The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1907-11-12

none temperament debauch them
selves; others thresh about blindly, /
reckless whether they strike innocent |
or guilty. | did neither.
Probably many will recall that long |
before the securities" of the reorgan- |
lied coal combine were issued. had |
in my daily letter TO investors been |
preparing the public to give them a |
fitting reception A few days after |
my whole being burst into flames of
resentment against Anita, out came
the new array Of new stocks and
bonds. Roebuck and Langdon ar
ranged with the underwriters for a
fake" four times over-subscription,
Endorsed by the two greatest banking
houses in the Street. Despite this
oftentried and always-good trick, the
public. refused to buy. / felt had not
been oyerestimating my power. But
made no move until the securities"
began to go up, and the financial re
porters-under the influence where
not actually in the pay of the Roe
buck-Langdon clique-shouted that,
in spite of the malicious attacks
from the gambling element, the new
securities are being absorbed by the
! public at prices approximating their
value" Then But ] shall quote my
Investors letter the following morn
! ing:
AT half-past nine yesterday-nine-
twenty-eight, to be exact-President
Melville. of the National Industrial
Bank, loaned six hundred thousand
dollars. He loaned it to Bill Van
Nest an ex-gambler and proprietor of
pool rooms, now silent partner in Hoe
& Wittekind, brokers, on the New
York Stock Exchange, and also in Fill
bert & Jonas, curb brokers. He loaned
1t to Van Nest without security.
Van Nest used the money yester-
day TO push up the price of the new
coal securities by wash sales-which
means, by making false purchases and
sales of the stock in order to give the
public the impression of eager buying.
Van Nest sold to himself and bought
from himself $4,000 of the 352,6S1
shares traded in.
Melville, in addition to being pres
ident of one of the largest banks in
the world, is a director in no less
than seventy-three great industrial en-
terprises, including railways, telegraph
companies, savings banks and life in
surance companies. Bill Van Nest has
done time in the Nevada State Peni
tertiary for horse-stealing
That was all And it was enough
quite enough. l was a national figure
as much so as if l had tried to assas
sinate the president Indeed, l ha,
exploded bomb under a greater thai
the president-under the chiefs of tn
real government of the United States
| the government that levied daily upo
every citizen, and that had state an
national and the principal municipa
| governments in its strong box
| confess was as much astounde
| at the effect of my bomb as old Me
| vile must have been. l felt that
had been obscure, as l looked at tn
| newspapers, with Matthew Blackloc
appropriating almost the entire froI
page of each. l was the isolated, tn
| conspicuous figure, standing alon
| upon the steps of the temple of Man
mon, where mankind daily and d
voutly comes to offer worship
/ Not that the newspapers praise
i me. l recall none that spoke well
| me. The nearest approach to prais
| was the Blackjack squeals on Il
Wall Street gang" in one of the Sc
| sational penny sheets that strengtht
I the plutocracy by lying about
| Some of the papers insinuated tn
| / had gone mad; others that l h;
| been bought up by rival gang to Il
| Roebuck-Langdon clique; still othe
| thought l was simply hunting not
| riety. All were inclined to accept
| a sufficient denial of my charg
| Melville's dignified refusal Ito mott
| any attack from quarter so d
| credited"
| AS my electric whirled into WI
| Street, | saw the crowd in front
the Textile building, dozen poli'
men keeping it in order. | descend
amid cheers, and entered my ofiC
on through a mob struggling to sha
lduQS Will anu III my l6hOl oh
GU of mob mind, l was delighted a
inspired! Just why man who kno
Ter men, knows how wishywishy they 6
81 as individuals, should be intluenc
lat by a demonstration from a mass
nd them, is hard to understand. But
ill fact is indisputable. They fooled
to then; they could fool me again.
spite of all l have been throul
res There probably wasn't one in Il
is mob for whose opinion l would ha
I've had the slightest respect had he co
to me alone; yet as listened to tho
us shallow cheers and those worthl
er assurances of the people are behi
vou you, Blackjack" l felt that l was
lex man with mission!
lad Our main office was full, litera
ON full, of newspaper men-report
lily from morning papers. from afternC
papers, from out-of-town and fore
papers. l pushed through them, S
ing as went: MY letter speaks
me, gentlemen, and will continue