Newspaper Page Text
Jvimped
Into Fame
The death of Steve Brodie, which oc
curred a few days ago at San Antonio,
Texas, removed a character whose ca
reer was most picturesque. A product
of the slums of New York, Brodie
achieved both fame and fortune, not
by the route of genius but by the way
of gravity. His jump from the Brook
lyn bridge made his name.
Brodie's first industry was the sell
ing of newspapers, and among the
newsboys of New York, that remark
able army of ants, prematurely old,
and wise beyond their years in self
preservation and independence, he
grew calloused to hard knocks and pri
vations. Ho varied the monotony of
STEVE BRODIE.
his newspaper peddiing by jumping
from the dizzy heights of boats moored
at the New York docks, thereby un
consciously preparing himself for the
event that was to transform his life.
In 1879 Brodle joined in the craze for
long-distance walking and was so suc
cessful in the matches that in three
years he had saved SH,OOO, whereupon
he married the daughter of a confeder
ate colonel. He built and sublet boot
black stands and later became a street
car conductor. Even in this most pro
*aic of industries he found opportunity
to save two negro children from a
fire along his route. When he was only
15 he saved a girl from drowning in
the ice-choked East river. He then
Joined the New York Life Saving
Corps and soon afterward rescued
three persons from drowning. At the
world’s fair he saved a chorus girl
from drowning and found it necessary
to present this last flotsam with what
Croker’s English Home
‘nr ] .r
.lilr Jj^iteAi^j
In the little village of Letcombe,
near Wantage, Berkshire county, Eng.,
stands the Moat House, the home of
Richard Croker, boss of Tammany
hall. The house stands on a site said
to have been occupied by a royal hunt
ing lodge as far back as the reign of
King John; but all traces of an
tiquity, except the moat that sur
rounds it, have vanished. Since Mr.
Croker took possession of the place
five or six years ago he has consider
ably enlarged it, by additions in the
rear and also by restoring the towers.
The interior of the house is decorated
in excellent taste. The dining room is
panelled with oak, while in the draw
ing room is an electric piano, which
can at any time be switched on from
AS SOME GERMANS SEE US.
Remarkable Extracts Concerning Ameri
cans from a Leading Paper.
The following extracts from so
prominent a German newspaper as the
Munich Neueste Nachrichten will as
tound the average American. In a re
cent number it said:
"In large national or rebel wars,
like the campaign against Cuba and
Manila, the same thing (peculation)
happens in the inspection of regiments.
The colonel receives every week the
money to pay his men. His regiment
numbers perhaps 480 combatants, but
he borrows 300 or 400 from a neighbor
ing regiment, dresses them in the uni
form of his own regiment, made ready
beforehand, and —there! the regiment
has a strength of 700 to DUO men! The
colonel naturally puts the balance of
the money in his pocket, and when the
time comes for the neighboring regi
ment to be inspected, he helps his
brother colonel by a. loan of men in the
same way. So when it apears, by
American statistics, that perhaps 50,000
men take part in the campaign, there
are really but 30,000. Many colonels
and generals became enormously rich
Steve Brodie Was
a Product of
the Slums
the poet has called “two lovely black
eyes,” before he could persuade her
not to cling to him and drag them both
down.
But everything was not smooth sail
ing for Brodie. He lost money on the
race tracks and in 1884, on election
bets, lost the last of the $6,000 he had
made In his walking matches. In 1886,
when reduced to extremeties, he deter
mined to recoup his fortunes by a
plunge from the Brooklyn bridge. This
he accomplished, and fame and fortune
came to him at his beck. He was fair
ly fought for by managers of museums,
and finally consented to display his
charms for $250 a week in a Coney Is
land galaxy of living skeletons and
bearded ladies. Thence he moved to
most of the larger cities, earning as
much as SI,OOO a week in Boston, that
home of culture. After a short dra
matic career in two plays wherein he
displayed only such histrionic promise
as can be expressed iu a leap from a
high tower, he traveled the country as
a bridge-jumper. One leap of 100 feet
he made every day for a week, for an
equal number of dollars.
Brodie then opened a saloon on the
Bowery, where he prospered. But the
spirit of adventure was In him. He
took time to break several records as a
long-distance swimmer and also three
of his ribs In jumping from the Pough
keepsie bridge, a distance of 212 feet.
He also married again, his first wife
having died. To his many activities
he added that of a newspaper corres
pondent and made a tour of Europe,
sending home his impressions, which
were turned into the purest Bowery
ese and published in a New York pa
per.
