The New Era. (Davenport, Okla.), Vol. 3, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 16, 1911 Page: 2 of 8
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What Would Ifou Do
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JWHAT TO DO WITH 50,000.
Five years ago Russell Sage
X left his nephew, Ellzur Sage, of
"l* Rensselaer, Ind., $50,000 In cash.
5. What did he do with It?
Y He did not squander it.
^ He says the schemers didn't
get it.
The town says the schemers got
| a part of It, anyhow.
Sage put most of it into land.
The land Increased in value, and
probably he still Is worth $50,000,
or perhaps a little more.
He had no desire to travel or
spend.
He finds that money—even gift
money—is a burden.
He was happier before he had
£ wealth.
X He Is not happy, according to
V his own confession,
X What would you do with $50,-
$ 300?
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦mm
WHAT would you do with
$50,000?
It Isn't that any one
has a right to ask, pre-
supposing tb« $50,000
to be your own. but sup-
posing that some beneficent spirit,
seeing your need an> extreme worth-
iness, were to come like the good
fairies of our somnolescent dreams
and deposit such a sum to yonr cred-
it in an accommodating bank! What
would you do with It?
To tell this story one must go back.
A little more than five years ago there
lived on a rented farm north of the
quaint little town of /lensselaer, Ind.,
a poor sort of soil tiller well past
middle life. What he waa able to
glean each year, past rent and depre-
ciation, kept him ajid his flock alive.
That was all. He had never saved
nor had anything. The horizon of his
ambition lay close on his shoulders.
No star glinted In the future, no re-
grets stalked the dun past. As he says
himself:
"I was happy and careless then.
Nothing worried me. When I got done
with a hard day's work I slept. Thut
was all. It was gnoa In a way."
But the poor farm renter had an
enormously r'eb relative—so rich. In
fact, that the world drew a deeper and
more envious breath at the symbolical
sound of his name. A hard, cold man
was this relative, sitting disconso-
lately by the great heaps of his heart-
less gold, harsh, cynical, Introspective
but never responsive, imbittered of
success—that hardest of all drugs to
drink In sanity. The poor renter had
seen this Midas only once or twice,
and his experiences with him had
been anything but encouraging.
Hut one night denth turned over
the last shekel, put gold on the eye*
and lips of the rich man. and asked
him what he could buy with It of the
worms. The will left $50,000 to the
poor renter.
This is not a fairy tale. Kverythlng
about it Is fact—hard, callous and,
for that matter, uncompromising fact.
The rich man was Russell Sage and
the poor renter was Kllsur Sage.
Kensaelaer, Ind., his nephew. Russell
Sage has been dead Ave years and
Klliur Sage has been affluent ever
since. Whether he experted anything
of his rich relative one may judge
from this little story:
Some years before, Elltur Sage was
living on a little farm In Illinois.
There Are wiped out his bouse and
crippled hlin sorely. In his need, be-
ing too poor to ha#e any standing
with bankers and lenders of money,
he appealed by letter to his multi-
millionaire relative for aid. The sum
be asked was ridiculously small.
Many a poorer man than Russell Sage
has spent greater amounts for an
evening's dlvertlsement. But the hard
eyed old financier didn't do business
on the charitable plan.
Transactlo.n Typical of Sage.
One may recall that he let his wife
yearn for years after velvet carpets.
But he did flnnlly tell his relative he
might have what money he needed
under certain conditions. In the end
Ellzur Sage asked only $50. which
was sent' him, and In return he gave
Russell Sane a mortgage on his place
to guarantee this enormouB sum.
The newspapers got hold of the
story at the time, and as a result a
New York museum proprietor offered
Ellzur Sage $200 a week to appear
with his son In the museum as the
man who had succeeded In borrowing
$50 of Russell Sage. The nephew
never appeared and the experience
has made him a bit chary of news-
napers and museums. That they told
only what was true of his rich rela-
tive has not softened the sting.
