Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-06-01

L
p. B. Stuart, the plumed cavalier of the
Confederacy. - Cincinnati Commercial
Tribune.
GOLD MINE sWINDLEs.
How the Inner Circle Runs Prices Up
and Down.
To the mining engineer nothing Is
more wonderful than the readiness with
which the general public speculates In
the shares of gold mining companies.
Men who would not gamble at Monte
Carlo because they have an uneasy
feeling that the odds are in favor Of the
bank think nothing Of gambling In
shares over whose fluctuations they
have not the slightest control; which
can be doomed or depressed entirely at
will of the inner circle-the directors,
the consulting engineers and the mine
manager.
The price of a gold mining share, at
any rate in the case Of a new mine, de-
pends upon the reports which are ca
bled from the property itself; or rath-
er, on such of those reports as the
board cares to make public. A strike
of rich ore, the failure Of the water
supply, a variation in the monthly out
put of gold, will send the quotations up
or down, and those who make the facts
public will have laid their plans be-
forehand.
There was the case Of once famous
mine in Rhodesia, whose first months
output Of gold was looked forward to
| with the most eager interest, as the
reef was regarded as the test property
of a huge district. We were ready to
begin crushing on the first day Of the
month, but, on one pretext or another
| we were delayed till the 14th; then we
started the machinery's full power. Or
dinarily a gold stamp mill is run for
whole month without q stop; then 1t Is
shut down for day to clean up" and
Immediately afterward the total ton
mage Of ore crushed and the total gold
recovered from that ore are announced
by cable. On this occasion, however,
we did not stop, but had orders to run
on continuously to the end Of the sec
ond month-that is, for six weeks In
all. Then we cleaned up, the gold was
smelted and weighed, and the figures
were cabled home. Nothing was said
about the first fortnight's work, only
they took the gold Of the first six weeks
and the tonnage Of ore for a month,
and naturally, got an Unexpectedly
good result-sixteen pennyweights OF
gold to the ton.
OF course, the shares jumped up with
bound; the public bought, and those
who were in the inner circle sold. Next
month the output dropped to eleven
pennyweights to the ton and the shares
went down with run, never to recov-
er.
7 happened once. to go to see about
some machinery on another new mine,
which had also been much advertised,
and while looking around I noticed the
water reservoir, which had been made
by building a dam across the bed Of a
small watercourse, which, though dry
then, would become a regular torrent
In the wet season. One glance showed
me that the dam would never hold wa
ter for any length Of time, being little
more than heap Of loose earth.
1 figured the thing out carefully, and
I came to the conclusion, which proved
to be correct, that 1t was intended to
have one good months crushing, then
to stop suddenly for the three or four
months necessary for the building OF
new dam, and so cause a panic
among the shareholders. laid my own
plans accordingly, and was, to a small
extent, q participator In the profits.
The drop in the market price Of the
shares represented loss Of about
100000 to the holders, the value hav-
ing been artificially inflated before
hand.
On another mine, where we used
wood fuel for our boilers. the manager
deliberately held up the crushing by
the simple expedient Of letting his stock
of dry firewood run out; then, when we
started to use green wood, we could
not keep up steam, and had to await
the arrival Of extra boilers from Eng
land. In this case the real reason for
the stoppage was that the main portion
of the reef had become poor, and they
wanted time to pick out the few rich
pockets that were left. When this had
been done crushing started again with
excellent results. Shares rushed up
higher than ever, and those who had
been quietly buying them during the
stoppage sold out. Two months later
the mine was shut down finally and the
public lost nearly half a million.
About the time Of the Boer war /
was acting as a labor agent for a GER
tain mine, recruiting Kaffirs in the
Portuguese territory. The supply was
ample and I was congratulating my
self on what should make out Of my
92 per head commission, when sud-
denly, to my intense disgust, runner
came down with orders to stop recruit
ing at once. Imagine my surprise
month later when reached civilization
again and read that this mine had been
closed temporarily lowing to the short
age of native labor" Once more the
inner circle was deliberately running
down the shares.
One Of the most ingenious frauds
ever knew was that Of the "stolen gold"
The months output was on its way in
to the township on the coach when the
latter was held up by highwaymen and
the packages Of bullion carried off.
There was no insurance, and conse-
quently no very awkward inquiries;
moreover, the thieves were never trac-
ed. AS a matter of fact, however, the
bullion" was only lead; consequently
the manager found himself with some