Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-06
TWO TALES OF Sailed ORES
Fetching Samples of Mine Promotion
Are Recalled by q
S. Victim.

The finance forum of the West Side New
York; Young Mems Christian association
had John Hays Hammond as its chief
talker the other evening on Mining In
vestments," following a talk on "Falacious
Economies by George f. Allen Of the
American Institute of Banking. Not the
least interesting developments of the even
ing came when, after HIS formal address,
Mr.. Hammond arrived at the stage of an
swering questions.
Mr.. Hammond said a budding student
of finance, I'VE hear a good deal about
sailing a mine l would like to ask YOU
how that is done"
No cheerful Charley ever smiled with a
broader smile than that which overspread
Mr.. Hammond's face with a flushing ac-
compartment at this question. He said
that he really did not think he should be
called upon to give away such matters as
that, but added that after all in such a
presence he supposed 1t would be safe
enough. And he added:
"One way is by the injection Of gold into
a bag of sample ore. And, curiously
enough-I might as well tell you, for it's
on me-that very thing has been done right
here lately. / carelessly put up S1O.O 900 on
a mine proposition on the reputation of two
pretty well-grounded engineers without
even examining the mine. 1t was out in
an inaccessible part of Arizona When ]
went there the superintendent offered to
show me the mine. He had an innocent
ook-too innocent to suit me. So l told
him that as l had seen one or two mines
I could find my way about pretty well and
that he could aid me in my work If he
cared to do 80 by going up on top of the
hill and taking some surface samples while
l was at work inside. He took the hint
and went.
well, the men who had given an opinion
on which l had put up my 10000 had taken
every p%recaution they knew of to protect
their samples, sealing wax and all that
sort of thing, and locked the bags up under
a Yale lock that la two keys. They only
had one of them"
Mr., Hammond's roseate smile of a mo-
ment before was so thoroughly 'compre-
hended just here by his auditors that he
didn't have to go further with his story.
But he told another one of how an earlier
California mine was not sold after he had
been sent to it, and found after a weeks
operation of the ~well-guarded mill some
Sl,5O0 in gold as a result, although samples
Of the ore which he had from time to time
taken out In the mine Itself indicated a
vaue of 81 or 50 a ton, while the value in
dicated by the mill operations was $50 or
$50 a ton. When the owner, failing of a
sale, threatened to sue him for the S1.5O
distracted from the mill operations of that
week, which Mr.. Hammond had turned
over to the holders of the option on the
mine, Mr.. Hammond responded: Just
bring that suit" But the suit, he said.
was never brought. He gave the names of
the mine and the owner, and said that he
was ready to stand a libel suit.
Mr.. Allen, when he was explaining cor
poratfons to his audience, said that there
was not much difference between the
United States Steel corporation and a
blacksmith, as that corporation was merely
a few hundred blacksmiths banded to-
gether in a corporation, an artificial per
son.
The American people" he said, do not
seem 70 be able to distinguish between
size and sin, and they are liable to Dick
out the biggest instead of the worst cor.
poration as an object Of attack. From my
personal observation / am inclined to think
the Standard OIL the deeentest trust of
them all. They haven't asked anybody tc
buy their watered stock. They haven't sold
any pouS pdu bOods, Ihey have Simply
used the same methods against competitor
that one country s~torekeeper would use
against another-if he had the brains tc
think Of them. ! cannot find where thai
corporation is any worse than any indi.
vidual in business, and I am inclined &c
think that its size and not is bushes,
methods have made it an object of at.
tack"
He said that the law Of averages woulc
show about the same results in the way Of
goodness among LOCO corporations a,
among 1000 naturaa persons.
Possibly said he, 'in a time 10 com,
corporations may become in a way re
puhlics, and IT may be that the steel cor
poration has such a condition In mind 4,
distributing its stock not only among III
employees but widely elsewhere New
York sun.
When you want what you want wher
you want 81, say 80 through The Bee Wan