Mackey, the Silver King.

Thames Star, Volume XV, Issue 4775, 29 April 1884, Page 2

Mackey, the Silver King.

Forty-five years ago there was a ragged little penniless boy running about the streets of a town "in Ireland. The little fellow was ambitious and adventurous. He had all the native shrewdness of a Milesian and the happy temperament that looks for ever on the bright side of things. He wanted to go to America, but had no money to pty his fare. The simplest way of solving such a difficulty was to steal on board some ship when the cargo was being loaded. No one noticed the little bit of an Irish waif as he ran around the ship doing odd jobs for the men, and no one observed whether he ever left the ship or not. When out at sea a couple of days he came from his hidingplace and smilingly offered to the captain to work his way over. This was the beginning of a career that brought him in a fortune of fifty millions. The little stowaway is now the owner of one of the finest palaces in Paris; When landed in New York, the small Irish boy won his way into the affections of some of his country people, and he shortly got work at good wages. He had no time for school education, all the knowledge he possessed was gained at odd times.

When he was eighteen^jrears of age he invested his savings in va lot of cheap jewellery and watches, and started out to sell them either wholesale or retail. The goods cost him a mere song. Whenever he got a chance to " trade off" any jewellery for live stock, he would always do so, and he would drive the animal or ride it until he could sell it. In this way he gradually made his way across the settled districts, and found himself on the frontier of civilisation when the " gold fever" broke out and evtry other man was talking of going to the diggings. Mackey started off for California, and opened a whisky saloon in San Francisco. The price for a glass of whisky was four shillings, a glass of beer one shilling. The miners would come in with their gold dust and " treat the crowd " all around, then throw down an ounce or two of dust and ask Mackey to " call it square." In a short while Mackey was making far more money than the miners were. He extended his saloon and increased his trade immensely. The money that he saved was used to buy up ''claims " from men who sicken:! of the rough life wanted to return to " God's country," as the States were called. These claims he would hold for awhile, and engage men to work them. If they contained a large amount of "pay dirt" he would keep them ; if not, he would sell out to some "tenderfoot." But as he became more wealthy he developed schemes for piling up the money far faster. One of his plans was to buy a half-share from some poor prospector;, who had spent all his means in discovering some good mine. The poor man, of course, would have no capital to develop it, and Mackey's offer of a few hundred dollars for a half-share and to furnish the means for working it seemed a fair chance. As soon as Mackey got the deed, his rule was to play the " freeze out" game, that is, refuse to do anything in the matterneither do anything himself cor agree to allow anyone else. The result generally was that the needy prospector would tire of waiting, and gladly sell Mackey his half for a paltry hundred dollars or so. In this way he made some scores of thousands of dollars. As soon as he had frozen out his impecunious partner, he would set men to work and bring oat the gold. His men were always paid in bis whisky saloon, and unless they willingly spent the most of their earnings with him, he would quickly dismiss them. In this way his wages cost him very little, as the drinks sold at his bar were always the worst that could be obtained, and the prices charged the very highest. When he was apparently one of the most flourishing men in the new territory, he suddenly became bankrupt, and paid his creditors a mere trifle. All his property was found to have been quietfy made over to his wife, and as soon .as the bankruptcy proceedings were over, he stood as a richer man than ever. But the great stroke of luck that made this adventurer the rich man that he now is, was the discovery of a silver mine that is literally one mess of ore. It yields him something like two millions a-year in itself. Mr Mackey has only one child, a daughter, unmarried, and fair to look upon ; she is the pet of Paris society, and the envied possessor of innumerable admirers. "_