TELEGRAPHIC.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2116, 9 October 1885, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC.

United Press Association. Inveroabgiu, October 8. A fire broke out on the east side of Dee Street this morning at 1.30, just opposite the scene of l>ho fire last week. It commenced in a shop occupied by Muir, umbrella and basket maker, and destroyed three other wooden buildings, namely, Newson's boat shop, Kung Wha's Chinese boarding-house, and an empty shop, Newaon's family were sleeping upstairs, and about twenty Chinamen were in the boarding-house, but all got out safely, though at one time a child of Newson's was thought to be missing. Newson lost W nearly everything. Newson had insur- . ancesof£6oo. The fire is supposed to be purely accidental.

A MILLIONAIRE AND A BEGGAR. A fearful fall from purple linen to rags and sores is reported irom that city of romance, San Francisco. Johnny Skae, who at one period of his chequered career could sign his cheque for 10,000,000d01, died there the other ' day in poverty. Ho came to California when a boy, and learned the business of a telegraph operator. He was working for the Oalifornian Telegraph Company when the four bonanza kings—Flood, O'Brien, Mackay, and Fair—were developing the resources of' the Consolidated Virginia and California mines on the Comstock. Mackay and Fair, who superintended the operations at Virginia City, were in constant communication with Flood and O'Brien in San Francisco by means of the telegraph, and,' as it was desirable to keep from "outsiders" tho real condition of affairs in the mines until the'proper time for booming them arrived, the managers used what they considered a safe cipher in their despatches. This cipher Johnny Skae, who was the receiver on the Virginia City wire, succeeded in interpreting, so that ' JB9 ho knew of every movement in the mines, W and was apprised of the great boom in sight for several days before the general public knew of it. Acting on the knowledge thus acquired, Johnny invested all the cash he could raise in the stook of tho two mines, and when the deal ended, and the tidal wave of excitement had receded, Johnny Skae was 3,000,000d0l ahead. But the crash came, Johnny became a book-keeper in a smallpox hospital in the Columbus district, After this he dlsappeared from public view until about a year ago, when a San Francisco policeman found him helplessly drunk in the street, He was taken to the station-house, where it was found that the man who seven years ago could sign his cheque for 10,000,000d0l had not sdol to secure his release on bail.