Brodie had an intensely human side
to his nature. During the hard winter
of 1893 he made midnight distributions
of bread, sausages and coffee to the
homeless wretches of New York’s sub
merged classes. He buried many a
friendless pauper and in a multiplic
ity of ways put into effect the warm
sympathy of his Irish heart.
Some time ago Brodie sold Ills sa
loon in New York anfl went to Buffalo,
where he opened a place similar to the
one he had conducted in the metropo
lis. But poor health forced him to give
it up and he went to Texas, where
consumption at last laid hold of him.
Brodie’s fortune is estimated at
$200,000. He owns property in Brook
lyn and Harlem, which will grow more
valuable with the years and which
may furnish the basis for a rival house
to that of the Astors.
Mr. Croker’s bed room, so that if sleep
refuses to be wooed by him he can
soothe his feelings by the strains of
music.
Mr. Crokers’ life is that of the
wealthy middle class English gentle
man. He forms no acquaintances and
pays no visits. Every Sunday, when
at Letcombe, he drives to Hendred, six
miles distant, to attend mass. He is
said to be generous to all local chari
ties and he never discusses politics,
either British or American.
He mantains magnificent stables at
the Moat House, and not far distant
is his stud farm. He has an extraordi
nary love for animals and owns some
of the most famous dogs in the world.
in the recent campaigns by this
means.”
In regard to fires In America: “The
losses arising from these conflagrations
are incomprehensible in European
eyes. Aside from the llimsiness cf
American construction, which is an
open fact, there must be some question
of the fire fighting service. We should
think that in America, at least in the
larger cities, they would find it in the
end economical to adopt our German
system; namely, to supplement the
volunteer fire companies with a regular
paid force, at least in the proportion
of half and half. The cost is not great,
and the morale of the service is much
improved.”
About the American girl: “She is
permitted to do just as she pleases,
with no restraint whatever. Not al
ways, but we might say usually, she
picks out the man she desires to marry,
proposes to him, and marries him
without informing her parents until
after the deed is done. Often, when
the man of her choice is a negro (there
is a strong prejudice against negroes
in the northern states especially) the
father organizes a body of men from
among his friends and neighbors, and
'the negro husband is lynched.”
THE WEEKLY NEWS, CARTERSVILLE, OA.
AMAZING PREDICTION
BY ONE WHO WATCHES SIGNS
OF TIMES.
ruhop Thobtirn Say the United Ftate*.
Utrinunr and England Are to Be the
World Poweri of the future —The
World's Progress.
An address delivered in Chicago a
few days ago by Bishop James M.
Thorburn, of the Methodist Episcopal
church, who has for years been at tho
head of that church in India, has at
tracted considerable attention and
aroused much discussion in religious
and other circles. The bishop rules the
destinies of thousands of Methodists in
southern Asia. His acquaintance with
European and Asiatic politics is thor
ough and far-reaching and this gives
weight to his momentous statements.
The pjrelate predicted that astonishing
changes in the map of the world were
impending. New empires, he said,
would arise, and there would be such
alterations of old lines that the geog-
BISHOP JANIES M. THOBURN.
raphies of today will be laughed at a
few years hence. Germany, England,
and the United States are to be the
great world powers.
The VS oriel's Progress.
“During the 40 years that I have
been in India many things have hap
pened,” said the bishop. “The world
has progressed and the serfs have been
emancipated, Italy set free, Douis Na
poleon and hi: system overthrown,
Germany consolidated, and, what is
unobserved by most people, anew na
tion has arisen in the world —Austra-
lia. In Asia the church has advanced
the cross and tho crescent has retreated
and there are now thousands of Chris
tian converts who were once Moham
medans. I thank God eveTy time I
hear of Russia annexing more of Asia.
But there is anew power entering
Asia, and hardly anybody seems to no
tice it. Many significant things will
result from what has just passed be
tween Emperor William and his uncle,
Edward VII. of England. Beforo
many years the old Austrian emperor
will die. The old second-rate empire
will then fall to pieces, and what will
be more natural than that Germany
should possess the part of it which
now borders on the Adriatic? The
German empire will then be continu
ous from the North Sea to the Mediter
ranean. Germauy has already built
railroads in Asia Minor between the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers European
governments do not build railroads
unless they intend to secure possession.
Urea*. Empire* of the Future.
“The time of great empires is com
ing. There will be the United States of
North America and the United States
of South America. There will be the
United States of Europe, the Russian
Republic, the empire of China, the em
pire of the Indies, the German empire,
and, last of all, a mighty republic in
the island of Australia.
