The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1876-04-13
THE EMMA NINE HISTORY
Wr. TrenOr W. Parks Narrative
Estimate Of the Value Of the Mine,

WASHINGTON, April 5.-Trenor w. Park
testified before the Committee on For
eign Affairs to day, relating the circum'
stances of the purchase of the Emma
mine by himself Baxter and others
During their examination of the mile
previous to purchasing, he gathered spec
linens of the ore and took them to the
assay Office at Salt Lake, where he learn
ed that the ore would pay $l20 a ton, or
G37 sterling if delivered in England. lie
considered it cheap mine at So, 100000.
From the date of their purchase in April
to the last of August, the value OF the ore
taken out was 1895, 900 gross, and the ex-
pense of working the mine $28,6
Shortly after Parks arrival in London,
Fisher and Coates wanted to buy the
mine without delay. They said they al
ready knew about its value from sales of
ore from it that had been made in Eng
land. Park thought this was going rather
fast, but after honestly telling Coates he
did not know the present condition of
the mine, but could only vouch for its
past condition, he finally yielded to the
urgent request of Coates to name his fig
ures, and told him he would sell for &4OO-
600 in cash, one half of it, and G5OO,O0
in fully paid up shares for the other half
Park told Coates that he of course ex-
pected the purchase would be contingent
upon a satisfactory report on the mine to
be made by some scientific expert or ex-
perts of the purchasers own selection
subsequently Coates and the English
parties represented seleCled Prof Sill
man to examine and report on the mine
Park did not suggest Silliman's name or
mention him at all Coates told witness
Silliman was selected as being "the Sir
Robert Murchison of America" Park
inquired of Jay Cooke, MCCulloch & Co.,
as to the ability of Coates and his part
ner to carry through the arrangement for
the purchase which they agreed to, as
soon as he named the figures above
stated, anG was told in reply that it was
doubtful if they could carry it through
unless they had the famous Albert Grant
at their back.
The witness then related facts attend
ing the failure of Coates to comply with
theterms of the negotiation, and said that
Pollard informed him it was out of the
question for Coates to raise &400 900 ster-
ling. Coates had introduced him to AL
bert Grant, with whom he and Senator
Stewart subsequently had an interview
at Brighton by invitation. Grant was
willing to undertake to put the Emma
mine on the market provided the ven
ders paid all expenses in the event of a
failure. Park objected to this, saying he
would take the mine away with him un-
less he could sell at his own price. Sub
sequent events were related, including
the guarantee of title to the mine, which
was given by Park and Baxter, and also
the facts connected with the formation
of the London Emma Mine Co. If there
was anything dishonest in the sale of the
Emma mine in England, or any fraud, OR
sharp practice between gentlemen, the
witness said, under his oath, that he
knew nothing whatever about it, the
mine was worth now as much as it was
sold for. The witness received the unan-
imous vote of the Board of Directors for
the fairness of the manner in which he
conducted the business. The witness re
ferred to the scandalous reports which
had been circulated in London for the
purpose of injuring the stock, which led
to the sending to Utah Of Mr.. Williams
to examine the mine in order, at the re-
quest of the witness, to verify the truth
of his statements and Of Silliman's re-
port. The telegram sent by Williams to
Park from Utah was to the effect that
not only was Silliman's report verified
but the discoveries of ore were beyond
what had been previously represented
Williams then bought thousand shares
of the Emma mine stock.