Los Angeles herald., 1909-06-12
MINE PROMOTER
IS ARRESTED AT
END OF MEETING
FORMER PREACHER ACCUSED
OF FRAUD
sTocKHoLDERs DENoUNcE MAN
WHO WROTE PROSPECTUS
Persons Who Purchased Stock in Mex
lean silver Properties AlIeae c. w.
Mccrossan Circulated Exag-
gerated Reports

AS the climax to a somewhat ORA
matte meeting last night of stockhold-
ers of the Cordillera Mining company,
Limited. of Sonora, Mexico, Charles
w. McCrossan, one of the largest hold
ers Of stock and promoter of mining
properties, was placed under arrest,
being charged with issuing a false
prospectus with intent to defraud.
The complaint was issued by JUS
tice Summerfield at the instance of
J. C. McClung, one of the minority
stockholders, and the warrant was
| served by Constable Ben Cohn and
Deputies Charles Benjamin and James
Carneau. McCrossan's bond was fixed
at $4,000. He left symphony hall in the
custody of officers in search of JUS
tice to qualify his bondsmen.
McCrossan felt his arrest keenly but
he held up his head as he walked from
the Hill street entrance to Blanchard
hall, being jeered as he passed through
the throng. Stockholders of the mine,
men and women, hurled insults and
jibes at him. Don't let him get away,
he might go back to Europe" said one
of the purchasers of stock.
THE Jail is nearer and less eX-
pensive," said another.
There he goes, the pale violet"
said a third Pale, BIT with his head
erect, McCrossan walked out of the
| hall, accompanied by some loyal
/ friends and the officers.
Arrest Is Surprise
! The arrest, which was a surprise to
all save a few of the more than one
hundred stockholders present was
| made Immediately after the meeting
| had closed. The meeting itself being
attended by men and women who have
! invested their money in Cordillera min
| ing stock, was intensely dramatic at
times.
McCrossan made a plea for harmo-
NOUS action in regard to furtherin3
! the development of the property, which
| he declared was we'll worth the invest
ment. He was supported by other
| speakers, among them Thomas and
| Arthur Hamilton, who, with McCross-
an, own a majority of the stock. Nc
| Crossan proposed the election of n
board of directors, three of whom he
said We're representatives of the mi
nority stockholders. The new board,
which includes well known business
men, was as follows: r. H. Gilman of
Pasadena, DR.. A. l.. Blachy of Pasa-
dena, DIR, A. NJ. Garfield, H. r. Bar
| clay of Los Angeles and Arthur Hamil-
ton of Sonora, Mexico. The two latter
are supposed to represent the majority
stockholders.
McCrossan was formerly a Baptist
preacher in Minneapolis, and prior to
that was an actor. He read a detailed
statement to the stockholders last
night, explaining the mining enter
prises he had been connected with, Of
fering a defense of his course and
pointing out the value of the property
and the necessity of harmony among
the holders of stock. 1t was stated in
the meeting that McCrossan had not
invited certain leaders of the minority
stockholders to attend the meeting,
which he admitted was true.
Silver Mines Involved
IT did not ask them to come here on
account of that rough house meeting
held two weeks ago. he said. He re-
ferred to a meeting of the board of
directors which resulted in a fiisticuff.
But you have an officer here now TO
preserve the peace" said Mr.. McClung.
Meanwhile the snubbed leaders of the
minority were in the hall outside wait
ing for developments.
The Cordillera Mining company, Lin
tied, was foated in August, 1907. The
property is located in Sonora, Mexico,
and is silver mines.
| Prior to starting the company F. H.
Hubbell alleged to be an unreliable
assayer, and then living in Magdalena,
/ is said to have called on Arthur and
Thomas Hamilton and told them he
! had a good mining stock seller in Los
Angeles if they had any good property.
The property was easily found and
! McCrossan was told to go ahead and
sell stock
The main vein, he set forth in the
| prospectus, to which his name is signed
and which was issued August, 1907, is
700 feet wide. The veins included in
this produced ore values of 800 to $3.50
a ton. Assays proved that there were
$4,000 tons of ore in one place running
over 500 ton; eleven feet of solid ore
in another place certainly would run
over 1927 ton; sixteen feet solid ore
vein in another place would give more
than $100 a ton; another 10foot solid
vein over $16S and 3-foot solid vein
of ore would yield $1,000 a ton.
On a hanging wall the ore ran from
500 to $1,000 a ton. This ore was three
feet wide, 1900 feet long and forty feet
deep at least.
He claimed to have at least $4,o0oO0O
worth of high grade ore on this wall.
Talks of Twelve Millions
With this and the $4,000 tons be-
fore mentioned he said $12,0000OO would
be realized from these two places
alone without counting the remainder
of the ore and nothing below 40 feet.
The prospectus said; 1.-THE engineer
says the ore should go at least 1000 feet
of depth. 1t is the kind of vein no.
body has ever found bottom to. Plenty
of water on the ground. Laborers can
be hired at $1.25 a day and no strikers.
An electric power line is within a mile
of the mine, thus securing all the
/ power necessary.
4 THE men who. visit the mine and put
it to the most severe tests are the en-
thusiastic ones. l positively tested the
ore in the most cold blooded manner
and on over thirty assays l had none
go less than $1,000 and the general av-
erage runs over $40 a ton. l believe
it is the most marvellous mine on the
earth today and will pay millions upon
! millions of dollars in dividends.
1--WE now own 1545 feet more than a
mile in length and nearly one-half mile
in width of this richest mineral on
earth The vein is over 700 feet wide
| and yet we have never sunk in any
place but we found ore running better
than $40 ton"
The cash in the bank he said
amounted to $11 900 and the capital
stock of the company was $1,000,000
The prospectus stated that $4,000
shares were for sale at 81 per share
About 100000 worth of stock is be-
lieved to have been sold by McCros-
san and 500 persons mostly living in
Los Angeles. said to have been pur-
chasers. Among them are scrub