The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-01-15

temperament and his visionary nature,
ana fondness for founding iunpracti-'
cable companies, as evinced by the now
famous You See Me- society of la
Inented memory, they fancy he may
have been led away by the flattering
prospects of great gain, and been guilty
o. operations repugnant to any conser-
NatlVe business man. But that he de-
lberately committed dishonest act,
they say, is impossible.
When the dividends failed to be de
When the dividends failed to be de-
clared, say Mr.. Vrooman's apologists,
q host of the disappointed began to
make complaints and charges of mis-.
management, as is often the case. But
in this particular case the prominence
of the president added to the fact that
the public always willingly believes any
charges made against a minister, has
made people readily believe the most
absurd stories told concerning him.
But Mr.. Nroomans enemies tell a
different story, They openly charge
him with irregularity in his manage
ment of the company's funds,
with extravaganza of manage
ment, and with foisting off upon the
company property and possessions of
little value for fancy prices. putting
the proceeds into his own pocket. To
these charges, it is fair to say Mr..
Nrooman has returned answers which
give quite a different turn to the looks
of things. In the meantime, he still
holds the confidence Of a large part
perhaps the largest part of the COM
pany's stockholders. The question will
be settled only when the Chicago cir
cult court decides to grant or refuse
the desired injunction to restrain the
Klondike, Yukon and Copper River
Company from disposing Of it's assets
and passes upon the request that a
receiver be granted to rule in place of
the president.
Perhaps the most sensational charge
made against President Vrooman by
the ten dissatisfied stockholders is that
he caused the sum of $4,000 to be APP
propriated for the purchase of cigars.
What the company needed of so many
cigars. nobody knew at the time or
seems to be better informed today. But
the stockholders aver they would not
have minded so much had the cigars
been forthcoming. But they were not.
Vrooman is charged with putting the
7noney'into his own pocket
AT another time, he decided boat
was an essential. He went west and
purchased an old boat Of little praeti-
cal value for $1,000, paid mostly in
shares of the company. He is then said
to have rechristened the purchase the
Flying Dutchman," claimed for it a
Spe6u u forty 1ilIleS an IlOUF anu SOlU
at to the company for $1S,000
The bill for a receiver and injunction
specifies that at all times Mr.. Vroo-
mans private expenses have been un-
duly eXtravagant. Hotel bills and tray
cling expenses are characterized as
enormous. useless and Unnecessary -
He lis said to have paid a private sec
rotary S25 a week But the greatest
piece of extravaganza instanced is that
of the lease of Canadian river beds for
Which the company is paying the Can
adian government ST. 500 yearly. The
working every five miles. As one year
has already gone by and the company
owns no dredges in the vicinity of the
rented claims, the stockholders want an
account made
The bill further claims that the COM
pany has no assets beyond a little Office
furniture and two small claims on Mi
nook Creek, N. w. T. The company was
incorporated under the laws of Mon
tana in 1897 with a capitalization of
$12,O000OO In order to make it appear
That the capital is all paid it is
charged Vrooman made over a worth
less mining claim in Montana known as
the Silver Bow lode quartz mine
In answer to these charges, Vrooman
says, among other things. that the
5000 he got for the boat was applied
on q debt of $4,000 the company owed
him for property he had voluntarily
made over TO II. A similar explanation
is made regarding the cigars Con-
corning the Canadian leases. he saws
Eacir extreme value warrants the out