"When peace is restored the Chinese
will embrace Christianity as no nation
ever did before. The millions in that
walled empire will pour out into Bor
neo, Africa and perhaps South Amer
ica. They will not bother the United
States, for the Chinese like tropical
climates. Iu Borneo, with its 200,000
square miles of land and only 1,500,000
inhabitants, there will be ample room.
The population of that island is also
kept down by the custom of compell
ing each man before being eligible for
marriage to kill some person and se
cure a polished skull for his bride’s
parlor ornament.”
Edgar Saltus, the great journalist
who has circled the globe many times,
and who is an authority on political
conditions in every country, laughs at
Bishop Thoburn’s prophesy. He says:
“The bishop is a great man from a re
ligious point of view, but he is out of
his element when he talks world pol
itics. His prejudice will not permit
him to see that Russia will within the
next fifty years absorb all of Europe,
Asia and Africa, and that Great Brit
ain, Germany and France will become
parts of the dominions of the Musco
vites. So far as his references to this
side of the world and to Australia are
concerned he is correct. Australia will
become the British empire of the fu
ture, while Albion, Erin, Scotia and
Cambria will settle down to Russian
vassalage.”
King Edward Vll’g Groat Empire.
Exclusive of Egypt, the area of King
Edward’s empire is 11,773,000 square
miles, including Egypt, about 13,000,-
000 square miles, or much over one
fourth of the land of the globe. The
wealth of the United Kingdom alone,
apart from that of India. Australia,
Canada and other possessions, is about
$60,000,000,000, or second only to that
of the United States. The population
of the empire aggregates some 400,000,-
000, being comparable with that of the
empire of China.
TWO PUGNACIOUS JUDGES.
Adjourned Coart to Settle a Controversy
with Their FiK
Recent dispatches contained an ac
count of a sensational occurrence in
the district court at Watertown, S. D.
In the trial of a divorce case one of
the attorneys, George W. Case, said
r-omething offensive to Judge Julian
Bennett, who sat on the bench. There
upon Judge Bennett responded hotiy
and Mr. Case said: “Judge Bennett,
you can address me in that manner
from the bench, but were not court in
session I would not. tolerate such a
statement from you.” Springing to his
feet, Judge Bennett exclaimed: “This
court is adjourned!” and with that
knocked Mr. Case down with a blow in
the face.
And the story is doubly interesting
as showing how history will repeat it
self, though we regard the Kansas in
cident which we are about to relate
as the funnier of the two. In 1868, the
famous Judge Joyce was a justice of
the peace in Hays City, and, as the
only judicial officer in the region, ad
ministered the law with an autocratic
hand. In the town there were two law
yers, only one of whom has to do with
this story. His name was Ryan, and
some months before he and Judge
Joyce had quarreled, with the result
of Ryan being disbarred from practice
on the ground that he had been a Con
federate soldier whose disabilities had
never been removed. Of course the
fact of Ryan’s being a Confederate sol
dier was not cause for his disbarment,
and, anyway, Joyce had no right to
disbar him, but everything went in
the west in those days, and for some
months Ryan had to stay out of court.
However, after Joyce had consider:d
his enemy sufficiently punished he sent
word to him that he could come into
court. The next case which came up
for trial was against a fellow who had
stolen a cow, and he engaged Ryan to
defend him. In due course the prose
cution made its case a good one, by the
way, but while the witnesses were be
ing examined Ryan sat with his hat
pulled down over his eyes, saying
never a word. At last, when the guilt
of the prisoner had been established
beyond all doubt, the prosecution
rested, and, turning to Ryan, Judge
Joyce said:
“The defense can now take the
stand.”
“What the h—l’s the use? A man
can’t get justice in this court,” re
sponded Ryan.
“Misther Constable, adjoorn the
court!” shouted Joyce, springing to hia
feet. “Come outside, ye monkey
faced hellion, an’ I’ll give ye justice!”
And whereupon everybody ad
journed to the outside, where Joyce
and Ryan went at it hammer and
tongs, with the result that Joyce re
ceived a beautiful licking. Later, when
the blood had been washed off and
considerable red liquor washed down,
Joyce reconvened the court and sol
emnly gave judgment for the defend
ant.
“But, here!” shouted the lawyer for
the prosecution. “'We proved that man
guilty and he ought to be sentenced.”
“Will ye hould yer yawp?” sternly
responded his honor. “The court finds
itself reversed an’ Misther Ryan wins
on appeal.”
COUNTESS DE GBEY.
t
The death of Queen Victoria and the
consequent accession of the former
Princess of Wales to the place of first
lady in the kingdom will have the
effect of restoring one of tho beautiful
women of England to the place at
court which she forfeited recently for
a singular reason. It is only a few
months ago that the Countess de Grey,
who had been one of the most popular
women at court functions, was in
formed that her presence at drawing
rooms, balls apd other social affairs
was no longer tolerable, because she
had opened an afternoon tea resort.