Hut In the end Ellzur Sage got his
$50,000—all his own, to do with as he
pleased—and there was no Russell
Sage nllve to ask a mortgage. There
Is more tragedy In this than may
crop out of white paper and black
Ink. There Is here the ruin of youth
the wrecking of hopes and enjoy-
ments. In the end there Is prosperity
when the age for such things Is past,
when the ability to enjoy Is dead.
Ellzur Sage was 58 years old when
the legacy came.
"I might have acted different If I
had been younger," he said, "but I
wasn't no young man any more, and
I guess havln' a little money didn't do
much like makin' me crazy."
Neither did It make him happy. In
all the things Ellzur Sage says of his
gift gold there Is no trace of any gen-
uine enjoyment. He is more secure
than he waa, but that Is all. He Isn't
sure that his money has made him en-
joy life more.
Sage did not squander his money.
A bit of nntlve shrewdness is re-
sponsible for the fact that the sharp-
ers haven't It all.
Sage invested at least a large part
of his legacy In land.
He still has tlie land, Incumbered or
otherwise, and It has appreciated.
Wealth Fails to Bring Happiness.
He is neither happy nor satisfied.
"I went Into the war at 13," he said.
In beginning his story, "and I was In
the service until I was 16, In the first
Chicago Board or Trade regiment.
Captain Sexton, my commander, waa
afterwards postmaster In Chicago. On
leaving the service I went back to my
father, who was In Will county, 1111
nots. in a little town. He was a car-
penter and I learned this trade from
him. He also owned a farm. At 29.
In 186W, I went to farming on his place
and stayed there till 1872 or 1873.
when my rather died and the estate
--as divided. Then I ran a little
grocery and meat market for about
five years and then came to Indiana
and rented a farm. Then for a year
I was back on a farm In Illinois again,
and In 1890 I enme back here to In
dlana. I've been here ever since."
Sage was more than willing to say
that previous to the coming of the
$50,000 he had been absolutely poor.
"No. I had nothing In those dnys
but a living. I was happy and care
less then," he said. "Nothing worried
me. When I got done with a hard
day's work I slept. That was all there
was to It. It was good In a way—no
cares and nothing I guess I was jusi
about as well off. As long as any-
body has his health I guess lie's about
as happy as he can be made."
"What happened when you got the
money?" was Asked.
"Well, the first thing. It put me
Into a peck o' trouble. Friends 1
never had before came In. They
sprung up thick and fast. Them that
didn't know me before the money
came were nnxlotis to bo my friends
then. Letters and requests for money
began to come In by pack*. Borrow-
ers came to me without any security
and thought I ought to lend 'em just
because my money had been given
me. Every kind of scheme was of-
fered me where I could double my
money In a month or a year.
'I didn't reel quite as contented as
I had before, but I guess that's Just
natural. Before I didn't have any tear
or being robbed or cheated. But when
I got my money I went right to the
bank with It and left It there. I didn't
bite on their schemes. Whenever they
hunted me I got leary of 'em. No,
slrree, they didn't get me on any get-
rich-quick stuff "
Mr. Sage Bald it as ir proud ot the
tact.
"But I knew that land was the Bar-
est place to put money," he said, "so |
I bought land. That's the place to put
It so you can't lose It. It was a wise
thing. My tend has Increased In value
so much that I could sell out now and |
clean up $36,000. I Invested nearly
all my money In land."
"And what do you think or the gen-
eral Idea or giving large sums or
money to people In that way?"
"Well, I think It must be a bad
thing. People don't know what a dol-
lar Is much unless they earn It them-
relves. I guess it would have been
like that with me ir 1t had come ear-
lier. Money ought to come kind ot
slow. It would 'a' been a bad thing
tor me It It had come 25 years earlier,
but I waa 58 when It did drop In. I'd
had a little more experience then; I'd
got all over these here wild notions
and didn't have no foolish Ideas like
runntn' around. After 45 or 50 a man
don't give much for these get-rlch-
qulck schemes."
