The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1897-03-25
" Sailing" THE MINES
Schemes to Take-in the UnSOphistiCat-
ed Who Have the Mining Craze.
CROOKED TRANSACTIONS REPORTED
Brokers are Making n fat Thing
Through Floating Worthless
stock Attorney GrifGitts Talks
About the Trial OF Tom Johnson.


One of the accompanying drawbacks
to mining boom is the army OF coufi-
dence men and sharpers who make the
excitement incidental to such periods
the basis for preying on the susceptible
and contidng public. Worthless mines
are heavily capitalized and the stock
foated; bastard rock is sailed, and
schemes of all kinds are devised to catch
the unwary. Incidents of this kind are
not wanting, growing out of the Trail
Creek mining development, and one is
now occupying the attention of mining
men and the courts of Spokane. 1t re-
suits from the sale OF the Stanley mine to
a wealthy syndicate for $50, 900, ten per
cent of which was paid down. The
Stanley is located in the Chewelah district
and reports have been of glowing ma
ture regarding the splendid manner in
which the mines were showing up. The
assays continued to give such promise of
wealth that the attention of the syndi-
cate was directed to it and after their
experts had reported the sale was con-
sumated.
While the old mining crew was work
ing the property the assays were all
right but suspicion was aroused when
two samples were brought to Spokane
that failed to tally with former ones. The
old working force was discharged and
new crew from Rossland installed, after
which the values did not appear. Ex-
perts were sent to the mine who pro-
nounced it barren of gold, and the mine
was closed down under the firm convic-
ton of the new owners that it, as well as
themselves, had been sailed One of tn e
interested parties is said to have in his
possession piece of rock taken from the
Stanley on which free gold is plainly
visible but which investigation shows to
have been artiticially applied.
Another swinde but of a different
character was that of the Orphan Boy in
the Rosslsnd district. The Orphan Boy
is considered good property and when Ii.
G. Whitney, the secretary-treasurer
placed stock on the market it was not
difficult to dispose of it. How much
was sold is not known but upwards of
900 shares found purchasers in Ross
land alone. The shares were apparently
regularly signed and bore the seal of the
company, but they are now pronounced
forgeries, and repudiated by the company
whose secretary tloate them.
| One Of the commonest ways of catching
grudgeon is to make a location, no matter
what the property is, incorporate for a
large sum, get out an attractive prospec-
tus and place the shares in the hands of
shrewd and INSCRIPTIONS brokers to work
off. The usual commission to brokers is
and cents per share but recent claim
is made that the owners Of an alleged
mine sent the price up to Is cents per
share and divided equally with the
brokers. One of the big points in these
fake schemes is to have the "mine" To-
Gated in the vicinity OF we'll known
and dividend paying property. As an
illustration of this Montreal gentle man
recently wrote to broker in Rossland as
follows: IF you happen to run out of
mining properties and want list OF first
class propositions all you have to do is
to send to Montreal and venture to say
that you can find shares offered in a
thousand different companies the proper
ty OF most of which adjoins or in
close proximity to the lie Roi or War
Eagle"
| The floating" scheme is 80 much cas-
Ter than the Sailing" scheme that it is
most common. The one is to catch the
small purchasers of stock-the other to
filch from the capitalists who go into
mining as business proposition and ex-
pect to get returns from legitimately
earned dividends. To fool the latter is
very difficult for they pay big prices for
the services OF experts to find out the
true valuation. Rock into which gold
has been fred by the use OF powder sell
dom catches the wary unless followed up
with other crooked devices, for experts
are no longer satisfied with surface indi-
cations and go down on the ledge to get
their testing rock. During this period
every precantion is taken to guard against
fraud but even when the rock ia in the
sack and sealed ready to be taken 10 the
mill or to the asssyer, the swindler will
sometimes contrive to insert blow-pipe
or dry-syringe into the burlap sack and
load the rock with gold. In placer
mining fraud is even easier to perpetrate
for it is only necessary to get few colors
into pan OF earth or sand in order to
give the claim an apparent valuation.
One OF the cOmmonest means Of doing
this is to carry the gold under the finger
nails or in a miniature flesh culored rub
Der sack concealed about the hand.
There are thousands of ways to deceive
the public, but, as THE HERALD has
already stated, the softest and most al
Turing is TO float worthless stock at few
cents share The hope Of a fortune on
| q small investment is always attractive,