, will be published on or about JANUARY i, 1874, by the Franklin Steam Printing House, Atlanta, Ga. Determined to supply a want long felt in business circles, the Compiler and Publishers have completed arrangements by which a work will be offered to the public equal, and in many respects superior, to any pub lication of the kind ever brought out in the United States. The work will probably be the largest ever issued from the Southern Press, and will be made up in the finest style of the Typographic Art. THE FIRST EDITION .WILL COMPRISE TEN THOUSAND COPIES! The work will be illustrated with views of Public Buildings, and other points of general interest in the State. It will also contain MAPS OF THE CHIEF CITIES OE GEORGIA. Among the leading features of this great and unique work will be a complete BUSINESS DIRECTORY of every city, town and village in the State; giving the names and kind of business of every business and professional man in each of them, alphabetically arranged; also, the name cf Every Parmer in Georgia, with such information as will contribute toward a correct estimate of the financial standing of every tarmer, compiled from Official Sources. The work will also give the name and office of every public officer and functionary in the State; a list of charitable institutions, Masonic, Odd Fellow, Temperance and other Lodges and Societies, with the names of their officers; also, a list of Churches, Schools, etc., throughout the State; also, interesting tables from the most reliable sources of the condition of our State Finances, and its transac tions; also, a valuable history of the material wealth and resources of the State; its railways, chief manufactures, and internal improvements completed, in progress, or contemplated. It will also contain a census of the State, arranged by counties, with the value of Agricultural, Mining and Industrial products of each county; also, a complete list of Post Offices, Internal Revenue Offices, etc., etc.; also, an accurate TRAVELERS’ GUIDE, with such other Statistical, Historical and General information as will make it unsurpassed as an INVALUABLE BOOK OF 1 BEFERENCEI This work will be the iiest advertising medium ever offered to the Commercial World, and a copy of it should be kept in every counting-room in the Southern States, and find a place in every library. Our Agents arc now canvassing Georgia and the adjoining States. We bespeak for them the favorable consideration of the public, and unlimited patronage for the great and invaluable Southern work they represent. RATES OF ADVERTISING: THE OLD RELIABLE OLD NO. 50 Whitehall Street, NEW NO. 47, Atlanta, Georgia, ONE PAGE, HALF PAGE. QUARTER PAGTd, CARD, with Copy of tlie Work, SUBSCRIPTION PRICE, per copy. Judge T. O. JACOB, General Agent. $60 -40 10 5 OO OO OO OO OO P. O. Drawer 24, ATLANTA, GA. upline to Act of Congress In the Office of Librarian, at Washington, D. C., August 16, 1873. J. M. WILLIS. BELL & WILLIS, S53& I.AVSRE P TWENTY-THREE YEARS! IN THE JEWELRY BUSINESS! IN ATLANTA! Has withstood every storm, and is still unscathed. WHOLBBALB 3DIE3ALLIE2 IN American Watches and Clocks, AND Watchmakers' Tools and Materials. SOLE AQENT FOR THE CELEBRATED WILSON’S ARUNDEL PEBBLE SPECTACLES. Call and examine them aud send for circulars. I can aril Ibe-te ^oods to merchants upon as favorable terms as they con bo purchased ;d the Northern markets. ER LAWSBE. Sept U PLANING MILL AND LIMBER YARD, OFFICE AMD FACTORY NO. 336 MARIETTA STREET, ATLANTA, GEORGIA. Chas. Bohnefeld, Residence for Sale. XjV)UR LA HOE, ELEGANTLY FINISHED ROOMS, B*th room. Store room and Fan try, 3-room Kitchen, lathfd and plastered, Urge front yard, choice shrub bery aud abade tree*, all on a large, beautiful lot 100 by *J*J( set, In a most excellent neighborhood, and Just : at thv *erminn# of ona of the Street Car lines. Im- UNDERTAKER AND DEALER IN METALLIC ! n <> U Estate Agents, No. 9 Alabama at. B URIAL CASES. 0A8KKT8, AND COFFINS OF all sixes and descriptions. Also agent for Taylor's Corpse preserver. No. 1 D.tUVK’B OPKRA IIOI SK. MARIETTA STREET ATI* THE "VICTOR 8«>uth for the Victor Sewing Machine. The •• Victor*' will sell on lie merits, and requires io ••puffing." For terms, address aug.l tt K. J. WILES Atlanta. Qa. PEASE AND HIS WIFE, FASHIONABLE RESTAURANT! ALABAMA STREET, STILL ALIVE AND HAPPY. CALL AND SEE US. Harrison Bradford & Co’s STEEL PENS. fipaoial attention called to the wall known numbers, 76—k tt. FACTORY, MT. VCItNM; OFFICI, 75 JOUR ST., R. Y angtusas ATLANTA PAPER H1LU. IBook sad News, JAMES ORMOND, Proprietor.