The Republican journal., 1910-05-05
Charge Fraud Of Millions.
Sui; at Cheyenne, Wyo., Against Promoters
of Penn Wyoming.

Suit at Cheyenne, Wyo., Against Promoters
of Wyoming.
CHEYENNE, Wyo., April 81. Alleged frauds
amounting to several million dollars were dis
closed through suit in the U. S. court here
against promoters who have been negotiating
stocks and bonds for Is different corporations,
the capital stock of which aggregates more
than $31 100000.
The suit is a civil action, dealing with the
operations of the promoters of valuable min
ing. railway, tramway, smelling, pipe line and
mercantile companies of the Encampment dis
trict and is directed especially against 3. W.
Cobb, E. A. Norton, F. B. Draper, A. L.
Hawse, l. N. Pennock and other promoters of
the Penn-Wyoming copper company and the
United smelters, railway and copper company,
which took over the property of the Penn.
Wyoming company and a large number of
subsidiary companies.
The suit was started by an association of
stockholders in the various companies controi-
ed by Cobb, Norton, Draper and the others in
volved Several hundred stockholders are
said to be in the association, almost every
State being represented.
1t is charged in the complaint tina. Cobb,
Norton and Draper oficiated as directors and
officers of all these corporations and manipu-
lated them for their own profit and to the
detriment of the rights of the other stockhold-
erS.
Penny Wyoming has a familiar sound in this
vicinity from E. F. Hansons connection with
it in 1907. In that year he was sent out to
Wyoming by the promoters to make report
on their properties, although he was not min
ing engineer and presumably had never seen a
mine in his life. These promoters must have
L.1 fhn
selection of such an agent would indicate the
kind of report they expected; and they got
what they paid for. This document is pam
phlet in the size and style of a railway folder
and the title page reads (Hanson's name and
Penn Wyoming in large black letters:) Report
of Hon. E. F. Hanson, Mayor of Belfast, Maine,
and President of the B. & M. L. Railway on the
properties of the Penn Wyoming Copper Com
pany,'-then follow the names of the eleven
subsidiary companies owned by the Penn
Wyoming AFTER a Most Careful and Ex-
haustive Investigation at the Expense of and
for Prominent New York Capitalists Published
with their Consent. Issued by the Bangor Of
fee of the Penn-Wyoming Copper Company,
Stems Building, Exchange ST., Bangor, Me-"
In this case, as in other schemes, it will be
noticed that mayor OF Belfast and President
of the Belfast & Moosehead Lake railway" are
given prominence. The general public of course
does not know that this is branch road, only
81 miles long, and under lease to the Maine
Central, and that the president" has no voice in
its affairs. If he had, every man on the road
from engineers to coal shovelers would have to
swear allegiance to Hanson or lose their jobs.
The report while reminiscent of the litera-
ture of Petit Manan, Belgian hares, Nutriola,
etc., had evidently been edited by or for the
prominent New York capitalists" but is suf-
fciently glowing to impress the unwary in
weston. The authorship of such sentences as
"On this level found great deposits of high
grade ore,'' and Here l discovered evidence
showing the tremendous volume of metal that
was forced up by the Titanic power beneath in
a mass of high grade ore attached to the hang
II consider the purchase of this stock not
peculation, but an investment. with the very
best of securities affording large returns in
dividends"
Included in the literature put out by the
Pen Wyoming is copy of the Grand En-
campment Herald of Encampment, Wyoming,
issue Of July &c, 1907. This tells of Hanson's
visit; says he "made himself complete master
of the situation and that: "From the moment
of his arrival until his foot was on the
step of the carriage that took him home
his energies were bent toward getting
the exact conditions as at present ex-
listing in smelter and reduction plant,
mines, railroad and subsidiary companies
Then there was an interview, in which Hanson
said From start to finish want to say that
can sustain every statement made by the COM
pany in their literature and can add to it in
every department from smelter to mines" Of
course he could; that was what he was paid
for. Then, in conclusion: Permit me to say
that the Penn-Wyoming Copper Co. not only
has the greatest copper properties have ever
but it is very evidently under con-
troll of master minds and will soon astonish the
world with its production" Query how many
copper mines has he ever examined? He may
be an authority on brass, but we doubt if he
would know the difference between copper
mine and gravel bank.
The New England Branch Office Of Penn
Wyoming, in the Stems building, Bangor, E.
F. Hanson, manager, put out more or less
literature; but business did not prosper there
and after time the manager failed to appear,
and the man who supplied the furniture want
ed his pay and the rent was due. At this time
Penn Wyoming stock was selling in the open
market at about sc cents. while the price at
the Bangor office is said to have been double
that and sales must have been few and far
between.
In May, 1907, The Boston Daily Tribune,
published by Cardenio F. King, answered an
enquiry addressed to its Bureau of Investi-
cation" as to Penn-Wyoming, under the cap
tion of "Now Resting Under Cloud" and
quoted Stevens Copper Handbook. an un-