Her purpose in indulging in trade was
to render herself financially indepen
dent of her husband and his parents,
who had grown weary of paying her
debts. Commendable as this scheme
was, it conflicted with the queen’s
strict rule that titled women who em
bark in trade should be subject to os
tracism from court.
It is confidently predicted now, how
ever, that Lady de Grey will not only
COUNTESS I)E GREY,
return to court under Queen Alexan
dra, with whom she has been on terms
of affection and intimacy for many
years, but that she will be one of its
most prominent members, and that she
will become lady of the bed chamber
to the new queen. She is one of the
most vivacious women in England’s
highest circle. A patron of music, she
is known to have paid the de Reszkes
SI,OOO per hour each for appearing at
her afternoon musicales. It is this
reckless extravagance that has worried
her husband's rich family, the de
Greys, and depleted their pocketbook.
A MONEY MONARCH.
J. PIEBPONT MORGAN. KING OF
FINANCIERS.
Tho Capita! Be Now Controls Ts Esti
mated at CSOO.OOO.COO —An Architect
and Builder of Trast* —His Luxurious
Pleasures.
It did not require his recent deal
with Carnegie to make J. Pierpont
Morgan a money monarch. He was
a king of financiers before he made
his latest collossal investment in steel
and iron. This transaction simply
strengthens his position in the world
of finance, makes him in America
what the Rothschilds are in Europe,
and clothes him with as great power
for good or evil as to his fellow beings
possessed by any absolute monarch.
As the master mind of the railroad
interests of the country, the giant of
the iron and steel trade, the guiding
genius of the coal business, and a
commanding factor in electrical enter
prises of various kinds, he controls
money enough so that by a single act
he could precipitate a financial crisis
that would shake the United States
treasury to its very foundation. He
and his interests can make or avert
war. The magnitude of his power was
referred to in a New York court the
other day when his personal counsel,
Francis Lynde Stetson, asserted that,
if he chose, Morgan could influence our
J. PIERPONT MORGAN,
greater markets in any way he desires.
It is fortunate for the country that he
is a conservative financier and an hon
orable man. The wealth at his com
mand is estimated at $800,000,000.
Of Wlthj Parentage.
J. Pierpont Morgan was born rich.
The proverbial silver spoon was wait
ing for him when he made his ap
pearance in the home of Junius Mor
gan, a banker at Hartford, Conn, That
event occurred sixty-four years ago.
Reared amid luxurious surroundings
and educated at the University of
Goettingen, Germany, young Morgan
inherited $10,000,000 upon the death of
his father, who had while his son was
growing to manhood become a partner
of the famous George Peabody of Lon
don, and of the Drexels in New York.
A natural financier, young Morgan cul
tivated his inheritance so that it grew
rapidly. As the senior partner of the
banking houses of J. P. Morgan and
Cos., New York; Morgan, Drexel & Cos.,
of Philadelphia, J. S. Morgan & Cos. of
London, and Morgan. Harjes & Cos.,
of Paris, he was a power in the finan
cial world years ago. The first great
deal in which be displayed his genius
for managing gigantinc operations that
has since astounded the world was In
1876, when he organized the syndicate
which took the issue of $200,000,000 of
4% per cent government bonds when
the national debt was refunded.
HU Railway Operations.
Then he turned to railway manage
ment. He organized the first Joint
Traffic association, brought the Penn
sylvania and New York Central to
friendly reorganized the West
Shore, put the Philadelphia & Reading
on a good basis, reorganized the Chesa
peake & Ohio, the Northern Pacific &
the Erie, made the Great Southern
railway a prosperous corporation, and
would have prevented the insolvency of
the Baltimore & Ohio but for the vio
lation of one of the agreements made
with him by outside parties. Ail these
transactions brought many millions to
his bank account He is one of the
giants of the coal trust, which has giv
en him many more millions. By his
management of the money syndicate
which handled the $62,000,000 bond
issue of the Cleveland administration,
he is reputed to have made $20,000,000.
