The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1912-10-18

necessary to his end: but
uhuer MIS- handling by Randolph Ma.
son ne was unable to stop at his own
marked points. When he laid hts
hahds on a protruding limb of his
STORY no somehow astonishingly drew
up win IL the whole hidden body. The
point upon which he wished aid had.
!! put (as he had intended). was com.
inohpiace enough. He held ten thou.
sahd acres of land under oil leases,
iyihg solidly In a parallelogram with
.ne exception OF two tracts OF nine
hundred and twelve hundred acres re.
spectively. These two tracts were
owned by two directors of a certain
savings bank in New England. The
larger tract he did not want. but the
hihe'hundred,acre tract he greatly
wished; 1t was the only territory OF
inc whole block lying. In his opinion.
above ~oil.bearing strata. He exhibited
a map showing In red this strip OF
land running across the parallelo.
gram and explained that the oil.bear-
ing rocks In this region sloped on
either side. forming n synclinal. and
that this synclinal lay almost wholly
within the tract colored red on the
map. 1t was. therefore, the store
mouse OF the whole region. Now the
d~liiculty was that these two men had
an agreement that one would not sell
without the other. Each demanded
the same price for his property, one
hundred thousand dollars In cash. The
tract lying W the synclinal was
worth half n million dollars, the other
was worthless. Captain Shelton could,
Of course. purchase both, but he 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 Ell dora
do. He had found II at last, like a pot
OF gold at the end OF the rainbow. BY
right Of discovery 1t belonged to him;
he had earned 1t 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 Mason's touches.
would not stop with two directors OF
n conservative savings bank In New
England holding tracts OF oil land in
a distant state remaining %unexplain-
ed; 1t would not stop with n mysteri-
Gus pact binding them TO n common
price; IL would not 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. 1t
bled. In his effort to avoid this obvi-
Gus result, the man said more than
no intended and in the end told every
thing that he had meant to conceal.
Captain Shelton was a financial buc-
cancer. Some two years earlier, in
n gust Of fortune, his brig had sunk
and he had come, with five hundred
dollars, perilously ashore. Faced with
q desperate need for a new sloop. he
hit finally upon this delectable plan.
The country at large was In a hys-
terra OF Industrial consolidation. the
markets gorged with securities, and
the banks necessarily short OF ready
money. lie went to the president OF
the Driller's Bank OF Pittsburg and or.
fered 10 secure for II a million OF dol.
lars in Notwithstanding deposits,
guaranteed to remain undisturbed In
,ae possession OF the bank for at
least one year, provided the bank
would pay him three per cent
per anaum for the deposit:
The president at once agreed, and
nrcSuming that It was Shelton's In
~ten,Ion TO canvass for deposits, loaded
him with literature Of the bank. the
excellent captain dropped these
n~amphlets into the waste basket ana
walked over to n cheap lodging on
Fourth Avenue. There. from n drunE-
on roustabout, for a hundred dollars
no bought n bagful Of oil leases on
worthless territory lying along the
eost side Of the Ohio River above ST.
Mary's. Then he got a charter from
the secretary OF state OF west VIZ
cin,a and organized the Union Con-
sol,dated Oil Company with n capitai
~ Eve millions. For two dollars ana
Afty cents he bought n seal, and LOT
five more a book Of stock certihca'es
exce,lently printed on bank-note pa
per. - =, n
Then the captain sat down AT a
bo,e, desk In the city OF Pittspurg d
m,ro,s the literature which had come
80 ma IN the mail two years before.
This he put in the hands OF a mai,ihs
~. osorcv Of New England with a
dcnosit on account OF two hunureu
Soi,ors with the remaining money
~ rented three furnished rooms ON
,he nineteenth floor OF the iron hullu,
ing. and sat down to await the arFi'a'
Of his fortune. d..
; president of the Driller's Bank
,ort for Captain Shelton and demand
"a an explanation Of his remarkable
nS,n The captain instantly ,nv'tea
IN ~Inspectlon OF the company; Ia
ass,,nd recorded leases. legally vcud.
= ar,rg some ten thousand acres OF
,"~d and a corporation properly OF,
Need the lease holds transfers.