_Henry Schulte becomes the Owner of "Alten Hagen."_-_Surprising
Increase in Wealth._--_An Imagined Attack upon His Life._--_The Miser
Determines to Sail for America._
It was at this time that the projected railroad between Dortmund and
Dusseldorf began to assume definite proportions, and as the line of
the contemplated road lay through the village of Hagen, much
excitement was engendered in consequence.
The people of Dortmund were building extravagant castles in the air,
and wild and vague were the dreams which filled their sanguine minds
as they contemplated the advantages that were to accrue to them upon
the completion of this enterprise.
The contagion spread rapidly to Hagen, and the simple-minded
villagers, who saw in this movement the rapid growth of their little
town; the possible increase in the value of their property and the
consequent augmenting of their now limited fortunes, hailed with
delight the information that energetic operations would soon be
begun, with the view of successfully accomplishing the desired
object.
Not so, however, thought the Baron von Lindenthal, whose vast estate
lay in close proximity to the village, immediately adjoining the farm
owned and occupied by Henry Schulte, and through whose domain the
road must necessarily pass.
To him the idea of encroaching upon the ancestral acres of a von
Lindenthal, was an act of sacrilege not to be complacently submitted
to. The quiet and peaceful seclusion in which he and those who had
preceded him had lived, and the repose of his declining years was to
be disturbed by the whistling of the locomotive and the rattle of the
train. The din, and bustle and activity of trade was to be brought to
his very threshold, and the ease and comfort of his aristocratic
retirement would soon become a thing of the past. This must not and
could not be permitted, and the blood of the patrician boiled within
his noble veins as he contemplated the outrage that thus threatened
him, and which was to result in laying profane hands upon his
possessions. Improvements were all very well in their way, but then
they must not be of such a character as to interfere with the
pleasure or the luxurious ease of the Baron von Lindenthal. His
comfort and happiness were things to be considered far above the
material growth of a commercial town, and were not to be subordinated
to the welfare of its ambitious inhabitants.
But then, as now, the march of public improvement was not to be
retarded, and so, finding it impossible to successfully oppose or to
prevent the building of the objectionable railroad, the incensed
Baron very reluctantly determined to dispose of his baronial estates
and to remove to a more congenial locality, where the encroachments
of trade were not to be feared, and where, in undisturbed seclusion
and retirement, he might pass the remainder of his days.
With the irascible and impetuous Baron, the formation of an opinion
led to immediate action, and no sooner had he resolved to the
satisfaction of his own mind to dispose of his broad acres, than he
began to look about him for a purchaser.
When Henry Schulte heard of this intention of the Baron, he
determined, if possible, to become the owner of this extensive
demesne. His mind was sufficiently alive to the importance of this
railroad movement to convince him that the real estate in proximity
to the line of the road must necessarily increase in value, and he
also realized the necessity of seeing the Baron without delay, in
order to precede any of the railroad contractors, who would no doubt
present themselves ere long.
He consequently waited upon the irate Baron on the morning following,
and upon being ushered into the presence of the last of the von
Lindenthals, at once broached the subject of his desire to purchase
the land.
The gouty old land-owner looked with astonishment as his
shabbily-dressed visitor proffered his request. He had never imagined
that his unobtrusive neighbor was possessed of any money besides his
farm, and the proposition to become the purchaser of "Alten-Hagen"
was a complete surprise to him.
The Baron did not know of the hours of patient toil, nor of the
habits of miserly economy which had enabled Henry Schulte to
accumulate so large a sum of money as to warrant him in entertaining
the desire to increase his estate; nor did he know that his
economical neighbor could see further into the future, and better
appreciate the advantages which would accrue to him from the
possession of this additional property, than could their present
aristocratic owner.
However, the Baron lost no time in idle speculations as to the means
by which his visitor had grown wealthy. His land was for sale, a
purchaser stood before him, and in a short time the wealthy miser
became the owner of the Baron's land for a price entirely inadequate
to the value which he received. When, a few weeks later, the question
of appropriating the land and allowing the damage therefor came to be
considered, the railroad company were required to treat with the
miser of Hagen instead of the Baron von Lindenthal.
The wisdom and foresight displayed by Henry Schulte in becoming the
purchaser of this estate was very soon clearly demonstrated, for in a
very short time afterwards he received from the railroad company, as
damages and for the right of way through his grounds, more than the
sum he had originally paid to the impulsive Baron for the fee of the
entire estate.