Mr. Sage told something of his land
Investments. He possesses, by his
own statement, two farms in Indiana
and one In Ohio. Those In the Hoosler
state are both near Rensselaer, one
three or four mlleB from town and
the other much turther. The nearer
tarm contains 180 acres, the other 120
acres, and that in Ohio 160 acres.
Farms Seem Good Investment.
Both the Indiana farms are fine,
rich prairie land worth not less than
$150 an acre. When they were bought
five years ago they probably brought
about half that sum. What the Ohio
property may bring cannot be said.
On the nearer one of the Indiana
farms the Sage heir haa built a big,
nice-looking country home with an un- j
finished appearance. It has Its own
gas lighting and water plants, and
probably represents a cash Investment
of $5,000 to $6,000. There are, be-
sides, stables, sheds, coops, sheep
sheds, and other minor buildings rep-
resenting perhaps another $1,500.
The second farm, further removed,
is not so much improved. There is lit-
tle value there aside from the actual
land. The home place Is, so Rensse-
laer knows and says, on the market
at $175 an acre, with the usual reser-
vation that a bid of less will be care-
fully considered.
In explaining this Rensselaer gos-
Blps do not say that Sage Is hard up,
or that he has spent his money, but
they say he has never made an im-
pression on Rensselaer. The little
town's society folk have retused to
recognize the man who got rich by j
another's will, so the Sages are un-
happy and wish to move to Ohio to
begin over, as it were, and establish
themselves socially as well as finan-
cially. Perhaps that Is why Ellzur
Sage says he was happier before he
got the legacy.—New York World.
JUST BEFORE THE TROUBLE
How Could the Listener Know What
His Friend Was Trying
to Say?
If any man ever admired his wife,
that man was Howler. And when the
Pltznoodles aaked Mrs. Howler to get
up and sing, "There Is a Garden In
My Face," the husband glowed with
pride.
No matter that she had a face like
a hippopotamus and a voice like an
elephant, he sat beaming as she sang,
and could not retrain trom bending
over to his neighbor and whispering:
"Don't you think my wife's got a fine
voice?"
"What?" oald his neighbor, who
was a little deaf.
"Don't you think my wife has got a
fine voice?" repeated Howler.
"What?"
"Don't you think my wife's got a
fine voice?" roared Howler.
"Sorry!" returned the neighbor,
shaking his head. "Can't catch a word
you say. That awful woman over
there Is making such a frightful row
singing."
RUSE OF ANIMALS AND BIRDS
Naturalist Searching for Eggs of the
"Dunlin" in Siberia Is Cleverly
Misled by Female.
The game of cheating the sports-
man by pretending to be dead is
played by many animals. Akin to It
Is the pretense of the partridge that
her leg or wing has been broken, by
which device she entices the Intruder
to pursue her. and thus secures time
for her young brood to take cover un- !
der leaves and ferns.
A naturalist had been searching for
the eggs of the little dunlin In SI- I
berla, and came upon a nest The !
bird quietly slipped off and began to
walk around the man, now and then j
pecking on the ground, as If feeding. '
seldom going more than six feet from 1
him, and often npproachlng within !
eighteen inches. The tameness ot the '
bird was almost ludicrous. She
seemed so extremely tame that the
man almost thought for the moment
that he could catch her, and, getting
on all fours, he crept quietly toward
her. As soon as he began to move
from the nest the bird's manner en-
tirely changed. She shuffled along
the ground as If lame. She dropped
her wings, as If unable to fly. and
occasionally rested on her breast with
drooping wings as If dying. Finally,
when she eluded him and darted Into
'he undergrowth, he found that he had
lost the location ot the nest.—Harper's
Weekly.
Value of Good Teeth.
The principal or a school In Cleve-
land, Ohio, has reported marked Im-
provement In the children who are un-
iUr theervatlon to prove that there la
a relation between the teeth and the
mind, and that having poor teeth not
only makes for sickness of the body,
but affects the mind r.i well. Of
nearly forty children taking the test,
it was found that only two showed ab-
solutely no Improvement. The teeth
were filled and the children shown by
a nurse how to keep them clean and
innutkate the food oroperly.
