The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-10-16
THE SAPPHIRE COMPANY.
How the Underwriters in London
Float a Corporation With
Large Capital.
The Founders the HeavyweiUhts
and the Subscribers Farmers
and Tradesmen.
In . rav week. tho Result VIII He Known
The Title to tho EldoradO Bar
Property.

H.F -Tn0 V1tlO W tuc H1lWVI~NV pa
Property.
Interest in the final outcome OF the nego
tiations looking to the acquiring OF som
of the sapphire and ruby bearing groun,
on the Missouri near Helena, is becoming
quite intense, not only in this city, but also
in New York and across the water. 1t !
thought that tho matter will be finally de
oided next week. when the subscription
books will be open for the first time. Sub
acriptions will be asked for to the extent o
g., $50, 900. The method Of organizing q,
English company differs radically from
that employed in this country. The matte
is placed in the hands Of . man called Al
underwater, who ia generally q banker. !
it is a mining company, he sends experts t,
examine the ground, and carefully look int
all the details. If satisfied, he agrees t.
organize q company, capitalized at a Ger
tain sum, and in return is to receive . goot
commission. Now the underwriters worl
begins. First he secures as founders ant
officers men w~ell.known in every walk In
English life. Every firm of under
WTlv0I6 " u u AA0V VI
that ia, the names of the farmers, trades
men and others who are in tho habit of buy
ing shares. To these the underwater sends
a lot of printed matter. giving the namel
of the founders and officers of the company
and telling what the company has and what
it proposes to do. Then a day and hour is
set when the taking of subscriptions will
cease. As a rule tho subscriptions are fol
a hundred pounds or 80, and in rare in
stances are they for very large amounts,
The underwriters usually have besides their
London Office, branches in Paris, Amster-
dam, or Antwerp.
The plan above outlined il the one used
to float the Sapphire d Ruby company Of
Montana, and within a few weeks its sue
and directors the underwriters who have
the matter in charge have received the
names of some of the most prominent men
in Great Britain. Among these is
the Duke of Portland, reputed to
be the third richest man in
England, and who is also said to be very
stiney; the marquis of T~weeddale, gov
ernor Of the Commercial bank of Scotland,
which has a capital Of $4,000, 000; Sir Robert
Worier, ambassador to Russia; Sir Francis
Knollsys, secretary to the prince of Wales;
Lord Safisld, equerry to the prince OF
Wales; Sir James Whitehead, ex-lord
mayor of London; Frank c. Burnard. the
ford. of Westminster Abbey; Stewart Pix
ley, of Pixley & Abel, Rothchild's bullion
brokers; Sir Arthur s. Sullivan; Walter NJ.
Chimney, a broker reported to be worth
E1.OO0,0 600. Besides these there are five
near relatives of the duke Of Westminster,
two cousins. Then there are lords, earls,
lawyers, railway officials, bankers. a dia-
mond merchant, and = lot of Others of no
particular calling or title, but all ~well-known
in England.
The directors are Lord Chelmsford. Fred
erick q. Bowman. Sir Robert II. Collins,
II. Mallaby, Deely Nelford Hallett, W.. B.
Quincy. Littlewood Horatio Stewart and
Edwin w. Streeter. The secretary is H.
Moir. Tho directors of AZ English COM
pany receive under the law either three or
five guinsas for every meeting they attend.
These are the people who, If the subscrip-
tions are taken, will take an interest in the
Missouri river sapphire fields.
A few days ago TBE INDEPENDENT pub
lished a statement taken from tho Butte
Mining journal about the doinRs of Henry
L. Haupt on Eldorado bar. In a recent
issue of the r-Mountain there is an
interview with E. H. Coonsy, editor of the
Journal, in which that gentleman says:
"Spratt's title to the ground cannot DO
questioned, and he has paid ten times over
the value of all the Improvements in that
vicinity. He has put nearly $1,C00,0O0 In
that section. He paid $4,000 at one time
for the Trout creek plaoers, and has since
expended $780, 600 or more. When he came
to Montana four or five years ago he gave
Robert Smith $1,000 for his interest in one
of the sapphire fields. He made it an OBJ
ject for a large number of men to take Up
elaine of twenty acres each, do the ASSESS
ment work on the ground, and he paid the
men any price they asked. 1t soon got out
that he had lots of money back of him,
who was in debt sold something to Spratt
at almost any figure and got out of debt.
The country just boomed and Spratt bought
and paid for all tho Improvements until he
secured 1900 acres of ground. Besides he
has spent thousands of dollars in subse-
auent improvements. Why. l was offered
one time $3.50 to swear to a lie in connec-
tion with the scheme to beat Spratt. Mr..
Haupt's cause is a very weak one. II is
something like his jumping of old man
Twohy's property. and this Dubord, who
was with him in that. Ia also with him on
the Eldorado bar scheme. He has a bad
reputation, this man Dubord, and nobody
would believe him. If such mon are to be
allowed to Illustrate legitimate business. it
is about time the country was turned oyer
TO them. But their day of reckoning will
come"
y. ,. Spratt gives the following history
of how he came to possess Eldorndo bar:
'The Eldorado Bar Ditch company, who
owned the ground. after spending ovar$1OO,-
600 on it, finally sold to Robert Smith. I
bought it from him. When the surveyor
employed to estimate if there had been
sufficient work done to entitle to patent
made his report, he called q wooden hume,
built by the ditch company, an improve
ment. Walter W.Arnold, for Haupt, claimd
that he owned the flume, when the fact was
/ had a bill of sale for it from Smith. AS
to the story that I forced mon to
swear to things in the land Office, l was not
in tho country at the time, and did not
know what was done. just before /
received my patent Haupt made a location
on the ground. The secretary of the inte-
rior, after looking into the matter, refused
to open the case. / have had my patent for
the Eldorado bar property for a year and a
half"
The Weser.
The Weser Mining company has started
to sink a shaft on the Weser lode, which
was stocked a few weeks ago. They have
had some fine ore in the tunnel, which is
now in 100 feet. The Weser lode has q fine
HhOWinp for the Ace