The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-07-05

4
Gently from the board of directors of the
Utat Copper company and gave as his
principal reason for so doing the fact that
he had disposed of his interests, eastern
papers made the president of the COM
pany say that the colonel had practically
sold out last year and that his holdings
We're closer to $1,000 than 100000 shares.
Early in The present week. after having
received an acceptance of his resignation
from the president OF the company.
| Colonel Wall decided to make reply AMI
explain what his holdings were and what
prompted him to dispose of them. He
mailed the letter to President MacNeill
and then gave copies of 1t out for publi-
cation. In his decisive. characteristic
agement severely. The letter reads as
follows:
/ Did Not Sell Last Year.
! referring TO my recent resignation as
a director of the Utah Copper company,
the Boston News Bureau of the 18th inst
quotes you as having said Colonel Wall
disposed of his Utah copper stock near
ly a year ago. and that his holdings were
closer to $4,000 than 100000 shares, and
that earnings of the Utah Copper COM
pany are now running at the rate OF
about 20 per cent on par value OF stock
The latter statement, / fear. cannot be
justified. and in the former you are wholly
II: error. This fact Is perhaps unimport-
ant and would not be noticed by me, ex-
cept that my consistency at least, If not
!
by the assumption that l have continued
to hold a seat in the directorate long af-
tel having disposed of my holdings OF
the shares and bonds of the company
Perhaps you were misquoted or misun-
derstood, and i am strongly inclined to
this belief.
THE facts are, however, that at the
| time OF our annual meeting In January
of this year, when i was reelected as
director. i held in my own right 5000
shares OF the companys stock. and con-
vertibie bonds Of the company equivalent
| to IA, 80 shares in addition, being 70, 40
shares, and you are doubtless aware that
my subscription to the last issue of con-
vertible bonds In the month of March of
this year. based upon shares standing in
my name on the books of the company
and owned by me. gave me an award of
$102.5o0 par value of said ISSUE being
equivalent upon conversion to about 500
shares of the company's stock, which,
added to the number before named, make
a total of about So 600 shares. The greater
portion of those shares were sold during
the months of April and May, and the
| last on the Ind day of June, with the ex-
ception of fifty shares received for
| bond which had been overlooked. and
which were sold the day preceding my
| resignation.
withdrawal would In some manner effect
| the market price of the shares, which ef
! feet would be neutralized. II II were I'M
derstood that had parted with my hold
] ings began. but why should investors who
| look only to dividends be concerned about
market prices. which. after all. are but
the creatures of manipulation?
Years before / became entangled with
| DeLamar and Cohen. and before you
or your associates had ever heard of
the existence of copper in the Bling
| ham monzonites. l had developed. ex-
plored and proven the existence in
the grounds now owned by the Utah
| Copper company one OF the very great
deposits of copper ore of the world. and
| had demonstrated beyond peradventure its
| amenability to the most simple and we'll
understood mechanical and metallurgical
methods.
Scheme to Dazzle the World.
"subseouent developments by the Utah
Copper company have but added assur-
ance to what was already known, but.
unfortunately, after the expenditure OF
some Sc, 900 900 in the further development
of this great property, and the construc-
ton of stupendous but useless equip
ment. you seem to have had at every
step but one thought In view. and that.
not to establish great and profitable
public eye with the prodigality of expen-
diture of the stockholders money and
thereby create a desire for the shares
which would enable the insiders to I'M
load upon a bewildered public.
THE final struggle is now on, and will
doubtless succeed. The distributing" syn
dictate seems to be equipped with ample
means and the public desire to buy and
get rich quick never lags, except when
prices are low 1t will require quick work.
| for the crisis has been almost reached at
this end of the line. The steam shovel has
almost completed its task. and the cruel
waste which has followed the use of the
Chile mill cannot much longer be con-
cealed; but ii Is not too late, even now,
to reform or abandon methods which, If
continued, must wreck this great prop
erty.
copperton Mill Is Costly.
1.-The Copperton mill should have been
abandoned long ago II We are to rely upon
the statement of the general manager
contained in his third annual report
made public in January of this year. On
page 10 OF this report 1t is stated:
"'At this time the company Is produc-
ing at the rate of 100000 pounds Of cop
per per month. at a cost Of less than Sia
cents per pound average for both plants.
OF this output. approximately four-fifths
is coming from the Garfield mill. at cost
under s cents per pound.
Nov, IL the combined product costs SIX
cents per pound. and four-fifths of this
product cost only cents per pound. then
very simple calculation will show that
the cost Of production OF the other, or
Copperton one-fifth, was 101z cents per
pound. And when We add to this the
cost of transportation to New York. re-
filming. commission and interest on ninety
days delivery, say 21e cents per pound
(Which, perhaps, is little low, we have
a total of 13 cents per pound as the cost
of production and delivery at market of
the copper produced by the CoppertOn
mill. True. IL this mill should be closed:
the market value of the shares would
probably suffer correspondingly. but the
ore would be saved against a time when
some profitable method OF treatment
should be adopted.
Tremendous Cost of Power.