The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-04-15
JIM KEENE'S COUP.
THE STORY OF HIS BATTLE WITH
THE BONANZA MEN.
An Expert on the I,5OO-Foot Level
Drawing a Map from Note Book
Data Creating a Panic in
Mining Stocks.
New York Times.l

created great deal of excitement among
stock spectators in California some fifteen
years ago, has never, think, been told
in detail A man who asserted himself TO
be one of the principal actors In the trans
action gave me the particulars one windy
night last winter, as we sat IN II tie min.
ing cabin on one of the black slopes of
the Sierra Nevadas watching with hungry
eyes our supper of bacon and iiapiacks
cooking on the stove My friend, whom
l will call Hill was flat on his back at the
time, dead broke but he talked as airly
and farmiliarly Of untold millions as
though the miserable shanty was place
on Mob hill and the fapjack he was toss
ing was block of stock just ready to be
hurled upon the market to make or break
the fortunes of the day.
AT the time l refer to, Jim" Keene
was just coming prominently into view
among the little coterie of dashing spec
ulatOrs which, in those days, ruled Cali
fornia street with a rod of iron. He was
a large holder in the Consolidated Vir-
ginia and California mines on the Com
stock so heavy a holder, in fact, that he
was allowed the privilege of having an
exert in the mine to look after his in
teTests. The bonanza crowd, Flood,
O'Brien, ct al, also held large blocks of
stock, which they were trying to unload
upon Keene, and in pursuance of this
design were circulating rose colOred re.
ports of extraordinary indications and
rich strikes, especially on the 1,500-foot
level Keene's expert accordingly turned
all his attention TO that part of the mine
Now, once In the labyrinth of drifts and
leads, which constitute the big Comstock
mines, it is, of course, impossible to OBJ
tain any idea of their topography without
the aid of instruments and these he was
not allowed to have The expert, not to
be outdone, had a small compass inserted
in his watch locket and also provided
himself with a pedometer. By the aid of
these he could easily obtain data which
would enable him to construct tolera-
bly, correct map of the level and so get at
the true condition of affairs.
But on the second day he was detected
and Mr.. Keene was informed that his
man could not enter the mine again The
expert went down to the ebay and had a
long talk with Keene He told him that,
as far as he could judge, the mine was
worthless, but, of course, could not sup
port his assertions with proofs The
bonanzI people, seeing that it was neces-
sary to disarm any suspicious Keene
might have, invited him to make per
sonal inspection of the mine The drifts
and leads to the big silver mines are gen
orally boarded up at all sides by loosely
fitting planking Through the chinks it
Is easy to see whether the drift is running
through pay dirt or through country of
barren rock The bonanza crowd sailed
three or four of the drifts by putting ore
behind the boards and keene was then
shown through. There were millions in
sight everywhere and they kept leading
him backwards and forwards through the
sailed leads until he should suppose he
had seen the entire level
Keene went back to San Francisco not
knowing what to think. Naturally. he
suspected the bonanza people, and there
was the evidence of his expert On the
other hand. he knew what he had seen
with his own eyes. In this emergency
the expert telegraphed in cipher to Hill,
who was then in Virginia City, saying
that the bonanza people were about to
clay down" on Keene, and asking him if
he could do anything to prevent it. Hill
went at once to the foreman of the mine
and tried to bride him to tell him the real
condition of the mine. Failing in this. he
remembered that he knew a shift boss on
that particular level He knew him to be
an intelligent young fellow, and that he
had taken very full notes about the real
condition of the mine at that point He
addressed himself to him and finally sue
ceeded in obtaining his notch book. With
that as a guide, Hill drew a map of the
l, 500-foot level, showing all the drifts,
ore deposits, etc-in fact describing with
minute particularly the mine as it really
was. The two men went to San Fran
cisco and had an interview with Keene
After carefully examining the map, Keene
expressed himself as satisfied that the
mine was worthless. In return for the
service they had done him, Kcene gave
Hill and his partner 100000 margin at
his brokers'
The stock was to be cut up into smaller
shares in few days, and Hill determined
10 buy first believing that the stock
would advance a point or two on the
division. Then his plan was to sell every
thing short on the merits of the mine.
They told Kcene what they proposed to
do. He bluntly advised them to sell
short at once, and when they persisted
told them that he intended in that case to
sell 100 900 himself to cover his own III
terests They disregarded his advice and
bought The next day. TO their horror,
the map, neatly Autographed, was hung
out on California street. Amidst the
most intense excitement the stock com
menced to fall The newspapers came
out with brOadsides on the criminality of
Gbels for speculative purposes, and the
bonanza people offered heavy sum for
the apprehension of the author of the
bogus map, as it was called
But it was of no use. The facts were
there, and the stock fell. In q few hours
Fortunes were made and other fortunes
were swept away in twinkling, while
millions of dollars changed hands. Hill
and his partner lost, of course, with the
rest of the .unfortunates who were on the
wrong side of the market Keene. who
had disposed fast Of his own stock, sold
everything short, clearing by the coup
several millions, while the bonanza crowd
lost between them a teI- score of moder-
ate fortunes. "Of course, said Hill, as
he applied himself to the fruits of his cul-
mary efforts, "we didn't really lose any
thing g, for the 800, 600 we had belonged
to K eene, and we only had the use of it as
q margin Sometimes, though, | wish |
hadn't thought l knew more about stocks
than jim Keene, and had taken his adj
vice If l had we would have cleared
something handsome But, you see, /
never dreamed he would have the nerve
to hang that map out on the street and
bring everything down with rush.