Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1897-01-14
CHAPTER MI.
copyright. 1905. oy Ro9er sarr-I

AltlOQgn MISS JtHHlc 4'ltNf9ANl
rived in London angry with the world
in general and with several of its in
/ habitants in particular, she soon began
TO reveI in the delights of the great city.
1t was so old that it was new 10 her, and
she visited Westminster Abbey and
other of its ancient landmarks in rapid
I succession. The cheapness of the han
SONS delighted her, and she spent most
OF her time dashing around in 4 cab
She put up at one of the big hotels. and
| ordered many new dresses at Il place
in Regent street. She bought most Of
| the newspapers morning and evening,
and declared she could not find an in
! teresting article in the whole assort-
mcnt. From her point of view they
| were stupid and unenterprising, and
she resolved to run down the editor OF
one of the big dailies when she got time,
interview him, and discover how he
| reconcled it with his conscience to get
| out so dull a sheet every day.
She wrote to her editor in New York
! that London, though Il slow town. was
| full of good material, and that nobody
I had touched it in the writing line since
Dickens time; therefore she proposed
to write a series of articles on the me-
| tropolis that would wake them up q
! bit. The editor cabled her to go ahead
ard she went. Her adventures wiz
| form the subject of some future char
| tcrs.
| Kenyon and Wentworth, having set
| tied to the satisfaction of all concerned
| the business that had taken tNcm to
| Canada, now turned their atteI On to
the mine on which they had a three
months option of purchase. Kenyon es-
| timated that the property worked as
mica mine alone would pay handsome
| dividend on e50,o0O. while if good
| market was to be had for the spar in
which the mica was found. thc MN,
would be cheap at { 100000. He said to
| Wentworth, however, that as they
were to pay only C 2O,OOO for the prop
erty, it seemed hardly fair to initiate the
| price to ten times that amount.
"Not a bit of it, john" said Went
worth, who was a practical man. "If
the mine viii pay good dividend on
that amount, then that is the right
price for it. Now, we haven't any time
to lose, so we must get to work. The
first thing to do is to take these speci-
mems of spar to some man who knows
all about china manufacture, and find
what demand there is for it in this
country, and at what price. That l viii
attend to. The next thing is to ges
some good man who understands all
| about the formation of companies 10
join US. You spoke about the mine TO
young Longworth on board ship, ana
his name would be great help to us in
the city. You go and see him, and in
terest him in the project if you can.
When these two tasks are accomplished,
we shall have made an excellent begin
ming"
Wentworth was an energetic man,
| who did not allow the grass to grow un-
der his feet. He speedily discovered that
Mr.. Melville was manager and parS
owner of one of the largest china es-
Establishments in the country, with
Offices in London, and this man he
lsallg1at- i-ator1.iarr- with talsin9 r-ith
him some of the specimens of spar.
81 want to know he said to Melville.
"if you use this material in the making
of china. Is there much of q market
for it, and at what price,"
Melville turned the specimen over and
over in his hand, examining it critically.
His great knowledge of his own busi-
ness enabled him to instantly recognize
| the value of the material, but his face
| showed no eagerness or enthusiasm.
| When he spoke it was not to answer the
| questions, but to ask some on his own
| account.
'Where does this come from?"
"From u mine in America"
| ''Is there much of it there?"
| 81 control mountain of it,"
"Really. You are canvassing for or
ders, perhaps"
mo. / intend to form a company for
the working of that mine"
what price are you asking for the
property? Is the mine in operation, or
is it merely projected?"
"It is in operation; that is, it is being
operated as a mica mine, but my part
ner, Kenyon, who is a mining engineer,
| says this is moro valuable than the
mica. We are asking Z 100000 for the
| mine"
''That is very large sum- said Mel
vile, placing the specimen on the desk
before him. 81 doubt if you will get
| it."
'Well, we expect to getit. Kenyon is
at this moment with Mr.. Longworth,
who spoke of joining US. Longworth's IS
objection was that the sum asked was
too small"
"Old John Longworth is q good man
to be associated with in a scheme of this
kind"
81 am speaking of his nephew, Will
liam Longworth."
"Ah! that is not quite the same thing.
L know both uncle and nephew. Did
you wish me to take stock in the COM
pany?"
81 should be delighted to have you do
so, but what called for was to find out
what you thought of this specimen, and
to get an idea of the demand there was
for it,
"Well, candidly, L don't think much OF
it. You see this kind of spar is one ot
the most common things in nature"
but not in that state of purity, sure
ly?"
Perhaps not, but still pure enough
for our purposes. If you will leave this
specimen with me l viii consult the
manager of our works. | am merely
giving you my own impression; he will
be able to offer you a more definite
opinion. If you viii leave your address
with me | will ask him to write TO you
That will be more satisfactory"
This was somewhat disappointing
but Wentworth had to make the best OF
it, and the letter from the manager
when it ultimately came, was even more
discomforting. The manager of the
works asserted that the specimen sub.
mitted to him was of no commercial
value, so far as he was able to judge.
Meanwhile kenyon had Jared no bet
ter with young Longworth. Long
worth had some difficulty in recollect
ing that he had ever met Kenyon or
shipboard or anywhere else, and he haC
no remembrance of the mine at all
He questioned John until he learned al
the engineer knew about the matter
and then told his visitor abruptly that
the scheme did not commend itself tC
him.
John Kenyon walked along Cheap
side feeling very much downheartet
over his rebuff with Longworth The
pretended forgetfulness of the young
man, of course, he took at ats proper
value. He, nevertheless, felt very sorry