A few years after this several coal mines were opened in the
vicinity, iron works were erected, and as Hagen became a thriving,
flourishing city it naturally extended its industries. Henry
Schulte's newly acquired property then became available for the
erection of iron works and coal breakers, and his wealth was
considerably increased by these means. A division of a part of his
land into building lots, on the main road from Herdecke to Hagen,
also swelled the volume of his increasing revenue. It seemed that he
had suddenly fallen upon the wave of advancing fortune, for soon
after this some parts of the soil being found to be of excellent
quality for brick-making, he entered into arrangements with some
extensive manufacturers and received a large sum for the use and
occupation of his grounds for that purpose.
Thus, in a very few years, the patient, plodding, avaricious farmer
found himself one of the wealthiest men in the locality. This fact,
however, produced no change in his habits or his dress, nor did his
mode of living undergo any improvement consequent upon the changed
condition of his circumstances. This vast accumulation of money only
seemed to intensify his avarice, to increase his meanness, and the
desire for gain became the ruling passion of his heart and mind. He
removed to the large and imposing mansion lately occupied by the
Baron, but this was done simply because he could find no other
occupant for it; while he could readily procure a tenant for the
little cottage where he had previously resided.
The effect of his presence there was soon made manifest, and only a
short time elapsed before this beautiful residence presented an
appearance of negligence sadly at variance with the thrifty neatness
that was everywhere apparent during the time of its occupancy by the
Baron and his family. The general air of neglect and squalor
surrounding it proclaimed that the habits of the miser had been too
firmly grounded to be easily disturbed, and that the man remained the
same, whether in the castle or the hovel.
Indeed, it seemed that his reserve and isolation became more marked,
and he dressed so shabbily that he scarcely ever appeared in other
than soiled and ragged garments. His heart became harder and more
grasping, and the few people who had known him in his younger days,
and were disposed to be friendly, soon dropped away from him, finding
it impossible to endure his harshness of manner and his penurious
ways.
His household now consisted of a housekeeper and a valet, the former
an elderly woman, who had long been an object of charity to the
people of Hagen, and whose services were procured by him at a mere
nominal price, and the latter was a young, simple-minded fellow, who
performed the multifarious duties of a man-of-all-work, for a
stipulated sum that barely sufficed for his needs, exclusive of the
daily fare which he received from the hands of his economical
employer.
His administration of domestic affairs was in entire accord with his
narrow-minded and contracted heart, and the servants found but little
comfort while in his employ. He took sole charge of his domestic
arrangements himself, and to the patient and uncomplaining Mrs.
Scheller would daily furnish the meager complement of beans and
potatoes which were required for the day's consumption. The balance
of the store would then be religiously kept under lock and key to
prevent any tendency towards extravagance on the part of those who
served him.
In addition to the various other investments possessed by him, he
cultivated a large portion of the land acquired from the Baron, and,
being a practical farmer, thoroughly understanding the advantage of
drainage, he succeeded in redeeming a great amount of land heretofore
deemed worthless, and brought it to a high state of cultivation.
His farming land consisted of several hundred acres, which required
the employment of many men, and the large forests, with their
apparently inexhaustible timber, furnished occupation for a number of
woodmen, all of whom were under the supervision of the master. Here,
too, his parsimony extended, and, while no efforts were spared to
improve the quality of the land, and to increase the crops that were
gathered, in every other respect his miserly nature exerted itself.
The horses and cattle were lean and poorly fed, the buildings were
out of repair, and a general system of rigorous and pinching economy
was observed, all of which tended to the dissatisfaction of those
employed by him, but which in no wise affected the firmly-grounded
avarice of their employer, who every day appeared to grow more harsh
and unfeeling.
He became grinding and pitiless in his dealings with those who were
indebted to him, exacting full and prompt payment of all moneys due
to him, without regard to the straitened circumstances of his
debtors, or the destitution which frequently followed his summary
means of enforcing his collections.
The various cares and anxieties attendant upon the management of his
affairs were often vexatious and annoying, and as time wore on he
became exceedingly captious and irritable. His ebullitions of temper,
which now became quite frequent, were vented upon the innocent heads
of those who labored in his service, and much dissatisfaction was
engendered in consequence. He became suspicious of all who surrounded
him, and imagined that every one with whom he was connected were
seeking to rob him, and finally an idea took possession of his mind,
which completely destroyed his peace and made his existence perfectly
miserable. He imagined that his life was in danger, and that there
was a conspiracy formed to murder him for his money.
