The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1912-11-19


larger tract he did not want bat the
Northumberland tract no greatly
wished; 1t was the only territory or
the whole block lying. in his opinion,
above oil-bearing strata. He exhibited
map showing in red this strip OF
land running across the parallelO-
gram. and explained that the oil.bcGr-
ing rocks in this region sloped on
either side. forming a synclinal. and
that this synciinal lay almost wholly
within the tract colored red on the
map. 1t was. therefore, tie store
house Of the whole region. Now tho
difficulty was that these two men had
an agreement that one would not sell
without the other. Each demanded
the same price for his property. ono
hundred thousand dollars In cash. The
tract lying over the synclinal was
worth half n million dollars. the other
was worthless. Captain Shelton could,
OF course, purchase both, but be did
not have the amount. He had in avail
able cash on deposit about eighty
thousand dollars. He could not get
another dollar. He had labored for
years, he said, to locate this el dora
do. He had found it at last. like pot
of gold at the end OF the rainbow. BY
right OF discovery IL belonged TO him;
he had earned II with his wits; he
wished now to possess it.
Such were the well-pruned facts
that Captain Shelton had selected for
presentation to Randolph Mason: but
the narrative. under Meson's touches,
would not stop with two directors of
conservative savings bank in New
England holding tracts OF oil land in
a distant state remaining unexplain-
ed; IL would not stop with n mysteri-
Gus pact binding them to common
| price; it would rot stop at eighty
! thousand dollars clean cash in Shell
! toms hand unaccompanied by any
avenues of credit. The parts of the
story could not be separated without
disclosing glaring discrepancies
/ Wherever the narrative was cut, It
bled. In his effort TO avoid this obvi-
Gus result, the man sa!d more than
he intended and IN tho end ted every
thing that he had meant to conceal
Captain Shelton was q financial buc-
cancer. Some two years earlier. in
gust Of fortune. his brig had sunk
ard Re had cone, with I've hundred
dollars, poci,ously ashore. Faced with
n desperate need for rev s,oop. he
, hit finally upon This dc,cctah,o plan.
4 The country at large was in a hys-
/ terra of Industrial consolidation, The
/ markets Eorged with securities, and
! the banks necessarily short OF ready
( money. He went to the president OF
the Dsil!cr's Bank OF Pittshurg and o.
/ fcred TO secure for it million Of dol
/ lcrs in Notwithstanding deposits,
/ Guaranteed to remain u1dis.ur5ed IN
! the possession OF the bank for at
+ least ere year, provided the bank
! would pay him three per cent.
per anlUn for tho deposit.
Tho president at cnce agreed, and.
presu~iGs that II was Sheltcu's IT.
/ teat;on to canvass for deposits loaded
him with literature of tic bank Tho
{ eXcenout captain dropped these
pamphlets into tho waste basket and
walked over to cheap lodging on
, Fourth Avenue. There. from drum
en- roustabout, for q hundred Gc.!ar5,
he bought a baSful Of oil leases on
worthless territory lying along the
east side of the Ohio River above St.
Mary's. Then he got q charter from
the secretary Of state Of Wcst VIZ
ginia, and organized tho Union Con
solidated Oil Company with capital
Of five millions. For two dollars and
fifty cents he bought a seal. ard for
five more a book OF stock certificates
F eXcellently printed on banL-ncte pa.
per.
Then the captain sat down az q
hotel desk in the city of Pittsburg and
wrote tho literature which had come
to me in the mail two years before.
This he put in the hands Of a mailing
list agency Of New England with a
deposit on account of two hundred
dollars. With the remaining money
he rented three furnished rooms on
the nineteenth floor of the Iron Bald
ing, and sat down to await the arrival
Of hts fortune.
The president of the Driller's Bank
sent for Captain Shelton and demand
cd an explanation OF his remarkable
plan. The captain instantly invited
an inspection Of the company He ex-
hibited recorded leases, legally valid
covering some ten thousand acres OF
land, and corporation properly or.
ganized, the lease holds transferred
I'm payment Of the stock-every detail
entirely within the law He pointed
out that under his plan no man could
lose a dollar of his money II would
remain on deposit with the bank 70
the deposltor's credit while he. Shell
ton, tested tho territory. II those
lands proved oilproducing, as he
thought they would, then hg stock
holders would make enormous profits
If they proved worthless, no man
would lose a cent, the company would
be dissolved. the certificates car
cellcd and every stakeholder per
mitted to withdraw his deposit Then
he spoke thus pOin,cdly
Your banks good. isn't #? You
viii pay the peoples money back tc
thom, won't you? cIat rob them
and J suppose YOU won't"
The president OF the Drillers Bank
determined TO lay the matter before
Dis dircc'ors fr the meantime, ud,
Of small deposits began to- arrive
When the directors met on the second
Tuesday OF lho month there were q
hundred thousand dollars ia these d.