Tonopah bonanza. [volume] (Butler City [i.e. Butler], Nev.) 1901-1909, 1906-09-15
P~ROSPECTOR, CAPT.
TTALIST, SUCKER

mining in all its branches said the
prospector to his burro, ''There are
several phases of the industry which
appeal to men in different walks of life.
Some men will have nothing to do with
a mining property until it reaches a pro
ducing and paying basis. Others have
a little more push and energy in their
makeup, more confidence and faith. ano
more knowledge concerning the industry
and willing to undertake the develop
ment and exploitation of a prospect. TIC
this class belong the experienced min
ing man, the trained expert represent
ing heavy capital, or a little coterie of
business and professional men who live
in or a mining camps and districts.
Still others prefer the life in the hills
in order that they may shift from noun
tain to mountain, from camp to camp,
and from district to district, prospect
ing in one locality for a week, a month
in another, or possibly for six months
in some distant and practically virgin
field; selling out a prospect, when
found, and often for a mere song, and
then taking to the hills again. This is
the class to which you and ] belong, old
Long Ears, and if we do not shine, to
any extent, in the mining profession,
the fact remains that we make the
trails, trace out the float and discover
prospects which, afterwards, are trans
formed development, into the great
bonanzas Of the country,
''There is still another class which
constitutes an important factor in the
growth and development of the mining
industry, and this is the class which
furnishes the sinews of war for the
transformation of a prospect into a pro-
ducing and paying mine-the buyers of
treasury stock offered for sale by
newly organized mining companies.
This class we do not designate as specu-
lators, who buy IN the open market
today with the expectation of selling at
an advance tomorrow, bit as an invest
ment class willing to holf sntil a divi-
dend-paying period is re- he'd, and an
t~icipating profits in stock appreciation
as well as in regular Ftoursements of
velvet money by the various companies
in which they are interested.
This class" continued the pros
pector, lis probably the largest in the
whole cataloge, and is principally com
posed of shrewd, keen and intelligent
men-and suckers. The former knows
that no one is going to give them a $40
gold piece for two bits, and is not at
tracted by advertisements of fake COM
panies who have millions in sight in a
mine and who are offering treasury stock
for sale at n and two cents a share.
The intelligent man knows that he is
taking an even chance with an honest
ard reliable company. He satisfies
himself as to the ability and integrity
of the officers of such company, the
present and prospective value of its
holdings, and if he buys, he is prepared
for a long wait, for a period of develop
ment, exploitation and equipment,
knowing that if the enterprise proves
successful, that his gains, his profits,
will be on a par with that of every
other stakeholder in the company; and
many comparatively poor men have been
raised to positions of wealth and opu-
lence through this avenue of the mining
industry.
"As to the suckers; well, they will
bite at anything that glitters. The
cheaper the stock is, and especially if
it is adorned with that frayed and
deceptive legend: Fully paid and non
assessable, the more freely they empty
their purses into the faker's till. They
investigate nothing, accept every state
ment, no matter how impossible and
improbable, and begin to howl for divi-
dends the day after they are hooked by
the sharper.
do you ever get anything? you ask.
Well, hardly. The millions in sight
prove to be a myth and the money
derived from stock sales all goes into
the pockets of the dishonest promoter,
and v into mine development and
at is the mar who expects to pay
what he gets that ever makes any
thing in mining. He must put in labor,
service of some kind, or money. And
ct me tell you, in conclusion, that the {
more you pay for treasury stock in a I
rood and reputable company, the i
ooner will desired results be attained, /
nd the greater the profits will be- I
'alt Lake Review. h
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