Arizona republican., 1911-08-06
William C. Greene.


 our telegraphic news. that Colonel William c. Greene was critically ill The news of his death will be re- ceived this morning with a shock by everybody in the southwest.
 William C. Greene was quite the most unique figure in the modern day mining world. The spectacular manner in which he became a multi millionaire overnight, as it were. his original personality, and the rapidity with which he made for himself place among men of big affairs, all lent an atmosphere of romance to his career.
 There are hundreds of men in Ari- zona who were intimately acquainted with "Bilr Greene, the courageous but unsuccessful prospector. Scores of them have reason to remember with gratitude his lavish generosity to them when fortune came his way. For "Bilr' Green, the millionaire, was the same "Bnr' Greene of prospect ing days-the same big-hearted, straight forward man, the same stur- dy Arizona pioneer. He was wholly unspoiled in manner by the great riches which poured into his lap as the result of his venture at Cana nea. With six millions to his credit in bank and in quickly marketable securities, he was the same "Bill' Greene-to his old friends-who had followed for years the lure of a fort une in the hills of Arizona and meanwhile had had to ask from this and that trustful storekeeper suf- ficient credit for flour and beans.
 The irrespressible spirit of adven- him into the fatal mistake of talk ing hand" in the Wall street game "a mistake which dozens of other successful miners have made. He did not possess the right equipment for the new game He was honest, truthful, frank He did not realize the fact that the marvellous richness of his Cananea mines had excited the avarice of "big interests" to such an extent that careful preparations were made for his shipwreck. Great men of the financial world pretended to be his friends, and pretended to be with him in speculative ventures, whereas they were whetting their knives for him in treachery. He was encouraged to borrow large sums of ready cash for speculations, the loans being secured, of course, by his Cananea stocks to many times the amount of the loans. Then, in pur- suance of the plot. a great bear raid was made upon the stock market, forcing down the price of the Greene stocks The banks holding his call loans demanded payment, and he was forced to see his collateral ruthlessly sacraficed and bought in by his pre- tended friends. Before he finally eX tricated himself from the entangle ment he had been compelled to part with the control of the Cananea mines, and a large part of his for tune had vanished. He was the vic tim of the familiar tactics of ''sys- tenn" which has been fully described heretofore.
 Notwithstanding these disagreeable however, Colonel Greene returned to the west a wealthy man still. Undaunted. cheerful, courage ous as ever. he turned his attention to business lines in which he had in vested with sagacity, and with which he was familiar. He was still a young man, and had his life been spared for a few years he undoubt edly would have abundantly retrieved in Arizona and Mexico the losses he suffered in the stock market.
 It is to be hoped that his body will be laid to rest in Arizona, the land that he loved so well-Arizona, which he did so much to bring to the at tention of the outside world. But wherever he may rest, the epitaph which would most truly do justice to his memory would be: "He knew no fear, and he never went back on a friend"