The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1879-04-10
A Lucky Holder.

A San Francisco correspondent writes
| There are so many curious turns of
fortunes wheel on the. Comstock. /
heard only yesterday of n case where
| cold-blooded persistency of purpose and
tenacity of grit in face of most discour-
! aging circumstances won big fortune
| and the case is. the more remarkable
| because, knowing the parties, meet
ing them almost every day, being fami-
liar with their surroundings, etc,
never before heard of it. 1t leaked out
only by accident. Mr.. Root is the man
who designed all the machinery, laid all
the plans, made all the contracts, and
superintended the work of building Gov.
Stanford's famous wire-cable street-rail-
road in this city, which runs distance
of two miles through the richest and
best part of the city, and is to-day the
model street-railway of the continent
Root is a young man, not over thirty-six,
thin, wiry, homely, and-well, shabby
He is splendid mechanic, and though
for long time in Central Pacific en-
ploy, nobody knew him until he built
the Stanford street-railway, entirely on
his own plans, that there was so much
in him. To look Mt him you wouldn't
think Root ever saw mining-stock
certificate. ~,
Yet one day when Sierra Nevada
was booming along at 900, Root walked
into the office of leading broker, an
old friend, and said:
Dan, guess we'd better get rid of
some of this now," and he handed over
two certificates, one of 500 shares and
the other of 100. Dan" took them,
looked them over, and noticed that the
backs of both were perfectly covered
with receipts for assessments.
"Where in the world did you get
these?" asked Dan.
Bought 'em four years ago" said
Root. Had 'em lying in my trunk ever
since. Paid, think, fifty cents a share
for some, six bits for some more, and got
some for two bits. Been paying assess
ments ever since religiolSly, and the
whole lot stands me in about SIS share.
| want you to sell half of it now, for I
guess it's time to call the turn" and
within three days 300 shares of Roots
stock found market at from $2eO to
1920, and his broker passed to his credit
over 100000.
The other 300 shares he got rid Of at
1925 and S240. and about $4,000 more
went TO his credit. He hauled down
$4,000, and then, as to the rest, said to
his broker (and here is the point ] want
to make), Z" want you to put so many
thousand into Norcross, so many into
California, SO many into Curry, and so
many into Belcher. Pay for them. let
them lie; and when assessments come
pay on them"
But" said the broker, "you may
have to wait, and'-
That's just what ! expect to do
wait. But sooner or later some one or
the other Of those stocks will make me
fortune"
And this is the spirit that our average
working Californian goes into specula-
ton on the Comstock with. Few here
buy Comstock stocks for dividends. Let
mine there begin to pay dividends. and
unless they are very big, or the mine
has prospect of keeping them up, not
dollar is added to the value of the stock.
Our quiet buyer, our business man, our
slrewd capitalist, are all actuated by
the same idea. Buy them when they
are cheap, lay them away, and sooner or
later if any mine within mile makes a
strike we may make 500 per cent. If the
strike should come in our own mine we
may make from 5000 to 10000 per cent,
and, perhaps if we have stock enough,
walk off with the fortune we expected to
have to work all our lives for"