It was he who created the steel trust,
of which by Carnegie’s retirement he
now becomes the head. The coffin
trust is one of the creatures of his
great brain, and in electricity he
brought about the formation of the
Edison company and the General Elec
tric. An idea of his tremendous pow
er may be gained by considering the
statement that, with the exception of
the Erie and the Pennsylvania, he con
trols all the avenues of commerce that
enter New York city, including the
ferries. He has under his direction
19,028 miles of railroad, employing 80,-
000 men. It was Morgan who consoli
dated the Western Union Telegraph
and the American Bell Telephone-com
panies-. He has a vast interest in the
Chinese and Japanese carrying trade,
and he owns stock in industries in the
Orient. Into none of these enterprises
has Morgan gone like a speculator,
taking chances. He knew his ground
before he moved. Finance is to him a
great science which he understands
perfectly. J2y Gould, knowing his
power, feared him. The Vanderbilt?
bow to him. He believes In himself
and enjoys his power. He is gruff and
emphatic In speech, and to all person
with whom he is unacquainted, he l*.
as inaccessible as the Czar of Russia.
The men in his employ find him as
stiff a disciplinarian as Blucher o-
Von Moltke were in their armies. And
yet no places In New York are mor.
eagerly sought after than clerkships it.
his house. Only capable young men
are admitted, and he never engages a
clerk at less than SI,OOO per year.
His Private I.ife.
Morgan s life, outside his business
has luxuries that a king might enjoy
He drinks the rarest of wines and his
special brand of cigars cost him $1.25
each. He has spent $60,000 on dogs.
His favorite amusement is yachting.
Ho gave the New York Yacht club a
club house worth SIOO,OOO, and it was
his racing yacht, the Columbia, which
kept the American cup on this side of
the water. Another yacht, the Corsair
cost him $300,000. He paid $7,250 for
a pair of carriage horses recently. A
Mazarin Bible in two volumes cost
him $25,000. Among his philanthropic
acts was the gift of $1,000,000 for tin
building of the New York Lying-in-
Hospital.
DANISH WEST INDIES.
Their Position Gives Them Value for Cp.
of Navy.
Three small dots on a map of the
West Indies, two of them directly east
of Porto Rico, the third and largest
southeast of the island, represent the
Danish West Indies. It is not an im
posing group. Altogether the three is
lands have barely one-tenth the area
of the state of Rhode Island. Their
combined population is but a little
more than thirty thousand, mostly ne
groes. Frequent earthquakes shako
them, and hurricanes sweep over them.
Sugar, rum and tobacco are the chief
products; but there is so little pros
perity among the people that it costs
Denmark to take care of them more
than she gets back in revenue. Small
and unimportant as these little islands
of St. Thomas and St. Croix are, the
United States came near* buying them
from Denmark more than thirty years
ago, and recently has made anew offer
for them. It is not the size of the is
lands nor their fertility which gives
value, but their position. St. Thomas
lies less than forty miles from the
eastern coast of Porto Rico. It has
an excellent harbor, which would be
useful as a coaling and naval station.
When the canal is cut across the isth
mus, the possession of these islands by
the United States will be more impor
tant than at present. The inconven
ience of having them in the hands of
some rival and possibly hostile power
would be very great. These, presum
ably, are the considerations which hav
led to a renewal of the negotiation;,
for the purchase of the group. Both
houses of congress must act before the
arrangement can be completed, so that
the policy will be adopted, if at all,
only after a full discussion of its ad
vantages and disadvantages.—Youth'
Companion.
FIRST MINERS’ UNION.
The recent growth of unionism
the coal miners of this country, re
sulting in higher wages, shorter hours
and better conditions in every respect,
recalls the early efforts of coal miners
to organize. The first miners’ union in
America was formed at St. Clair, Pa.,
in 1867 John Siney, an intelligent
miner, got the workers together and
urged upon them the benefits of or
ganization. The meetings were secret,
as the operators were opposed to un
ions of any description. A union was
formed, however, but it met with all
kinds of opposition from the bosses
and it was a continual struggle culmin -
ating in the great strike in the latter
’6o’s. Thousands of miners were out
of work, and there was great distress
throughout the country, coal selling in
JOHN SINEY.
Founder of the first miners’ union iu
America.
many places at sl6 to $lB a ton. John
Siney did not live to see the anthracite
coal miners in one great organization
as at present, but he always predicted
that it would come some day amd that
the much-abused miner would get his
share of the profits of the mines.
Ancient Record* in Cliir.a.
in the Temple of Confucius at Pekin
are a number of stone tablets covered
with inscriptions, which were discov
ered by the Chinese in the eighth edn
tury before Christ, and which,
undoubtedly, belong to a much earlier
period, which have been carefully pre
served since the time when they were
found. It is believed tnat, the destruc
tion of the magnificent library of th
Kan-Lin College, or national acad
emy, which stood just north of the
British legation in Pekin, and which
was destroyed by fire by the Boxers
during the recent siege, has been a
loss to the world comparable only to
the burning of the Alexandrian
library.