So firmly did this conviction cling to him that he became intensely
nervous and restless, and was scarcely able to sleep in his bed at
nights. He would bolt and bar himself in his chamber so securely that
it was a matter of perfect impossibility to effect an entrance, and
then, still doubtful, he would be wakeful and uneasy during the long,
weary hours of the night, until from sheer exhaustion he would fall
into a troubled sleep, which lasted late into the morning.
Nothing occurred of a character to justify his suspicions or to
increase his fears, until one morning he was awakened at a very early
hour by the breaking with a loud crash of one of the windows that
opened into his room. Instantly he was awake, and, springing from his
bed, he rushed frantically to the window, discharged his pistol
several times in succession, at the same time calling loudly for
help.
His cries alarmed his valet, who slept in a room communicating with
that of his master, and who hastened at once to his assistance. It
was too dark to discover anything of the cause of the breaking of the
glass, and as no further demonstration occurred, he succeeded in
quieting the fears of his master, and restoring him to tranquillity.
As soon as it was daylight, he made an investigation into the cause
of this seeming attack, and an examination of the outside of the
premises disclosed the fact that the alarm had been occasioned by the
falling of the branch of an old tree that stood near to the house,
and on which some of the limbs were withered and dead.
This discovery, however, by no means allayed his fears or dissipated
his suspicions, but, on the contrary, he became so fixed in the
insane idea that he would be assassinated, that his life in the old
home became a burden to him, and he longed for a change of scene that
would ensure ease for his mind, and safety for his body.
Henry Schulte was at this time an old man--the sixty years of his
life had passed away slowly, but eventfully to him, and his whitened
hair and wrinkled face betokened that age had left its indelible mark
upon the once stalwart form of the Henry Schulte of days gone by. His
head was generally bowed as though in deep thought, whether at home
or abroad, and the broad shoulders seemed to have yielded to the
weight of trouble which had come upon him in those early days. He was
never seen to smile, and the hard, set lines about the mouth never
relaxed, however mirthful was the scene before him, or however
pleasurable the association in which he might accidentally find
himself placed. His violin was his only companion during the long
evening hours, and almost every night the harmonious strains of the
music which he evoked from that instrument could be heard by those
who journeyed upon the lonely road which passed in front of his
house.
In the early fall of 1877, an incident occurred, which, in the
disordered state of his mind, rendered it impossible for him to
remain any longer in fancied peace and security.
One morning about daybreak a party of gunners, who were in search of
game, were passing the premises occupied by Henry Schulte, when one
of their number, a nephew of the old man, being the son of his elder
brother, knowing his weakness in regard to being assassinated, and
from a spirit of mischief which prompted him, took careful aim and
fired directly through the window of the sleeping apartment of his
uncle, and then quickly and laughingly passed on. The old gentleman,
suddenly aroused from his slumbers, jumped up in affright, calling
loudly in the excess of his terror:
[Illustration: "_The old man jumped from his bed in affright,
calling loudly for help._"]
"Help! Help! The villains have attempted to murder me again!"
Frank Bruner, his servant, being thus awakened, ran to the window and
saw the party rapidly disappearing around a bend in the road. He
recognized Bartolf Schulte as being one of the party, and informed
his master of the fact.
"Mein Gott! Mein Gott!" exclaimed the old man. "My own brother's son
try to take my life--this is horrible. He wants my money and he tries
to kill me."
It was a long time before his violence subsided, but when at length
Frank succeeded in calming his excitement and restoring him to
reason, one idea seemed to have taken possession of him, and that was
that he must leave his home for his own safety, and that the sooner
this was accomplished the better it would be for him and for his
peace of mind.
No inducement that could be offered was sufficient to disturb his
resolution upon this point. No argument that could be suggested, but
what was urged against this seemingly insane notion, but all to no
avail. His mind was fully made up, and nothing could overcome the
settled determination which he had arrived at, to get away at once
from the place which threatened so much danger to his person, and in
which he was in constant dread and fear.
He therefore immediately began his preparations for departure, and
placing his property in the hands of a careful attorney at Hagen, he
lost no time in converting his available securities into money and
decided to take passage for America--a land of which he had heard so
much, and which promised a rest for his over-wrought mind.
He journeyed to Hamburg, and from thence in a few days, accompanied
by his servant, he took passage in a steamer, arriving in New York
City, "a stranger in a strange land," in the month of August in the
same year.