Explanations.
Miss Fullosoul (of a poetical turn)
Which are you of opinion one should
say, professor: "Summer flies" or
"Summer flees?"
Absent-Minded Professor (great on
entomology)—The two Bpecies, my
dear young lady, are entirely distinct.
Now, the common house fly— Then
he wondered why she suddenly open-
ed a conversation with the young man
on hor right—London Sphere.
No Jury.
"Didn't you give that man a Jury
trial?"
"Look here," replied Broncho Bob;
"there ain't a big lot o' men In this
settlement We couldn't possibly git
12 of 'em together without atartln' a
fatal argument about somethln' that
had nothin' whatever to do with the
case."
Equivocal.
"Gladys can't hide the fact that she
dyes her hair yellow."
"You don't suppose, do you, that
she could keep it dark?"
Every time you meet a grouch hana
it a lemon.
Faint ?
Have you weak h«art, dizzy feelings, oppressed
breathing after meals ? Or do you experience pain
over the heart, shortness of breath on going up-staire
and the many distressing symptoms which indicate
poor circulation and bad blood ? A heart tonio,
blood and body-buiider that has stood the teat of
over 40 years of cures is
Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical Discovery
The heart becomes regular as clock-work. The red
blood corpuscles are increased in number—and tho
nerves in turn are well fed. The arteries are filled
with good rich blood. That is why nervous debility,
irritability, fainting spells, disappear and are ovel*
come by this alterative extract of medicinal root*
put up by Dr. Pierce without the use of alcohol*
Ask your neighbor. Many have been cured ol
scrofulous conditions, ulcers, "fever-sores," white swellings, etc., by taking
Dr. Pierce'a Discovery Just the refreshing and vitalizing tonio needed fo*
excessive tissue waste, in convalescence from fevers or for run-down, anaemic,
thin-blooded people. Stick to this aafe and sane remedy and refuse all " jusi
as good " kinda offered by the dealer who is looking for a larger profit. Noth-
in g will do you half aa much good as Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical Disoovery.
Caring for Consumptives.
There are now four special method*
by which consumptive worklngmen la
the United States are being cared for.
In such cities as Albany, Elmlra and
Blnghamton, N. Y., the unions support
a separate pavilion or hospital. In
cities like Hartford, New Britain and
South Manchester, Conn., the work-
men contribute toward the mainte-
nance of a fund for the care of con-
sumptives. The employers also con-
tribute to these funds. There are also
two national sanltorla for the treat-
ment of tuberculosis owned and oper-
ator by labor unions; one by the In-
ternational Typographical union, and
the other by the Printing Pressmen
and Assistants' union. In Massachu-
setts, Illinois and elsewhere large cor
poratlons and manufacturers have
agreed voluntarily to care for all their
consumptive employes for a limited
length of time.
EVEN IN THE DEEP.
Mr. Sunflsh—I bear that Mr. Black
Bass couldn't get on the police force.
Mr. Eel—No, they drew the color
line on him.
Special Talent.
"Can your boy read 'The Illlad' In
the original?"
"Not very well. But he can make
ten yards around the left end almost
every time."
Squelched.
Gerald—What do you think of this
recall Idea?
Geraldlne—One call will be enough,
thank you.
Wasted Blessings.
Aunty (just arrived)—Blesa yonr
sweet heart!
Marie—You needn't waste any of
your blessings on him, aunty.
Aunty—Him? Who?
Marie—My former sweetheart
We're mad at each other now.,—
Judge.
Marriage is a contract—and titer*
are lots of contract jumpers.
In the hands of a woman the pow-
der rag Is mightier than the sword.
We Oet a Slap
The big coffee trust, made tip of Brazilian
growers and American importers, has been trying
various tactics to boost the price of coffee and get
more money from the people.
Always the man who is trying to dig extra
money out of the public pocket, on a combination,
hates the man who blocks the game.
Now comes a plaintive bleat from the "exa -
perated" ones.
