Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-01-14

the stock market, began to branch out
into the broader field OF mining specu-
lation.
Their first essay in this direction was
the organization Of the North American
Gold Dredging Co., which was incor-
porated under the laws OF Maine, Aug.
81, 1897, with a capital of 81, 900 900,
| par $40. Clark was made president,
and Cole treasurer. The stock was
listed on the Boston stock exchange,
Dec, 8, 1888. 1t advanced as high as
| 421z, but the boar frost Of public Indff-
price has lately been down to 2h. The
formation of this company was, in q
way, a result of the Klondike gold fur
or. 1t was proposed to construct
| dredges with which to secure the allu-
vial gold in the beds of rivers, like the
Yukon. and one or two Of them were
actually constructed and placed in OPP
Grafton in Colorado. Gold dredging
was a process that the general public
| had not been very well educated up to,
however, and the company and its
methods have never been thoroughly
understood here.
The next scheme Of the Three C.'s'
was the rehabilitation of the old Santa
Fe Copper Company, under the name of
the Santa Fe Gold & Copper Mining
Co. These mines are located in New
Mexico, and have a somewhat pictur-
esque record on State street, especially
with respect to assessments.
When the project of reviving the en-
terprise became noised around, there
was a great searching of tin boxes on
the part of those who had been stock
holders in tn eoriginal company. Some
of these had considered the certificates
as so worthless that they had destroyed
them, but others had retained their
holdings and came in under the new
plan of exchanging five shares of old
stock for n share of new, and the
payment of S. per share for new stock.
The company was organized January
81, 1897, with a capital of s2,5O0.000.
There was 100000 cash on hand, as
a result of the subscription by old
stockholders, and $4,000 shares Of
stock were retained in the treasury.
Clark vas made president, and Cole
and Coolidge were in the directory, as
were also Leonard Lewissohn and AL
bert S. Bigelow, the big Boston copper
man.
The stock of the company was listed
February %, 1899, and for a time was
somewhat of a feature of the trading
in coppers. 1t never fulfilled the prom
Uses of it's sponsors, however, and has
lately sold as low as $3.50 per share.
All this time the indefatigable trio
were at work upon the most ambitious
of all their schemes, and the n that
was destined T. become their Franken-
stein and wreck, not only their own
fortunes, but bring a whole city into
the throes of financial disturbance.
This was the $40, eco 600 United States
Mining proposition, which has figured
so prominently in the recent financial
u~pheayals here, and which even at the
| present moment is a serious element
in the financial situation. These
mines had been worked for over %
years and had a productive record of
$40, O0O, 900 to $50, 900, 600 in silver and
lead before the rich copper deposits
were discovered at all.
At this time it was understood that
the Standard Oil people were anxious
to secure the properties at a certain
2 III lCc, dAu IL 10 III NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Siu
gave rise to the report that the
smashing of the stock in which
Clark, Cole and Coolidge were inter
ested was done at the i~nstigation of
this powerful interest. The Three
Cs," however, decided to go ahead and
form the company.
The United States Mining Co. was
duly incorporated under the laws of
+! Maine, with an authorized capital Of
$40, 000, 900, of which $2,500,000 was is
sued. Clark was president, and Coles
son treasurer, while Cole, ST., and
Coolidge were among the directors.
From a speculative standpoint every
thing looked as rosy for the United
States Mining outfit as it had originally
for the oil company. The stock was
listed on May 4, and became such an
active trading card that as many as
$4,000 shares a day changed hands in
the board at times. The stock was put
at $40 per share, and the promoters d.
vided $4,000 00 among themselves,
this representing the difference of the
cost price of the stock to them, n
the $40 at which it was put out.
The market price kept steadily adj
vancing until, on September 6, it
touched 42zs. After the climax in the
affairs of the Globe bank was reached
it began to drop with such rapidity
that in order TO protect the interests
of al! concerned Clark and Coolidge,
with the help of several others, were
obliged to peg" the stock around $50.
Next the promoters took UP the re-
organization of the Centennial-Eureka
properties, for which an English syn
dieate had been angling, and on which
they had already secured an option.
The Boston hustlers went the British
/ ers SO per cent. better on their offer,
I however, and secured the outfit. 1t
was decided to capitalize the property
! at 81, 500, 900. The novel feature of this
! scheme was to be the allotment Of
stock to holders Of United States Min
ing shares and the general public at
exactly what it cost the promoters
proposition entirely different from the
Rotation of the U. S. Mining Co. The
company was chartered under Maine
laws and Clark became its president,
with the younger Cole treasurer, Cole,
Sr., and Coolidge being members of the
directorate.
1t was part of the plan to eventually
consolidate the two properties but the
Lotto diaacfer baS n~reventad this for the