The Topeka state journal., 1898-02-03
MILLIONS LIKE MATCHES.
Mr.. Cradle Was King Among West
ern Promoters.

Cashier QuinIan of the Chemical Ma
tionaI bank of New York loaned in the
neigborhood of $3.50. 600 of the banks
funds, has been engaged in floating the
stocks, bonds and mortgages of his
western enterprises among investors in
the east not less than 100000 has been
realized.
Intimately associated with Mr. Gra-
BILE has been w. K kurtZ, formerly of
Kansas City and Omaha and now of
New York. The principal investors in
the speculations of the two men are
located in Philadelphia, New Jersey,
Connecticut, Massachusetts and New
York. Connecticut furnishes the long
est list, although the amounts will be
smaller than in Philadelphia and New
York
OFFICES were opened in many of the
leading towns of Connecticut and Mas
sachusetts and maintained in a lavish
style while the stocks and bonds were
being disposed of. Money was not re-
quired for the transfer of stock in any
of the enterprises if good notes were to
be had and as a result today many peO-
pie find themselves in Strengthened cir
cumstances by being compelled to meet
notes now coming due.
For many years Mr. Cradle has en-
jOyed friendly relations with some of
the western officials of theChicago, Bur
hngtOn & Quincy railroad. So close
were these relations that he was let in
on the ground floor for tOWnsiteS when
the company extended its lines to the
Black Hills. He went ahead of the
the company was to locate its stations
from one end of the extension to the
others. Where the two branches join
ed-the line to DeadWOOd and the eX-
tension to Billings, Mont, was selected
as the site for the end of the divisions
and here it was deemed certain that
good railroad town would go up. Here
the town OF EdSemOnt went up. Mr..
Cradle secured title to the land around
the junction point the same as he had
at the stations along the line. He had
been attracted to the possibilities of
improving the country through which
the railroad line passed by irrigation
and two irrigation companies were
formed. 1t is said his big irrigation
schemes are good ones and if they had
been properly managed they would
have made good returns but with that
restlessness of an insatiate promoter,
he no sooner got an enterprise under
way than he ceased to look after active
operation and was on with the next.
There was stone in the vicinity of Edge
mont and he conceived the idea that the
town should be the great manufactur-
ing point of the country for grindstOnes.
He forthwith organized the EdgemOnt
Stone company with a capital of $780,,
600 and spent a large sum in building
the plant for the making of grindstOneS.
The town needed buildings. He or
Sanized building syndicate, got a
large amount of eastern capital into it
and began putting up buildings right
and left along the business streets Of
the place.
Most of the buildings were rented and
it is claimed that this part of the
scheme for making a metropolis of
EdgemOnt is not bad one, if it too had
been properly managed.'' The buildings
are there and if the title has not been
aIienated by mortgage the owners of
the stock in the syndicate ought to real
ize something for their money. Mr..
Cradle next started the construction of
a smelter at EdgemOnt, which he be-
lieVed was to be the beginning of one
of @ smelling n1anTS in the
west. The smelter is not yet completed
but it represents an outlay of at least
$1OO, COO. In 1896 Mr.. Cradle brought in
to existence the Union Hill Mining COM
pany For a number of years he had
been accommodating mining claims in the
Black Hills district. When Mr.. Cradle
had some so of these claims he thought
it was time to float company, and by
getting eastern capital interested he
might be able to do something with the
properties which had tied up good
deal of his ready money.
Accordingly he gave several eXcur-
sions out to the Black Hills from Chica-
go and Omaha about two years ago
The prospective mines were near the
great HomeStake mine which had turn
ed out millions for the late Senator
Hearst and his associates.
The financial operations leading to
the formation of the Union Hill Mining
company were somewhat peculiar 1t
had a capital stock of 81, 600 900, and of
this Mr. Cradle received $1,S00,O00 in
payment for the 80 claims which he
decided over to the company. The re-
naming $2OO, 900 worth of stock was
held in the treasury and was to be sold
and the proceeds devoted to the opening
of the mines.
Mr.. Cradle went about to sell his
stock. He gave away talr percent
age of it to get people interested IN the
company and sold about S1,OOO,OO0 at
prices ranging from so cents on the
dollar down. After he had got this far
,Ioyr he brought into being another
company which he called the Edgemont
and Union Hill Smelling Co, which
was given a capital stock of So, SOC, 600.
Then gradually the property of the first
company was transferred 10 the new
cOrDOratiOn and its capital stock in
creased to Sc O0O. coo. OF this amount
Mr. era BILE took $4,S000O0, and $1,2O0,O00
was left in the treasury The original
plan was continued, by which the
treasury stock was to be sold and the
proceeds devoted to the development of
the property
Nv this time many people of promi-
nence in the east had been brought to
q DOfnt where they were not only inter-
o-+e5 in the COMPANY but permitted the
17Sa of their names on the list of officers
and directors. Mr. Cradle was enabled
to go forth with the following formid-
2 ble list of capitalists who VOuched for
the prospectus of a mining scheme. It
was as follows;
Oficers: President-Robert E. Patti
son, president Security Trust company,
Vice President-Gen. Benjamin F..
Tracy. ex-secretary United States navy
New York
delphia, director Security Trust COM
i':5ts :s5tescretary-G. A. Fletcher. Philadel-
phia, merchant and director Union
Directors-J. E. Andrus, New York