The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-07-08
Correspondent of the Evening
Post Goes After the
Wild-Catters.
SAYS THE DISTRICT
Is FULL OF THEM
Interesting and Neatly Dealt
Knock on the Camp Is
Reproduced.

iuS recent arrest convection or
five miners charged with The theft OF ore
from cobalt mines C"high- grading, they
call it in the Far wesD has multiplied
the anxiety and disappointment of thou
sands OF shareholders of the stocks OF
New Ontario mines by revealing an ac-
tual condition which they believed eX-
listed. but which they sought TO convince
themselves would not materially affect
their interests. says the New York Even
ing Post. When II came out In evidence
that these thefts of especially rich sam
pies Of ore from working mines were In
cidental to widely planned conspiracies 10
fleece the public by sailed mines and
general misrepresentation there was
widespread indignation. Scarcely a man
or woman In the New Ontario mining
region-Cobalt. Halleybury New Lis
keard, Latchford-is disinterested. Busi-
ness men. walters, porters guides. boot
blacks, clerks, domestics, stenographers,
settlers lumbermen, all carry stock In
one or more OF the 300 companies whose
handsomely engraved certificates are al
most as common as bank bills.
Up TO the present time the holder OF
registered claim has had little difficulty
In Incorporating company. Hundreds
posed of by companies which are not,
and never will be. listed by the local
stock exchange. Latterly. even the
stocks of listed companies have suffered.
The market is demoralized and at the
mercy of those who are busiy engaged
in depressing prices. ''Wild-catting' was
inevitable. 1nnocentlv, perhaps. the
Ontario government simpli1ed the opera
tions of the dishonest by failure 10 re-
strict the capitalization TO reasonable fig
ures. Overcapitalization made II profit
able for the resourcefu schemer to mar
ket the stock at allurng prices. Some OF
these stocks which We're largely sold last
fall at as low as 10 cents a share are
now listed as low as . cents. Only one
ir, Of a tod
panies Is. or has been, shipping ore. Since
January ] the total shipments from CO.
bait mines have aggregated 1894 tons,
shipments from only four mines. aggre-
gatlng "a tons. Ten companies only
have distributed profits TO their share
ping late In 1904. little more than two
two and a half years ago. II is OBJ
vious that the companies are more con-
cerned with the manipulation Of stock
than the production OF ore.
This is construed by many TO be an
indication OF an Indebtedness in the ore
bodies-a fear II not q well-concealed
knowledge. that the veins ON many prop
critics do not carry enough silver to cover
the capitalization, let alone the question
OF profits. 1t is certain that several min
ing companies which were Incorporated
with a capital of 81 .00O. 900 or more have
not yet found enough silver TO discharge
the fees for Incorporation They have
disposed of considerable stock Isl shares,
few cents per share. but that Is all.
These conditions are certain TO be dupli
Gated I'm the Barder Lake gold region.
Experts upon whose reports the strict
est reliance may be placed, say that the
gold bearing area appears 10 be confined
to district about seven miles long by
three miles wide. II is possible that
there may be other rich ridges containing
gold bearing reefs. but that is conjec-
tural The facts should be known soon,
for the work of development is general
and thousands OF men are feverlshly dig
ging for traces Of the precious yellow
metal Cobat's remarkable veins of SILL
Yer are concentrated In q narrow area.
Old miners say there is no reason to as
sumo that In the Larder Lake region
gold lodges are surely 10 be found wher-
ever a pickaxe Is driven or n stick of
dynamite exploded
In this correspondence two months ago
! stated that seventeen companies had
been incorporated to mine for gold at
Larder Lake, Going over the file of the
Ontario Gazette I find that there have
been twenty-four companies added 10 the
list since that time. making a total OF
forty-one. One only OF these has a mod
at $4,000. oooi Three are capitalized at
81, 600 OOo each and two at 81, 500 900 The
gross capitalization Of the forty-one com
panles organized TO carry on mining op-
.000i And all OF Them incorporated
since November 3, 1906-seyen months
Local traders are offering the shares Of
a few OF these companies for sale by ad-
vertisement. but none of the stocks are
yet listed. and In most cases Will not be
for several months,
From the known gold area come stories
some of them well authenticated. OF dis
coyeres OF orc Of wonderful richness.
ASSAYS show values ranging from $50 a
ton TO wonderful Bgures. Most OF the ore
carries some silver Nalues-sufficient. as
a rule to make the mine profitable apart
from the gold. have a letter from
the managing director OF one of the Lar
der Lake properties. which has installed
machinery. and will soon be producing
ore In which he says; IA great deal of
the ore is showing free gold, and Will
would convince the most skeptica OF the
great discoveries OF gold in the Larder
Lake likely to develop as soon as opera
tions Of any magnitude take place,
I predict that Larder Lake Will
astonIsh the world" This gentleman is
at Larder Lake now He spent several
weeks there last fall Prospectors have
come down from Abitbbi and the region
north of Larder Lake bringing samples
Of free gold and gold bearing ore as rich
as any that has been vouched for as the
public is suspicious of the prospector with
samples The recent disclosures at Co
bait have aggravated the situation. and
the stranger with ore samples carefully
wrapped in a piece Of old cloth or linen
Is regarded with distrust, TO put it very
mildly
The inacCe5SiDl1tS OF l.aruer Lake lS
being gradually decreased, The canoe
routes have been opened since May "a
and small steamboats, Will soon be ply
ing the lakes. The extension Of the
Temiskaming Northern Ontario rail-
way Is completed so far TO bring tho
road within fourteen miles OF Larder
Lake and tie Ontario Government has
set about the construction of a good
wagon road from Boston TO the lake.
This road should be completed In a few
weeks. The new town of IAarder has a
resident population of close upon 5000.
and great difficulty has been experienced
In transporting supplies. BY midsummer
the gold fields will be accessible as
Cobalt. Larder city lives in constant
apprehension OF fire. The town has been
so compactly built of frame that lre
once started would inevitably sweep It
out of existence. small steamboat was
taken In sections over the ice. and is now
| in commission The lake has a coast line
OF nearly 100 miles and the vessel is Of
great convenience TO miners and pros-
pectorS.
Mine owners in Larder Lake appre-
hend difficulty with the wildcat" pro-
moters, These gentry have been paying
as high as s100 for an extra fine sample
OF silver ore taken from a Cobalt mine
! and the price has reused the cupidlty of