The Days of a Man 



D8 9 6 



Forlorn 

 hope 



Rigid 

 economies 



On my own initiative I then ventured to draw up 

 a document constituting a special trust group to 

 whom was assigned all right and title in any prop- 

 erties coming to Mrs. Stanford as her husband's 

 residuary legatee; signed and recognized as legally 

 valid, it would leave practically nothing in her name 

 at the moment of death. As members of the pro- 

 posed trust I chose three of her most loyal and 

 substantial friends. These men were in no way 

 consulted, and so far as I know have never learned 

 of the confidence involved. Each night for nearly 

 two years Mrs. Stanford placed the document on a 

 table at her bedside, where it could be signed in 

 case of sudden illness. Fortunately, that emergency 

 never arose. Whether or not the paper would have 

 been valid in law I do not know, but it would cer- 

 tainly have made a powerful appeal to the public 

 sentiment of California. 



During all those years of struggle, Mrs. Stan- 

 ford's personal economies were many and severe, 

 every avoidable outlay of whatever' kind being 

 rigidly eliminated. In June, 1896, as I was about 

 to leave for Bering Sea on a government commission, 

 she asked if I did not think she could again afford a 

 housekeeper, now that our affairs were looking so 

 much better. For three years her establishment 

 had been served by two domestics only a Chinese 

 cook and an aged butler of other days. 



Somewhat earlier, having gone to Washington to 

 close and settle up the affairs of the residence occu- 

 pied by her husband and herself during his period 

 as Senator, she chose to live in a private car to 

 which (as partner in the Southern Pacific) she was 

 entitled, instead of going to an expensive hotel. Of 



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