Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-09-19


TO make anything out Of the concern.
and that, as far as gold was concerned,
there would never be enough to pay for
the cost Of sending out machinery.
Sometimes, by means known to the ini.
tiaied in tho mysteries Of "bulllng and
bearing shares would 90 down with
run 10 the extent Of pound or even
more. but only TO rise few days later
TO a higher price than they had ever yet
commanded in the market. This was
all we wanted-this was, in fact, what
we called working the Trixie gold
mine.
We were all making morsy. Our
chairman. Lord Bunkum, who when Ne
Joined us had scarcely tive-pound note
he could call his own, was now COM
paratively wealthy man. lie had taken
advantage Of every fall in the shsres to
buy and Of every rise to sell, so that he
could now write himself down as worth
at least ten thousand pounds sterling.
lie and bis brother directors show
themselves wise men--what they made
in our shares they invested elsewhere,
so as to be under cover when the storm
which we knew must one day overtake
us should burst. Even I, the secreta-
~, who had paid five hundred pounds
for nv berth, followed the example OF
the rest and bought and sold until
| had, for an humble individual like
myself, a large balance at my bankers.
As for Nixon, the promoter, there was
no saying what he might or might not
have pocketed since the Trixie gold
mine had been called into existence.
But what was best Of all was the fact
that the small shareholders-halfpay
officers, comparatively poor clergymen,
ladies with small incomes which they
wished to increase. and the like-were
all more or less contented. To them-to
individuals who had perhaps, say, twen-
ty-five or thirty shares-it seemed
a perfect godsend to get two or three
times what they had invested, and this,
too, in a round sum Of ready money
instead of in driblets in the shape OF
balf-yearly dividends. In fact, until
the crash came, which it did in about
six months after the ship had been
launched, a happier family than the
Shareholders of the Trixie gold mine
could hardly be found, and it seemed
quite a pity that our happiness should
be brought to an end, as it most unex-
pectedly was, in the following manner :
Like other joint-stock companies, We
had our regular half.yearly meetings,
at which few complimentary remarks
we're made respecting his lordShip the
chairman and the other directors, and a
few unimportant and not very truthful
statements were made as to when the
mine would be in working order, and
about the large dividends that were to
be made. At one Of these meetings,
when everything had passed off in the
usual manner, and shareholder was
on the point Of rising to propose the
usual vote Of thanks to our noble chair
man, a gentleman got up and said he
wished to ask a few questions. lie
began by stating that, though only 2
holder Of twenty shares, be was greatly
| interested in the affairs Of the cOmplny,
and would like to have information on
the following particulars In the first
place, were the chairman and directors
able to affirm with certainty that the
favorable reports Of the state of the
mine were not exaggerated? Could
they assert of their own knowledge that
the specimens Of rock and stone so fall
of particles of gold were genuine-that
is to say, that they had been yeritably
dispatched from the Trixie mine by
honest men? And lastly, Was the
Board able to say about at what period
the shareholders would be paid divi-
dend, and how much that dividend was
likely to be?
The speaker then sat down, and from
the hurried. anxious manner in which
the directors put their heads together,
it was evident that they felt there was
some difficulty, and not small one,
about the reply. However, after few
minutes consultation the chairman rose
and tried to give the best answers he
could to the qustions asked.
In the first place, he said he and his
colleagues on the Board could and did
pledge themselves that the report which
had been drawn out was strictly in &C
cordauce with the documents that
had been put before them in
their official capacity; that, to the
best Of their belief, these reports
were true and not more favorable thar
the documents before them warranted.
To the second query the Directors could
only reply that the specimens Of rock
and stone had been sent them by the
engineers who had been sent out to in
spect the mines, and they had no doub
Of their being genuine. And thirdly
as regards the dividend which the share
holders might expect, the Directors
could only say that, though it was i'm
possible for them to fix the actual tins
when it would be paid, they might con
fidently anticipate that it would be
within the next two months, and that i
would in all probability be more, Get
tainly not less. than from 10 to Is pc
cent.
On hearing these answers the meet
ing not only loudly applauded, bu
would listen to nothing more from thu
shareholder, who had evidently com'
there with the intention of annoying
the directors and Of bringing the com
pany into disrepute with the public
The chairman saw at once the advsn
tsge he had gained, and determined t
follow it up. So, when returning
thanks for the vote of thanks PROPOSED
to himself and the board, he alluded il
a half-playful manner to the way il
which some persons seemed t
take pleasure in depreciating thci
own property, and in trying t
iDjure concerns in which the!
were themselves interested, or, as h
put it, Sin crying sinking fish" re
spectiDg what they'carried in their Owl
baskets. The result OF the skirmisl
was decided score in favor of the no
BILE chairman and the Board, and a ris'
in the prices at which the shares wer,
quoted. AS a matter of course tn