The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-01-19
Form OF Speculation in which tbe
'"""ry Are Fairly Sure to
Come Out Losers.
SOME TRICKS OF THE TRADE
VICTIMS COMMONLY OUCH FOR AT
a DISTANCE FROM THE MINES.
Disposition Of Investors to Reject Adj
vice Makes Efforts OF 'FIonters"
Comparatively Easy.

livery Inc or business or of speculation
has certain unalterable laws which men
who are familiar with it's workings under
stand and acquiesee TO; but the laws are
Cnwritten laws, and the novice who tries his
hand at any deal is pretty sure to encoun-
ter most unexpected complications unless
he is willing to listen TO experienced coun-
selors and to be guided by them. But
there are certain lines of speculation in
which the novice is continually making in
vestments. hoping that luck" will favor
him, or placing such absolute confidence in
his own discernment and in the statements
Of those who are seeking to further the
deal that he considers the advice of others
quite superfuous.
At present a mining craze is sweeping
over the country. Stocks in phenomenal
mines are offered at astonishingly low fig
ures for "a few more days only" and peo-
pie invest their hard-earned money in the
hope of realizing a fortune, only to read in
the papers some morning that the Great
Blank Mining Company has failed and their
money is hOpelessly lost. Time after time
this is repeated, yet since fortunes have
been made in mining each individual hopes
that his turn may come next, and never,
apparently, stops 10 consider facts which
are patent to every practical mining man,
but which are not known to the general
public. One of these facts is that the for
tunes made in mining properties have been
made by practical mining men in the i'm
mediate regions. not by tenderfeet at a dis
lance Another is that the really valuable
properties Of the present time are bought
at once by experienced, wealthy men who
live In the mining regions, and rarely is it
found necessary to float the shares in such
mines among distant capitalists if the own
ers propose TO do a legitimate mining bust
ness. 1t is safe TO say that not one in one
thousand Of Eastern investors ever have
realized a dollar from their shares. When
the rare exception occurs, the fact is her
aided throughout the country, and the min
ing craze receives another boom. The fail
ures are seldom recorded. Occasionally a
concern which has advertised extensively
comes to a disastrous end and the fact is
made known through the press, but more
often, a hundred times more often, when
The promoters OF the scheme have gained
their personal ends. they simply discharge
their men, close down the mine indefinitely,
while thu distant stockholders wait until
they become discouraged and are willing to
sell out their shares for a song. Then 1t is
no unheard-of thing for the same promoters
To guy up lie SlOCh anu llOdL ne property
over again. More often. however, they get
hold OF enough stock TO control, and then
vote TO make so large an assessment that
the other stockholders refuse to pay and
so forfeit their shares. If the company is
nonassessable they raise money by mort
gaging the mine. let the interest on the
mortgage lapse, and then have the mort
gage foreclosed. The process in either case
Il SInU and tedious and is taken no aC-
count Of by the papers. 1t is only when the
end comes with a crash that the story is of
sufficient interest to be told in type.
ENTICING POSSIBILITIES.
Most men with any imagination are in
duced at some time in their life TO take a
flyer in some gIowingly presented prop
erty, sometimes because a friend has in
vested and is grown enthusiastic, some
times because the man who presents the
proposition is known to be above suspicion.
While it goes without saying that there are
valuable mines and honest men who have
made fortunes from them, 10 one such mine
and to one such man. there are hundreds
Of worthless mines and of equally worthless
men which. together. have proved the fnan-
CiaI undOing OF thousands of visionary
investors. The methods of accomplishing
this enc, of floating properties of uncertain
merit among optimistic outsiders, are
legion. In fact. no scheme which the mind
OF unscrupuIously men can invent has ap-
parently been left untried.
It is popularity supposed that the most
common fraud in mining deals is that or
sailing" and 10 many this term is sup
posed TO cover practically all the fraudulent
mining schemes. But sailing" is a dis
tinct process, and plays only a part, and
sometimes no part, in the floating of worth
less mines. Sailing technically implies that
particles OF gold have. by one of various
means, been shot into or mixed with the
rock. or that the rock has been saturated
with gold in solution. The rock thus treat
ed assays well, and the tenderfoot investor
IS made TO believe that he has struck a
rich vein and invests a large sum to secure
81. Even experienced miners are sometimes
taken in by this sort of fraud. Some time
ago il began to be noised about one of the
towns Of a mining region that
a prospectOr a few miles out had struck a
rich lead, in fact that he was getting phe-
nOmenal results. The assayers verified the
stories and as a result a party of eX-
perienced and well-tO-do miners rode out
TO see and investigate the claim. Each man
I'm the party gathered samples of the ore
that was being taken out. nau the Samples
assayed. and made up their minds that the
prospector had really struck it rich. They
got him 90 give them a bond on the prop
ertv. The BOND was TO be taken uD within
q given number Of days or forfeited. The
men returned home, made out a check for
the amount specified and started back On
the way they were overtaken by heavy
storms which made the roads almost inn
passabIe. They reached the claim one day
late and explained the cause of their de-
lay. But the prOspector was not anxious
10 sell and claimed that as the time Of the
bond had expired he was not obliged to
accept their offer. In any case, he would
not accept a check in place OF the cash.
and. in fact, refused TO close the deal. The
men were influential. and they determined
10 20 back. get the check cashed and bring
the sheriff to enforce the terms OF the BOND
eince their delay had been occasioned Dy
conditions over which they had no control.