The Journal of Commerce lately said: "A stir-
ring circular has just been issued to the coffee
trade." The article further says:
"The coffee world is discussing what is to be
the future of coffee as a result of the campaign
of raiseducation carried on by the cereal coffee
peopfe. We have before us a letter from one of
the largest roasters in the South asking what can
lip dono to counteract the work of the enemies
of coffee.
"The matter should have been taken up by
the Brazilian Gov't when they were completing
their beautiful valorization scheme."
Brazilian
Coffes
Grower
Then the article proceeds to de-
nounce Postum and works Into a
line frenzy, because we have pub-
lished facts regarding the effect of
coffee on some people.
The harrowing tale goes on.
"Where a few years ago every-
body drank coffee, several cups a
day, now we find In every walk In
life people who Imagine they can-
not drink It. (Tlie underscoring is
ours.) Burly-blacksmiths, carpen-
ters, laborers and athletes have dis-
continued or cut down the use of
coffee; as there Is not a person
who reads this and will not be able
to find the same conditions existing
among his own circle of acquaint-
ances, Is It not well for the Brazil-
ians to sit up and take notice?"
Isn't it curious these "bur-
ly" strong men should pick out cof-
fee to "Imagine" about? Why not
"Imagine" that regular doses of
whiskey are harmful, or daily slugs
of morphine?
If "Imagination" makes the caf-
feine In coffee clog the liver, de-
press the heart, and steadily tear
down the nervous syBtem, bringing
on one or more of the dozens of
types of diseases which follow
broken-down nervous systems,
many people don't know It.
But It remained for the man who
has coffee, morphine or whiskey
to sell, to have the supreme nerve
to say: "You only Imagine your
disorders. Keep oil buying from
me."
Let us continue to quote from bis
article.
"Notwithstanding the enormous
Increase In population during the
past three years, coffee shows an
appalling decrease In consumption."
* • • • *
Then follows a tiresome lot of
statistics which wind up by show-
ing a decrease of consumption In
two years of, in round figures, two
hundred million pounds.
Here we see the cause for the at-
tacks on us and the Brazilian
sneers at Americans who prefor to
use a healthful, home-made break-
fast drink and Incidentally keep the
money In America, rather than
send the millions to Brazil and pay
for an article that chcmlsts class
among the drugs and not among
the foods.
Will the reader please remem-
ber, we never announce that coffee
"hurts all people."
Some persons bccss to have ex-
cess vitality enough to use coffee,
tobacco and whiskey for years and
apparently be none the worse, but
the number Is small, and when a
sensible man or woman finds an ar-
ticle acts harmfully they exercise
some degree of Intelligence by
dropping It
We quote again from the article;
"These figures are paralyzing
but correct, being taken from
Leech's statistics, recognised as
the most reliable."
This Is one of the highest com-
pliments ever paid to the level-head-
ed, common sense of Americana
who cut oft about two hundred mil-
lion pounds ot coffee when they
found by actual experiment (In the
majority of cases) that the subtle
drug caffeine, In coffee, worked die-
comfort and varying forms of dl -
ease.
Some people haven't the charao-
ter to stop a habit when they know
It Is killing them, but It Is easy
to Bhlft from coffee to Postum, for,
when made according to direction*,
it comes to table a cup of beverage,
Beal brown color, which turns to
rich golden brown when cream Is
added, and the taste Is very like
the milder grades of Old Gov't Java.
Postum Is a veritable food-drink
and highly nourishing, containing
a'l the parts of wheat carefully pre-
pared to which Is added about ten
per cent of New Orleans molasses,
and that Is absolutely all that
Postum Is maae of.
Thousands of visitors to the pure
food factories see the Ingredient*
and how prepared. Every nook
and corner is open for every visit-
or to carefully Inspect. Crowds
come dally and seem to enjoy It
"There's a Reason"
Postum Cereal Company, Limited
Battle Creek, Michigan
Y
H
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The New Era. (Davenport, Okla.), Vol. 3, No. 48, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 16, 1911, newspaper, November 16, 1911; Davenport, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc109819/m1/2/: accessed May 15, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.