Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-09-11
MINING SHARKS.

The Leadyille Democrat gives tender
 feet who visit that camp the benefit of
 the following warning:
 In every mining community there are
 10 be found set of men who live and
 thrive off the credulous and inexperi- ! Cnced. They are well mp in all the wiles and subtleties of the business. They ! know every lead, lode and indication within a wide circle, and are ever ready ! tO sell, for a song. a property which will l soon exceed the Lee and Robinson in | value, and woe be to the innocent ten derfo0t who plants his shekels withoutla careful examination in person. and d. companied by an expert Of character and standing. Should he do SO he Is 1 just as certain to lose it, in nine cases out of ten. as he would be were he to sit at the table covered with green cloth. Now, ali this tends to bring legitimate mining operations into discredit, and to l embarrass those who are engaged hon orably in this, as m any other business, and while it k thus general in its bad effects, the poor impoverished subject of the swindle crawls away to hide his dis tress and his sUlierings from the eyes of those who have wrought his ruin. The
 business of trading and speculating in
 mining stocks is as intricate and difficult
 as the grain and cotton futures which
 ruin so many men annually. IL matters
 not if the man who sells them conducts lus- business -halaind -a-fssl-'@pshle and
 and diamonds. or If he IS enco.ss f-l.l,
 rough California duck and pursues the business on the street corners or in the
 slums of State or Chestnut streets-the
 result is the same, loss to the investor
 and distress to his family.
 Every summer great numbers of men
 come here to see tbe sights and revel III
 our fine mountain scenery. These are
 rich plucking for the mine sharks. A
 few hundred dollars will induct these
 innocents, fresh from the States, with all
 the aroma of inexperience hanging
 about them, into the mysterious delights
 of the mining operator. Visions Of
 great wealth-Of Little Pittsburgs, Morn- ing Stars. Robert l.. Lees, and Robin
 sons-hash before the eyes of the nov ice. A.beautiful villa on the Hudson, a palace on Fifth avenue, or trip to Europe, at the very least, Is the instant
 plan, and nothing short of it, or all Of them, can be tolerated for a moment.
 Time passes, and ohl how quickly. The first of January comes and the assess ment has not been worked, and away goes the title; and false, iilusionary and tantalizing appears that place on the American Rhine, and that place on the boulevard of Shoddy.
 The vast number of utter failures in | in this way are never taken into account It is only the few successes which at l tract attention and comment The bro ken hearts, broken lives and crushed houes are pushed aside, and that Is the | last of them, while the whole world sur rounds the car of the bonanza king, and 1 fills his ears with the plaudits which all ways attends success, no matter how won. It is the same old story, as old as | the hills in whose breasts are hidden
 the treasures which are the first cause ! of nearly all the misery of this life.
 Nor can We see that there Is any safe guard against the swindhng operations ] of bad men in this way. They violate no statute: they simply practice upon hu- man credulity, and the very best that can be doneis to warn those who are ! likely to fall into their ClGtches. This l has been done fearlessly and frankly, ! times out of number, by the press. And | we utter and repeat the warning aSaln, ! with an added earuestuess, because oi 1 recent distress from this source. There
 is a good wide margin in legitimate min 1 ing operations. but they must be con- l ductcd as other busin ,ss operations are, l and the idea uf sudden and vast wealth must be very promptly dismissed. Hard
 work. close, careful economy, and strict
 attention-personal attention-to busi-
 ness will accomplish as much Tn this way as in any other business, but one must
 steer w1deof the mine sharks if he would carry out of the country with him the capital he brings in, with decent inter
 est added.