The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-03-06
wRIGHT'S VAST SCHFMES.
Made and Lost Fortunes in Three
Continents.

VI q years. ne IOu0Q nli-SetL NiNHpA-
a penny, cast upon his own resources,
his father having died. leaving nothing
except an annuity 10 his mother.
But" continued Wright TO the in
terviewer. he had given me a good
education. and as had been much In
terested in Inorganic chemistry and in
assaying. I came to this country 10 try
my fortunes as an assayer.
There never was any difficulty about
my making money. / had a struggle
at first, Of course, as any young man
without capital has, but after I made
my first $4,000 the rest was easy. In
fact. II is my experience that any man
with a fair insight into human nature
clear head and absolute integrity
ought 10 make a comfortable compe-
tence. at least, if he can once accumu-
late $4,000.
How did I get my start9 Why, I
went west, and as / made a little
money I saved 1t. 1 bought a mining
claim outright for $500. and sold a
half interest in it for enough to pay me
back my original investment and pro-
vide working capital The mine
proved profitable. and a little later
sold out my remaining half interest
for a good profit. Then did the same
on doing il, until I was dealing in
amounts that made a profit worth
worth while.
Then after while came back east
and made a lot of money on the New
York stock exchange. When I was 81
l was more than a millionaire, and
when 1 returned to England i'm 1889
when I was 4S years old, 1 expected TO
retire from business. I thought l had
enough money so I never would feel
the want of anything, but about that
time the hard times came on over here
and the value of my securities shrank
considerably. It was not like start
ing all over again over there, but still
l had only moderate fortune at the
time I began operations on the London
stock exchange.
Il was one OF the pioneers in the
Leadville boom, and spent the winter
of 20 there, but I can't say that 1
made much money in this speculation.
In fact, 1 lost lot, and when you talk
about the money I have made don't
forget that I have lost fortunes time
and time again
AT LeadvilIe lost two fortunes, the
the one invested in a mining proper
" and the one 1 didn't make by pay
ing some other persons a song for an
adjoining property.
After my experience in Leadville ]
invested in this group of mines I'm New
Mexico, and built branch railroad 10
them from the Atchison. Topeka &
Santa Fe. The properties were very
rich on the surface. and the assays
were high, but on development of the
mines We did not find any permanent
body OF ore for a long time.
Here came the story of the Globe
company. Said Wright: 1T was in
the winter Of 1888 and 1894 that I was
informed of the discovery Of a fair
mine in West Australia, known as Bal
ley's, but it was sneezed at by a so
called learned expert. and the colony
would have none of it.
Il determined to do a little investi-
eating on my own account, and sent
several prospecting parties. who went
IN every direction and made what ap-
peared to be rich finds day after day.
Becoming satisfied that the colony
would develop into a satisfactory gold
mining camp. as the ores were Of high
grade, 1 instructed my agents to buy
up all the richest discoveries that could
be had for a reasonable price, and III
this way l acquired the very best
shows on the gold fields-prOperties
some of which might we'll be described
as golden treasure houses, whose gold
glittered on the surface Of the ground
like a jewelers. window, in some OF
them huge powders Of pure gold be-
inS found.
subsequently these properties were
merged into the West Australian Elk
ploration company, which promised
enormous returns, owning one mine at
! haf ~ r-frg ha 20
Londonderry mine, in which a ton OF
( gold was taken from q ten-foot hole
Then came a setback. After going
down a few feet the rich deposit van
ished, and, though we spent more than
half a million dollars in subsequent
! development, we We're never able Il
! recover the reef or vein. OF course, II
/ this rich ore on the surface had held
out as we went down the mine would
/ have paid US millions.
/ Finally l thought of a little prop
! erty called the Lake View mine. owned
by a few practical miners. who. with
, their modest development and paItry
( appliances. We're still taking out 1880
! a month. bought the mine and organ
| lied what was known as the Lake
/ View COnsols company to take it over
When put into shares the purchase
money amounted 10 only a few shil-
lings a share, but soon it advanced tC
! So and 81 a share. On a steadily in
( creasing output from the mine the
stock eventually rose to $50 a share
and the West Australia Exploration
company. out of which the Globe Fl.
/ nance company later was developed
made a first profit OF $5.0OOOO0.
Even so IL was with great difficulty
that l succeeded in inducing the chair
man of the latter company to take tn
stock when it was quoted at only s.
, or 81 a share. 1 sold a controlling in
terest in this exploration company l,
the Globe company for just what it cos
me, but I told them plainly that
would be glad to keep it if they die
! not want it, If l had kept it 1 wculC
have made at least 15,0O0,O zoe out Of il
and probably an equal amount in opera
tons on the stock exchange. But sucl
/ is the result of being honest. Whel
! they learned that 1 wanted Go keep tn,
property they bought it at once
1T was this mine, however. tina
wrecked the Globe company eventu
ally"
Wright had several failures in thi
country, among them the Gunnisol
Coal & Iron company
/