Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-04-26
The Silver Kings.
THE THREE RICHEST MEN IN AMERICA.

l AhE- AhhHt htlSE MIN IN AMF.lslNas
Seven years ago ;here were two Irishmen
| IN the city of San Francisco keeping drink
ing bar of very modest pretensions, close to
one of the principal business thoroughfares.
Their customers We're ofall kinds, but chiefly
commercial men and clerks Among them
was an unusually large proportion OF stock
| AMI share dealers. mining brokers and the
| like, who. in the intervals of speculation,
rushed ont o. the neighboring Exchange five
or six times day for drinks. Whiskey be
| ing almost the religion of California, and the
| two little bar-keepers being careful to sell
| none but the best article. their bar soon be-
came place of popular resort And as no
true Californian could ever swallow n drink
| of whiskey under any circumstances without
| talking about silver mines or gold mines or
shares in mines, it soon fell out that, next to
| the Stock Exchange itself, there was no place
in San Francisco where SO much mining
talk went on as in the saloon of Messrs.
Flood & OBrien, which Were the names Of
the two. Keeping their ears wide open, and
sitting the mass of gossip that they listened
to every day. these two gentlemen picked up
| good many crumbs of useful information,
besides getting now and then a direct conf
| dental tip and they turned some of them
| to such good account III a few quiet little
| speculaticns, that they shortly had n COM
Portable sum of money lying at their bank
ers. Instead of throwing IN away headlong
| in wild eNtrayagant ventures. which was the
joyous custom of the average Californian in
those days, they let it lie where it was. wait
ing, with commendable prudence, Till they
knew of something good to put it into. They
soon heard of something good enough. On
Fairs advice they bought shares in mine
called the Hale and Norcross, and were
speedily taking out OF it fifteen thousand
pounds a month in dividends. This mine
was the property of a company, and though
it had at one time paid large and continuous
dividends, 1t was now supposed to be worked
out and worthless. Mr.. Fair, however, held
n different opinion and when he came to
examine it carefully, he found what he ex-
pected to find-a large deposit of silver ore.
Tnereupon he and Flood and O'Brien to-
gether bought up all the shares they could
fay their hands upon, and obtained complete
control of the mine.
Besides being a clever and experienced
miner, Mr.. Fair entertained the belief that
by patient examination into holes and corn
ers of the mine he would discover a gigantic
vein of silyer-bearing ore He discovered
the vein, the estimated value of which was
hundred and twenty millions sterling.
In the excitement caused by this astound-
ing discovery it is scarcely more than the
nara truth 10 say that San francisco went
raving mad. The vein in which the Bonanza
was found, was known to run straight through
the Consolidated Virginia and California
mines, dipping down as it went and could
not be traced any farther. But that fact was
nothing to people who were bent on having
mining stock and vein or no vein, the
stock they would have. Consequently they
bought into every mine in the neighborhood
good and bad alike sending prices up to
unheard of limits. and investing millions in
worthless properties that have never yielded
a shilling i'll dividends. and never will. When
Flood had bought large quantity of the
Bonanza stock, and had assured to himself
and his partners the controlling interest in
the mines, he recommended all his friends TO
buy a little and O'Brien did the same.
Those who took the advice are now drawing
their proportionate shares of dividends,
amounting to about $500 900 month. The
majority of chose who bought into other
mines are, in Californian parlance, busted.
What these three men and their latest part
ner, Mackey. are going to do with their
money is a curious problem, the solution of
which will be watched with great interest in
year or two to come The money they
hold now is yielding them returns so enor-
nous that their maddest extravaganza could
MAKE no impression on the amount