St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-16


ran out. Moffatt at once sounded the
alarm, but 1t was then too late and he
was never, caughts The incident was
rather hhmiliating opeto Mr.. Moffatt,
but the money lost was nothing to him.
ANY sensible man would have done the
same. You see you can't calculate
very closely as to whether mans pis-
tol Is loaded when the cock Is raised
and man has his finger on the trigger.
1t don't pay to risk the pressure Of that
hHger. This was the situation Of Moi
fatt. The. bottle might have contained
dynamite and might have been as dan
gerous In Its explosive power as the
pomo which was thrown at Russell
Sage. He was wise in not risking 1t.
SOME FORTUNES.
II suppose abiga fortunes are often
made in Colorado by chance. are they
not, senator? Mining is to a large ex-
tent matter of luck?"
YES" said the senator, s1uck has
a great deal to do with it 1t takes
luck, brains and. nerve. bought a
mine once for about $4,000. and made
100000 out of, it. I had a chance to
go into another for $4,000. 1 would
have had to borrow money to do so,
and 1 was afraid Of it. This was
for third interest, and within short
$4,000. 900. I would have made nearly
$l,0OO.OOO out Of my $4,000. but 1 had
not at that time the nerve to risk 1t.
The same fellows who asked me to go
In with them to buy that mine have
lately made a big strike at Cripple
Creek. They bought mine and stocked
1t on the basis Of five cents share
to raise the $4,000 which they needed
to develop it. The face value of the
stock was 100000 at the start, and it
cost those who went in only five cents
on the dollar. 1t is now worth more
than s1,5OO.000, and every five cents
put into 1t has risen to value of
from 81 to SO. I asked one Of the
owners why he did not take me in
when the stock was down at and
10 cents. He replied that he did not
know that it would amount to any
thing, and he feared to offer it to his
friends. One Of the present congress
men from New York got block of the
stock in it for II cents a share"
MUCH IN LUCK AFTER ALL.
yes" continued Senator Teller, "this
matter Of fortune making is to large
extent a matter of luck. I know, for
instance, of mine which was sold a
few months ago and which is now
paying big dividend. 1t was diseov-
cred in Idaho and the prospectors cap
italized it at $500, 600. They wanted
$4,000 cash to open it up, so they
took S150,000 of the stock for them
selves and sold the remaining $350000
at 10 cents a share to get the $4,000
to open the mines. They came to Den
yer to get the money. One of the pros
pectors knew Gov. Grant and one other
of our capitalists. Both of these men
We're out Of the city. and not knowing
where to turn the prospector went on
to Ohio where he finally succeeded in
placing the mine at Youngstown. He
work. The mine paid at once, and it
is now giving 10 per cent dividends
on the face value of the stock. realiz-
ing, in fact, more than $4,000 a month.
Had Grant been in Denver he would
have bought the mine, and luck in this
case diverted fortune to Ohio. Take
my own case. / am not rich man,
and still / have lost a couple of hun
dred thousand dollars by not being
in Denver, at the proper time. A friend
of mine came into my office to ask that
l buy his mining, property. He told
my partner that he was willing to give
me the option on it for thirty days
at $3.50 Had I been inoDenver /
would have jumped at the chance, for
I knew that the property was worth
several times that I was out in the
country, however, and the man could
not wait He handed it over to an
other party and within three weeks it
was resold to Chaffees for $375, 000 the
other party clearing Just S250,0OO off
the sale" Frank G. Carpenter.