| Show I II A Rebellious Rich Man ManSan I San FranciSco Examiner He owns a railroad and will wi not ac accept a rass yass over Jt It ItHe He owns a palatial palatal residence and will wi not live lve in it preferring to live Ive in n a hut hut He owns a large Inre clothing clo store which he has h s never been bean ben inside InIde of nor pa patronized to the extent of sending ending in an order for fo a suit suit of clothes He wears overalls and a denim I blouse instead He has a beautiful wife whom he seldom sees se She loves society and lives in the fine house and spends money for fo a good time He Be associates with cowboys s out on the te prairie and has ha no inclination toward towar the th gayeties and cox fort of civilization He is one of the richest riches men in the northwest yet he goes goe Se about abut with wih empty pockets Dock t and lives l ves the life of a common cc CG at an expense of less than 15 cents cent a day He owns a flour four mill mi which he has h s never seen the inside Inide of and ad two other stores that tat are ar run by agents agent whom he c seldom m communicates with He has million dollars to spend as he might please but instead of spending any of f it he does a labor laborers ers ers stint on a cattle catte ranch and nd takes pot luck with the rough rugh cattle catte drivers ers in as humble a capacity as the next a man alan mn to him at at table His nae is Abner Robbins and his home proper is in the town of Union Ore There Tere is where his wife lives there is s where much touch of his Is capital is invested invest d his hs hs railroad runs that way Y Yand and his hi r flour four mill mi stands in the te near ner But Dut that is not not where Abner Rob Bob Bobbins Robbins bins chooses to spend end the most of his hi life T The neighboring town of Drewsey contains a a of the old mans holdings holding yet Jet he seldom goes gaas gc to t Drew Drewsey Drewsey sey sey About six miles mies from this latter named town is a log cabin feet in size a cabin of one room rom with wih chinks chink in the walls and no windows Or doors door except pieces of cloth or boards picked up ua u by chance to serve sere the te pur purpose purpose i It is crude habitation crude pose I a so that only a wealthy man would live lve in it contentedly A common cowboy I would have improved it long ago He fe e would have put in windows and made madea mae a handsomer door i Robbins Robbs is a lover of nature a lat i Thoreau without the old Thor theories to work out or live lve up to but with a more genuinely finished nature perhaps and less les artificial aspi aspiration asp aspiration ration in his reach mach r ach toward towar the trees and the hills his and the independent live livelihood lve of time the te huntsman huntman Is he a a crank Does a crank accumulate a quarter of a million and keep it It on record He has ha made his hi fortune by hard work ork and he is working hard hard today and making maing the fortune grow making it feel the weight of a strong trong hand and brain back of it It Yet Tet he is is no miser mier A miser does not get t out among the te boys and ond nd take oft off of his coat cat and be become become become come a boon companion with wih a hail hi fellow well wel met and a merry string of yarns to spin over the camp fire fre in inthe inthe the evening So far is i he from being that his friends frend know kow him hi I throughout eastern Oregon as asa a good thing for speculators speculator and missionaries Ies les and the te following is but one of many man similar stories they have to tell tellof tel tellof of him bim when you ask uk about abut the old oldmans oldmans oldmans mans tightness of or list fist Abner Robbins has ha never neye refused to help a poor man both with money and supplies supple And he will divide his lost last lat loaf with wih a friend friend He spent sent just to humor the te whims of a friend As vet yet there i but little wheat rats rais raised ris ed in this section of ot country countr A smooth talking drummer came along and con convinced convinced convinced vinced one of friends that a a abig big flouring mill would pay at Drewsey that if the mill mi was built buit the ranchers would turn their attention to o raising ising wheat wheat The friend beame became enthusiastic and sought sou ht Robbins Robbin assistance The Te latter later explained that it would not pay that tat it would be years ear before wheat would be raiSed in this section to any extent that irrigation would be necessary and that this would require time But the friend saw all at kinds of fortunes in a figuring mill mi and insist insisted Insisted ed ed Robbins Robbi became impatient and said sd Well Vel 20 g g ahead and build buld your mill milland mi milland and Ill rl pay ay for it just to show you rou that you are wrong The friend believed in putting in a a good one while he h was wa at it i and or ordered ordered ordered dered the te very ver best machinery from Ohio A building was erect erected eret erected ed a 3 ditch was ws dug along the banks of the middle fork of the te Malheur river and a turbine vh el was put in and as fine a mill mil completed as a was wa ever con constructed constructed i of the same s capacity Before i re the te water was was as brought to the wheel the projector of th the mill mil became im Imn impatient patient and purchased