The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1875-11-04
THE PACIFIC COAST MIDAS.

John MaekeJ's Ten HiIIIOHs OF Dollars
Annually Poor AlnIng Lab0TeF
who Became the Peer OF The dIll'
iOnaIEes Of California, ana has q
Larger Income shan aBJ other
American.
Ten years ago John Msckey was
working as q mining laborer in lit
tie exploring shaft in Virginia City
He swung his pick vigorously, and
WAS paid 81 q day. To-day be has
larger income than sny other single
individual in America, and if his
wealth continues to accumulate as 1T
has for the past two years, his fortune
will rival that OF the richest Roth
child. Mr.. Maekey is the head Of the
great mining firm Of Flood 4 O'Brieu
Of tkis c:.y, whose gigantic operations
and aggregation of capital recently
swamped the Bank of California, and
hurled sharon, Rslston, snd Jones
from their financial pedestal.
The members OF the firm are John
Maekey, James @. Flood, William >.
O'Brien and Colonel James q. Fair.
Mr.. Mackey is the financial head,
Flood and O'Brien attend to tie in
terests of the firm in California, and
Col Fair is working superintendent
of the mines in Virginia City. The
latter embrace the famous Consolida-
ted Virginia, the richest mine ever
discovered IN. Nevada. now turning
out million and half month /; the
California, adjoining it, with even q
larger body OF ore the Hale and Nor
crOss, Best and Beleher, Gould, and
Gould and Curry, Sierra, Nevada,
Mexican, and finally the famous
Savage, which in years gone by has
turned out its millions. Besides, they
own 3 score of small mines, any one
of which may at any time turn up a
bonanza.
MR.. MACKEY's INCOME.
or the entire business and profits OF
the firm Mr.. Mackey has three-f fifths
interest, The firm owns q, 900 shares
of Consolidated Virgins stock, on
WHICH they declare q monthly divi-
dend of $40 3 share. Mackey's share
Of this is SS46, 600 q month. or stock
in the California mine they own 90.
600 shares. The first monthly divi-
dend of $40 is t. be declared in No
vember, and this will add to Mr..
Maekey's income $300, 600 a month.
The other mines that the firm con-
troll pay no dividends, but they yield
q large revenue to the firm In ways
more indirect, For instance the firm
own all the wood used in their work.
ing, both for fueling aud for timberipg
and they sell it to the companies At
an enormous profit. The Savage,
Hale and NorcrOss, and Gould and
Curry all crush more or less ore, and
this is done In the firms mills at q
cost of $l3 ton. The yield OF silver
being scarcely enough to pay the cost
of both mining and crushing, assess
meuts are levied to make up the def
cheney. The firms income from this
source and from crushing the ore OF
the Consolidated Virginia, which is
also done in their own mills, is esti-
mated at $50, 900 8 month, of which
put Mr.. Mackey down for $50. 900.
Add to this the prospective profits
of the Nevada Bank. which has just
opened with cash capital of $4,000,
600 and which is the exclusive prop
erty of the firm, aud you may then
figure out the income OfMr. Maekey.
The Rank Of California paid for years
Is per cent. on their IS, ,000, GOO capital
The profits OF the new bank can not
be less. This amounts to $500, 900, or
5000 month, of which Mr.. Mack
ey's S45, 900. To sum up, then, Mack
ey will have for the next year from
this mining and bullion interests
alone the colossal income OF SS3l 600
a month, or at the rate of nearly $l0,
600, a year. This does not iEclHde
the income of the vast wealth in real
estate. For the past year he has been
making large investments in the
very heart OF the city. Whole blocks
OF the most valuable real estate in
San Francisco have been purchased,
and the income from these can not be
estimated, but it must be enormous.
A MODEST MILLIONAIRE.
Mr.. Mackey is the most retiring
and modest of any of Callfornia's
milliOnsIFes. He lives in. Virginia
City, but his family spend most OF
their time in this city. He dresses
plainly, and might be supposed to be
Well-to-dO farmer, nothing
more. Already the politicians OF
Nevada are moving to make him
Senator Jones' successor in Washing.
ton. II he wants the place he can
undoubtedly buy it for less money
than Jones paid, for Nevada pOlitl-
clans are poor and hungry and will
sell out cheap.
+ OF Mackey's partners, ]. G. Flood
is the most important. With OBrien
Flood used to keep a little groggery
in Sansome street in this city. They
did not close the establishment until
1867. They made some money at the
business, and invested it with Mack
ey in the purchase of the ground that
is part of the Consolidated Virginia
mine. Flood and O'Brieu are Irish
men. They are shrewd and sharp in
business, generous to their friends,
and unrelenting to their enemies.
They took up s poverty-strieKen
newspaper man last spring-a man
who had done them some little turn
while they were in the whisky busi-
ness and In three days made him
worth 5000. On the other hand,
Sharon, RSIston, and the Bank Of
California, which had offended them,
they crushed out in three weeks, and
they would have kept the hank down
but for R2lston's death and the popu-
lar outcry against them Flood recent
ly bought S., ,000, 600 worth of real es-
tate, and said himself just before the
new bank opened that be had 3, 600
600 lent on call at one per cent. q
month. His wealth is second only to
that of Mackey. Col. Fair is the only
man of book education In the firm.
He'has long been a mining superin-
tendent, and is somewhat noted for
tricks that are vain. When he was
poor, few years ago, he was known
6y some as "LyIng Jim Fair" and by
others as "Slippery Jim," but they al
call him Col. Fair now. He is wOrti
ten miIIiOns.-N Y Sun.