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Show JOHN CAPLICE, MONTANA' MERCHANT AND PIONEER, DEAD wmmf' - m, 1- vfili - Mpm j John Caplice. aged 74 years, a pioneer i of Butte and Montana, died last Saturday Satur-day afternoon at the home of his daugh-I daugh-I ter. Mrs. George Rock wood, 10 South ' Idaho street. He was taken ill last ' Monday, and since then he grew gradually grad-ually worse, and Friday evening his condition was pronounced critical. He sank into a stupor, and the end came Saturday afternoon. Uraemic poison-j poison-j ing was the cause of death. Mr. Caplice i was on the streets Sunday, and on that : day he attended the funeral of his old j friend, J. A. Leggat. His wife died in 1SSS, and his son, Fred W., in 1S9S. He leaves one daughter, Mrs. Rockwood. Mr. Caplice had not engaged actively in business affairs for five or six years, hut left them to the "care of trusted em-; em-; ployes and associates. He had made ; many fortunes, and his last years found ! him on the decline, not only as to health j but with respect to his financial possessions. pos-sessions. In his life he gave away fortunes. for-tunes. His mercantile books, contain khe names of many who twe him money, the aggregate reaching the appalling ap-palling figure of a quarter of a million dollars, perhaps more than that. His Butte holdings were concentrated for the most part in the enterprise known as the Caplice Commercial company. Besides this, he owned a large tract of land near the Flathead lake and some mining property in Alaska and in Montana. Mon-tana. Of late years he has not been rated as wealthy, i Once Wealthiest Man in Camp. Time was in Butte when he was rated among the wealthiest in the camp. He was the father of a great many huge business enterprises and. -while in nearly near-ly every instance he had to contend with adverse circumstances, he displayed dis-played remarkable persistency and determination, de-termination, and bravely moved on the way of his judgment and conscience dictated and did that; which he held was just and right at all times. His life was a long succession of reverses and adversities. Left to his own resources re-sources and wits at an early age, he strove to do the honest thing, and his friends lone since gave him the name of "Honest John." All of his early ventures in business were met with persistent opposition in one way or an- j other, and only his indomitable will and courage saood him in stead; he perse- I vered. won "and lost fortunes. Always he retained that noble quality of heart, and there is no one now to say that ho ever did any man wrong. Arrives in Butte. In 187S Mr. Caplice came to Butte. In IS63 he landed in Bannack from Denver with a load of merchandise. From there I he went to Virginia City and to Mis- soula, Philipsburg, New Chicago, Hen-1 Hen-1 dsrson gulch and Cedar creek. He i helped to build up every part of Mon-i Mon-i tana, but Butte, more than any other camp in the state, felt his presence i most. In this city he was a peer among I men, a sturdy, solid business man. He I gave of his plenty to charity, to the 'church and to the public institutions I of the state and city. He was foremost I during his life of activity in all things that had to do with the bettering of the conditions of state, county and city, j Many prospectors remember him for the great good he had done them. He outfitted many men to go into the mountains and search for hidden treasures, treas-ures, and he gave many men credit at his places of business and many of these never paid him what they owed him. Gives Fortune Away. He said to a reporter of the Standard a little more than three years ago. while ) he was relating some of his early day experiences: "If I had invested in Butte property and mines 5 per cent of the credits carried on my books in early days I would now be a millionaire many times over. But the future was an unsolved un-solved problem. When I first crossed the Missouri river no man dreamed of the great strides of invention and progress prog-ress we now see about us. No one could see the developed uses to which copper would be put. and no one imagined that railroads would ever be built into Montana. Mon-tana. Little importance was attached to anything but gold mining, and other mining properties possessed little value; and received little attention. I once owned the Green Mountain mine and other mining property on the hill of Butte, which is now valued at millions, but I did not consider them worth the time and cost of representation." A Catholic Gentleman. In religious faith Mr. Caplice was a Roman Catholic, firm in his devotion ; to the church and zealous in its serv-i serv-i ice. He made large contributions to its needs; aiding without stint in the erection erec-tion of c hurch, school and hospital ; buildings, not only in Butte but in the surrounding country. In politics he w as ja staunch Democrat. While not caring for honors or profits of office, he yielded on several occasions to a general de-I de-I mand and served as county commis-I commis-I Bioner for the common good. This he did in Missoula. Deer Lodge and Silver Bow counties. He was married mar-ried April 3. lSan. to Mis3 Johanna Burke, a native of Ireland, who died in 1 1SS6. Two children, a son and a dsugh-I dsugh-I ter, were born to them. The son, Fred W., who was associated with his father 'in the grocery business, died. in 1S9S. ! The daughter. Mary A., is the wife of G. E. Rockwood of .this city. Mr. Caplice Ca-plice was bora in County Tipperary, Ireland, early in 1S2H. A biographer says of Mr. Caplice: A Life of Changing Scenes . "A life of varied and hanging scenes was his. Of large mental resources, lie had power quickly to adapt himself to the circumstances! and conditions peculiar pe-culiar to the settlement of a new country. coun-try. As conditions of environment change, corresponding Changes in busi- roo mcthnAa m.ict l,r. n,li,.c(n,l Ihn hew'. reqjirements, and ,the pace kept wich the ever-changing progressive spirit of our remarkable western civilization. civil-ization. Although Mr. Caplice had been devoted to his business, he found ' time to cultivate his mind in the graces of thought emanating from learned men. He was clear in his deductions, ! concise in his statements and a spirit 1 of frankness and candor characterized him in manner and speech. Broadly : American in his views, there was no I plarx in his composition for the bigot's narrowness, the radical's offensiveness or the idle-day dreaming of the visionary vision-ary schemer." j Time, dealt kindly 'with Mr. Caplice ' and, in spite of his three score and ten years, until recently he maintained a robustness and erectness of physique that belong to younger years. At the last meeting of the Montana pioneers, held in Great Falls a few weeks ago, Mr. Caplice was elected president of the society. |