The San Francisco call., 1905-08-13
PH|LANT P|ST
REAPS HARVEST
Oil Springs Land Company
Advertises Rich Claims
for ,Paltry 81 Per Acre
CREDULOUs INVESTORS
Many, People Accept Offer
and Send Required Money
on the Promise of Deed

In little office at Grant avenue the
/ Oil Springs Land Company Is getting
rich through the credulous Eastern
public by advertising "the choicest oil
land in America for 81 per acre." A
woman with many aliases receives the
large mail of this small concern and.
as advertised, sends each Of the invest
| ors a certified deed to a parcel of
sland in Alaska.
NJ. Austin, as she calls herself when
she is not Mrs F. H. King, says she is
! the secretary of this concern and said
yesterday that F. H. King, who COM
prises the Oil Springs Land Company.
had large income from mineral hold
! ings and was merely disposing Of
tract of 1900 acres of oil land in Kayak,
between Yakutat and Valdez. Alaska, to
let the Eastern people in on some
| charity"
Contrary to the usual custom. the
Office of the alleged company Is not
furnished in regal style, for 1t is the
plan of the promoters to do an exclus-
i've mail order business. Through the
medium of the Eastern press the prom
ised get-rich- quick proposition is
placed before the public. King has
given instructions to the woman in the
office to ignore all letters of inquiry as
to the location of this land and requests
for descriptive literature about the
prospects for developing 1t.
We are being put to such an expense
by Offering this land at these low
rates" said the alleged NJ. Austin yes
terday. that we only consider mail
with money inclosed for a deed.
MANY LETTERS ON DESK.
A bunch of letters containing money
from purchasers was lying on the desk,
showing the confidence Fasteners have
In the offer. All the description they
have of the alleged oil land is taken
from meager three-line advertisement
inserted In the papers Of the Atlantic
coast and Middle West
1t is said there are several oil seep-
ages on the tract. The company prom
ises that 1t will be only short while
until the land will be of inestimable
value and advises each holder to refrain
from disposing of his share at any
price. No samples of the oil seem to be
extant, yet the public is assured 1t is OF
the highest quality.
No reason for the ridiculously low
figure at which the land is. quoted was
offered by Kings secretary yesterday
No explanation was rendered as to how
King got possession of 4SOO-acre
tract enabling him to profit at selling 1t
for less than the Government offers the
unsettled wilds of the West
Mr.. King lived in Alaska for over
mineral deposits in this Kayak region"
said the secretary He is now In Seattle
arranging some of the business of the
company, for it is not Incorporated as
he and 1 are the only owners of the
stock. We just started in business here
three weeks ago. yet are having great
success"
She could give no reason for the adver-
tising in the Eastern press and not In the
papers of the coast, but said her husband
thought better field was offered there
King told her, she said, that Californians
would not understand the chaep price the
land was being sold for and might think
the offer was not exactly legitimate. His
reasons for not developing II, she said,
were because of the many other like pro-
jects he was incumbered with and it
took too much of his time to operate
them all.
ASSURES PITDLIC OF SURVEYS.
No means of learning when the whole
of the alleged 4S00 acres have been sold
were in the office. but the public is as
sured that surveys of the location have
been made and charts drawn. King ad-
vises each investor to purchase eighty
acres or more to facilitate the working of
the claims.
In speaking of the number of letters
asking about the land. the secretary
said she did not see why King
refused to furnish descriptive literature
of the land, because naturally the In
vestor wants to know what he is buy
ing" 1t is promised that this lack of lit
erature will be supplied on Kings return
from Seattle, If the public doesn't invest
too freely before them
Yesterday letter was received from
P. II. Messenger, who lives at 10 Weaver
avenue, Bloomfield, n. J., inclosing a
money order for $50, with a request to
send him deeds for eighty acres of the
oil land the company advertises in the |
New York press. NJ Austin was very
much elated on opening this demand w. |
A. Beck of Evergreen Park, Cook Coun-
ty, Illinois, also sent hurried demand
for certified deeds to SO worth of this |
great offer. With their letters they asked
for description of the remarkable pros