New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-10-27
ferred to. in order to get fun Development

4 ! .
money lost IN them than gained by thou
sand per cent. But we had been so strongly
pressed to attend this meeting that we were
constrained to be present
From the wedding reception, flushed
with wine-we had each taken three or four
glasses, and our heads were not very
strong-we went to this meeting to hear
about the maryelously rich deposit of al
most virgin copper discovered somewhere
on the range OF the great Minnesota con
glomerate belt. Maps and plans were
spread before US, specimens OF copper ore
exhibited, cost of land and the particulars
Of working mines and the money needed for
development set forth in eloquent detail.
Il soon saw that your father, IN whose
face was an unWonted glow, and III whose
ewes ahOne an unusual brightness, was be-
coming much interested, and foremost in
making inoairies, and getting at facts and
figures His ordinary GOODNESS and reserve
/ were gone. de had permitted himself to
come under the magnetism of the plausible
Individual who wished TO draw US into this
scheme Of fortune making, and was com
pletely carried away by his representations.
a. too, saw golden visions, and when
your father said, Gentlemen, / mean to go
into this thing was the first to respond,
so do g. Oar example was infectious. We
had the reputation Of being prudent, far
seeing men; and the fact that we saw money
in an undeyelOped copper mine, had
strong influence upon those present, none OF
whom had the remotest suspicion that our
judgment was obscured and our vision dis
tOfted by wine.
There were ten individuals present at
that meeting. Under your fathers lead
and mine the preliminary organization OF
joint stock company was made, and con-
Rittee appointed to procure charter. The
capital was to be $250,000, divided into
5000 shares at $50 each, the money to be
paid in by installments, as needed. As
shown by full estimates, and the resuls ac-
COmplished in leading mines, not over
900 would have to be expended before
paying returns were obtained. The stock
would then rise to par, commanding 800
share for ten paid in.
"Sour father headed Che subscriptions,
putting his name down for 1000 shares.
HIS faith and example were potent with
me, and I followed with 1000 more. Ia
few minutes the whole subscription was
full, and we had a compact organization OF
ten men, two Of whom, your father and I,
held the controlling influence, our proper
ton of shares being three-ffths OF the
WhOleonumber. 1t was voted to pay In at
once s. share, or $4,000, in order to make
q cash payment on the land and to get
funds for beginning Immediately the work
Of opening the mine. The charter would
COME anu Ul0 COlIIJduJ OtSdnlAdL4On pAO-
coed in due course.
~ went awaJ from that meeting feeling
strangely. On going to my store, l remem-
bered sitting down at my desk, and resting
my head between my hands, trying to think
Just where / stood, and what had been
doing. I remember saying to myself, as
the excitement under which | had been la
boring cooled down, and my brain got
clearer, Have | been dreaming or acting
the fOolP / was doing a moderately profit
able business, that required careful work
ing. My capital while sufficient to insure
success, was not large, and needed to be
well cared for and handled judiciously. l
could not take two thousand dollars away
from it without deranging my calculations
and limiting, in some degree, my operations.
And yet l had put down my name for a
thousand shares of stock, at a par value OF
fifty dollars each, and might be called on
to pay assessments to the full amount. !
felt the cold sweat on my forehead. said
to myself, What came over me l must
have lost my senses. Then it flashed into
my thought that the wine drank at your
sisters reception had been the evil influence
which led me astray-the binding power
that 0bscured my judgment. | was startled
at the revelation startled and ashamed.
"But there was now no going back upon
what had done. [ had entered into an
honorable contract, and could not, without
loss of business standing, refuse to meet its
requirements. Your father came to see me
late in the afternoon to talk over the new
mining enterprise. | saw that his fine en-
thusiasm was gone, and did not fail to OBJ
serve that in referring to the copper pro-
iect his mind rested more upon the work
that had to be done than on the splendid
results to be obtained He was not sure
that the sanguine individual who had led
us into this scheme was the cool, reliable, |
balanced man we needed for the manage |
ment of our affairs in the mining region. |
His calm, strong, practical mind was going |
over the whole ground in sober earnest; |
and it was plain that the rosy hues which |
had so pleased our eye a few hours before |
were fading fast away.
"But he was not one to look back after |
once putting his hands to any work. He |
was sensitive and proud, and more willing |
to face an enemy and dare loss than to |
acknowledge a mistake. Under the IN
fuence of his unwonted enthusiasm, he had |
drawn a number of capitalists and men OF
business into mining enterprise, and ne /
felt pledged to the work of its success.
CAT an early day our charter was IN
hand, when an election of officers was held,
and your father made president of the com
pany. The care and work, the anXieties
and disappOintments he endured for the
next year or two, in his efforts to manage
Iilb affairs OF lu6 company, UIOht HIS spirits
and impaired his health. Money was poured
into the mine like water into sand, assess
ment after assessment was made, until each
had paid in $50 p share. 1t
was impossible for me to take S3O, 600 out of
my business without destroying it; so |
was forced to sell half Of my stock at q loss
of fifty cents ON the dollar. | carried the
balance at Gripping cost. But your father
paid at each assessment, until be had
1DclynH IN cnytSfiautpc tbo+ |
manded no dividends, and had ceased to be |
quoted at any price in the stock market
Il will not detail the experience we had IN
copper mining. 1t was a continued series Of
tmepts from the time ground was
broken until the work was abandoned. Ore
was found, bat never in paying quantities.
What was sent to market paid us about
mill q pound Tor a dollar expended in pro
curing it. Our superintendent, whose calls
FOR money were incessant, always wrote III
the most glowing terms. Every indication
was good. We were surely approaching
1ne of the great lOdes which other oper-
stors had struck in that region, and the mo-
nent we reached it our stock would 60 up
% and far beyond par. But the lode was
never found At the end Of year and
laIf the mine was abandoned.
Il shall never forget the meeting Of Iii
'ectOrs at which we voted to stop work
I our father, who presided at the meeting,
at in the chair more like a statue than
living man. At its close, l walked away
With him He was not inclined to talk.
aw that he was deeply mortified, and evi-
lently much troubled: He had put $4,000
nto this bubble, and it had burst. The
and, for which we paid 10000, would not
ell for enough to meet the claims that still
tood against the company. So, all was
.one. AS we paused at corner Of the
treet where our ways parted, no said, with