Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1903-10-14
CHAPTER XVII.
to Franklin,

From MerIvale to FRANKLIN:
81 have just learned from Mr..
| Moses Dennison that there is another
| claimant to the land about which we
have been in correspondence. Of
course I expect to have all titles
thoroughly examined by my attor-
neys before 1 close any bargain with
you. What does Dennison mean
What sort of interest has John T.
Wright in the land? Answer at
once."
To this Franklin replied:
81 cannot learn from Wright the
grounds upon which he bases his
claim to ownership, unless there is
some flaw in the title of which he has
taken advantage; or else some mis-
carriage in the payment of taxes re-
sulting in a sale of the land, of which
I know nothing. 1t is possible that
Wright may have some lien upon the
land. ! will investigate, and if find
that it can be wiped out for reason
able sum of money, would you be
willing to supply the cash?"
To this Mr.. Merivale wrote in re-
ply:
"Of course [ would. Wipe out the
defect at once, whatever it is, no
matter what it costs. / am willing to
advance any sum necessary, with the
understanding that it is to be repaid
from the receipts of the mine. Write
me at your earliest convenience the
exact nature of the defects, and let
me know the amount of money you
need
Franklin to Meriva1e:
ga good many years ago the Colo
RADIO tract was sold to stock com
pany in which I was the principal
stakeholder. AS you know, the land
had for long time been considered
practically worthless [ had almost
entirely lost sight of it and long con-
sidered it hopelessly worthless in
vestment. l put my shares of stock
away and never looked at them care
fully until a few months ago, when
[ discovered that considerable pro-
| portion of them had been lost, or, as
[ now suspect, deliberately abstract
ed. Enough are missing to place me
in minority, and I suspect that
Wright, or some one behind him, had
engineered a scheme for the purpose
of freezing me out; and / strongly
suspect that the hand of some Colo
RADIO mining speculator is in it. If
you will back me up may be able to
buy up some of the innocent stock
holders and possibly-with what |
already have-get majority of the
existing stock. If [ only had the
services of some good detectives and
some money to collect evidence, /
could easily defeat the damnable
scheme which has been organized
against me-
Merivale replied as follows:
81 am perfectly willing to spend
money to get possession of the new
land, but if you do not own ma
jority of the stock [ do not see what
is to be gained by any further cor
respondence on the subject. Unless,
therefore, you choose to make me a
definite proposition showing me how
we may get a clear title to the land,
L decline to bargain with you any
further"
Franklin then made a proposition
as follows:
s'To get half interest in the land
by purchasing it from other stock
holders will cost you somewhere be-
tween $3,0o0,OOO and $5,OOO,OOO. IF
you are willing to help me recover
the stock stolen from me, which can
be done for say 100000 at the out
side, [ will share it jointly with you.
By a liberal expenditure we can OBJ
tain practically complete possession.
1t seems to me that it is to your in
terest to ally yourself with me- 1t
may be necessary to do some fighting
in the courts, and to meet the con
spirators at every point will require
money. If you will agree to let me
draw on you to the extent of $1oO, 900,
as occasion requires, I, on my part,
will agree to this: That within six