Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1903-03-19
LOST BY A SCRATCH.
FORTUNES FAILED THROUGH
THRILLING OCCURRENCES.
SOME REMARKABLE CASES
Millions That Went to Other Men Be-
cause CT Acknowledgements Gold
That an Inopportune Hurricane
Hauled Out into Deep Water
Metal Recovered Worth $500.

| II F. w. Salzman had been three
minutes quicker he would have Sc
cured a s35,OOO,OO0 diamond mine in
south Africa
If it mad not been for a bit of
faulty track just outside Chicago it
would have been Hayden Bennett who
would have made a fortune by organ
izing the steel corporation and not j.
Pierpont Morgan.
II Burton Neville's horse had not
foundered in the last mile of a race
for land registers office he would
have won enc of the richest California
gold mine claims.
If Arnold Bryand's salvage steamer
had started an hour sooner from Rio
he would have been able to secure the
L easure CT tabled Spanish galleon
at Trinidad.
Those were four golden opportuni-
| ties which could not wait. 1t was
heartbreeking for the men who saw
untold wealth within their grasp and
then saw it disappear JUST as they were
about to clutch it, 1t was heart
breaking, but there was nothins to do
but philosophize.
Salzinan was surveying in Griqua-
land when he missed his great oppor-
tunity. The farm which he was
, tempted to buy at first was as dismal
a piece of south African ground as
ever man looked upon, but there was
that in its appearance which made the
surveyor believe it was valuable
De Beers, the owner Of the farm,
was so tired of hopeless and fruitless
toll that he offered to sell it for a
| change of clothing. Salzman looked
ct it again and refused. A suit of
clothes seemed to be too great price
to pay or a hear Of rocks in a land
where rocks were plentiful.
He went back to Cape Town, but
kept thinking about that fa II which
he could have bought for 2 suit OF
clo thes Firslly he decided to go
back and pr, chase it. He had been
herring strange ts1c1 CT the finding Of
enormous wealth in diemords on just
such roCFy lend. and it was worth
try, anyhow
He made the tCip in alb urry, but
just as he get to De Beers gate
| stranger drove up ahead Of him end
ertered When Selzman cni led the
| house he ound that the mer who had
arrived three minutes before him had
just completed the deal fCf the pur-
chase. Three weeks later it was
| Leaned thet the D. Beers farm had
pre- ed itself an ipexhaustible mine of
! diamonds.
| A few minutes breakdown caused
the missing Of fortune so large that
though another man has it now, NJ
body knows quite how big it is. 1t
vas missed by Hayden Benrett. He
was Mr.. Morgan's competitcr for the
! formation of the United States Steel
| &C. poration, and it was only by mat
| ter of minutes that he did net get the
! control of that most gigantic of all
/ fortunes.
/ He was competing with Mr.. Nor
gan and was a little in advance CT
him in the negotiations. When the
! great project was all but ripe he took
q special train from San Francisco
| for New York, and came near creating
p record. There is not much doubt
| that he would have brought off the big
stroke and gained the mastery, though
nobody knows what Mr.. Morgan may
have had up his sleeve. However, a
| stretch of faulty track outside Chi
cago brought the special train to a
standstill by derailing it, though with
out any fatality. 1t was half an
| hour before the journey could be con
tinued; the trip into Chicago was
| finished by single engine, which
took the fnancier in the cab. But
! MI Morgan, who was already at Chi
| cago made his arrangements by tel
! eeraph-he never seems to be in
/ bl eakdowns of any kind-and won
the COUP. He is said to have az
knowledged afterwards that only his
rivals breakdown gave him time.
One of the biggest fortunes missed,
and by minutes-almost seconds
only. was in the great race for the
new concessions in California. When
new and valuable land which has
been partially prospected is to be
/ allotted in large claims. "'those who
want to get hold CT them have to
''peg-out" their portions, and then de
post their papers at a registers Of
/ fee
The result is a m&gnificcntly ex'
citing race, in which good horses. fine
horsemanship, and endurance win.
| Those who pegout and register first
win their claims.
The best of all these claims-now
| the big Los Patos" mine-worth over
$500 600 a year. was first discovered
by Burton Neville. who got an mixing
of the value of the claim from hasty
inspection.
Several others became aware of the
value of the place, however. though
neither the finder nor any one else