a 3 a large steam engine and ad the te mill i was wa started It I was wa run a t few months at a dead ded loss and then therm shut Sut down dOn It I now stands there the th window frames fm all al a knocked in by boys the machinery rusting and ad going ging to wreck te without a dollars insurance on irn n it it Robbins paid id the bill without a murmur for he foresaw the te end in the te beginning He has ha never been inside limo t mill mi and never speaks speak of it although the road rad from Drewsey to his ft mi cabin lies Ies along by th t side of the mill mm The bed In his cabin is I a marvel marel of its it kind so is the te arrangement for foro Cooking o king the bacon and beans bean which Robbins lives on Two To sides of the th cabin bin furnish the te main s support to the bed bedone one peg does the rest fitted at atthe atte atthe the te outer the foot and ad nailed to the floor foor A couple couple of rails ris complete r I the outfit excepting the covering ng which consists of a bedraggled mattress ma tres and ad I I some well we worn wor blankets I The Te facilities f are a rude rde I stone fireplace a coffee Cf e pot pt frying pan I and ad kettle kette I I I Mr Robbins Robbis is Lu I the te solO sole ste inmate of o I the e place Pl does docs his own O n k t acer J co In makes e I his hi own ow bed be cleans cl ns house hous washes I dishes and acts a t as maid mad of ot all allwork 1 I al work for himself I Delate fact that tat Abner Abar Robbins L I bas unlimited l cr t over O i astern ter f Oregon his hi friends claim that that he never neer wed owed owe o a a dollar dolar in his life never never signed sige a mortgage e or a note never neer bought a cents c worth wort of goods on credit credi even gs out o ut of his own stores stor Another almost incredible thing thY t tell all tal t of Abner Abne Robbins is i that that he never took ook t a u drink of liquor in his hi h life Ufe To have h hh ave lived so s long among cowboys to ha have h ave been so s fond of their rough rub life Ufe and a nd yet ct not have acquired acquire a a cowboys liking l for r the flowing own bowl bwl is a a re remarkable r mark le on the th man m mans s i Independence e of taste t te and strength of wilt wilL wiL 4 Once a year er he goes home to visit vii his h hs is pretty wife wie who is always glad gla to t tee see se s ee him She writes him hint pleading let letters lett tars t to come and stay with tier her he to give gave up u p his cowboy life Ufe to settle s tte down to a alife a life ife l of ease ee But Abner shakes his has hi head ead head h Once a a year yea is enough he says sY and a nd once a a year ye regularly he makes her be h er a visit until he be cant stand std It i any lon l er and an must stalk back to his a A man can live there he tells teUs her expanding e his chest and an sti it soundly s as if there want enough air ar arin airn in i n the te city ci to fill fl it I We are ae strong strongmen ston strongmen men out on the prairie Let me so g I must return to look after ater our cattle It I is an alkali desert this cattle range ange r of ot his hi and about as a cheerless cerless a region r as one might choose for outdoor life ife l Robbins consider o ide the scenic s element element It I is mainly t the ac activity ac t of his barren barn career that satisfies him His HiS tremendous ner calls for fora a tremendous field feld of movement and physical phy labor of the kind that tat thrills I the he t nerves bronzes the cheek ates ate a les the lungs hardens the frame the kind that tbt only ony the te gre get t outdoors af affords a fords fords f He is i never so fuU of life Ufe as a when racing at ck speed a ate after ter tera a refractory steer ster or taking part par in a aground aground aground ground shaking reo lassoing lain wild wid cattle attle catte c for the te branding iron or tearing terig over oyer the pathless wild wid after stock tock that tt has stra t ed d away and aud got lost lost And Ad r zot ost remarkable of all al Abner Robbins is 76 6 years ear old He was wa born bornn in I i n Boston sn Mass Ma in i 1833 18 He was a a shoemaker by trade He sailed sied from Boston Boton and came cae to Sacramento CaL CoL CoLin Ca CaLn in i n 1853 1 He mined mine in California and and was wa steamboat captain and followed the t he mercantile business buies He moved to Jacksonville Ore in 18 and ad drifted to t o his present pr location in l The Rob biases had two children cid The son on died and ad a nd the daughter married James Lucky with wih whom she Is now living in Port Portland ort ortland land and l Ore Besides being a daring and ad powerful rider even ever at his present pre et age Abner Robbins is i a musician of much nOun larity arity l among his husky husk associates He plays the violin while they tey dance danee and an by way of varying varig the te he e warms up to the spirit of the company and dances himself a jig for that is his hi favorite tep miep and one in which he is surprisingly proficient He Ho can sing too and when the boys Into nto I his hi cabin of an evening and ad he the violin is brought out the te sturdy old I dean den of the band band joins in as a lustily as a I any of them and the Ue cabin roof all al but lifts l with wih the te volume of it all aU Cranks dont sing and a d dance for the pure tY tay oy i of it as a Abner Robbins does I |
