The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1910-09-11
Business and Finance.
THE HONOLULU WILDCATTER

For city which boasts of such fnan-
eial perspieuity as does this one. and
for one which has continually invaded
foraigu financial fields. Honolulu has
rroven itself as easy q mark for sure
thing stock sellers and rank wildcatters
as could be desired.
al is estimated that almost a million
dollars of good coin of the realm, which
has been honestly come by in these
Hawaiian Islands, has gone to the cot
fers of the interruptions promoter who
belongs to class peculiarly and
v;ciouslv American. This has had such
an effect on the local investment and
money markets that our own hard
headed business men who have devel-
oped or searched out bona-fde indus
tries or developments on the mainland,
where Hawaii s surplus cash could
safely be placed, find purse strings
closed to them. This has happened SO
frequently of late that it is time the
business community put a stop to It.
Oil mas been the bane Of Honolulu
for almost a year. There are almost a
dozen companies developing oil in Cali
tornia, the supporters of which are local
pe0ple who do not know rig from a
hole in the ground, both very essential
things to oil developing, but both en-
rirelv useless without oil. Too many
people have considered them the only
things that are needed, and a picture
of a derrick, with the assurance that
the company is drilling" is consid.
cred sufficient inducement to invest any
amount.
There are some simple business rules
that ought to be considered IN invest
ing money in undeveloped companies
which even the business man nowadays
overlOoks in his haste to get rich quick
The first of these, of course, IS the posi-
ton of the oil field where the company
is going to drill: the formation OF the
ground: the nearness of other product
i've wells; the trend of the oil strata
AM a dozen other things strictly tech
meal The average person is absolutely
Unfamiliar with these things, and, II
fact. only engineers who have made {
life study of il know much. The hes
thing TO do is to pay visit to the Of
lt4l lISSll. DN " ultu bIE AdA ODkt14--
general useful knowledge of what mus
be done and how it should be done. I
the visit can't be made, a reputable
engineer should be employed by tn
prospective purchasing hui 10 report o.
the ground That costs money, but l
often saves money.
The second thing to look out for i
the transportation question. Warning
in this direction have constantly beel
given in these columns and are reiter
! ated. One company which was f1oate
here and which contemplates drillln
was pronounced last week to be fit
miles from transportation facilltle;
That means that it will be five year
before the company can dispose of 1t
oil proftablv after il gets i. Vine
the announcement was made, dozens o
people who had invested heavily bega
to dig for information, stating that the
had expected dividends at the end 0
the year. They had vague idea tina
the far famed Lakeview gusher assure
them profits. That phenomenal well
hundred miles from that company
ground, and is as useful as crlteno
as an extinct volcano on the moon. IN
eompanv's land NAV be, and probabi
is, full of oil
The third thing to look out for. an
every man can do it for himself, IS
size NJ the promoters and manners c
promotion. In this town thousands
dollars have been placed at the soile
tatiou Of men with police records.
whom suspicion might naturally attacl
even if none could be fastened on II