El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-04-12

finances undertakings Of various
sorts"
He is wealthy
very wealthy"
What is his name2"
George G. Vain"
can you give me his. address %
his home is several ibIacks east OF
Thank you. I shall look the mat
ter up"
As + arose to take my leave, could
see, from WOrthingtOn's serious air OF
concern, that he believed his infOrma-
WINGED that if WOrthingtOn were right,
the case was so unusual as to be prac-
ucally unique.
How Vain Gained His Riches.
During my previous work in B.
/ had learned enough of the town TO
know that George C. Vain was one OF
the prominent rich men of the COM
munlty- He had made a fortune IN
the land boom that had struck B
years before. He had bought the
street railway, converted it into an
electric system. and as common gossip
mad It. had brlbed the city authorities
10 allow him to extend the system
where it would make him the most
profit, and nowhere else-that is, 10
his residential suburbs. He had
made another fortune. according to
common report by watering the stock
of his railway company and selling
out his holdings
Burns Asks a Question.
Wain's house was one Of the aris-
tOcracy Of the town Reaching II, /
climbed a flight Of cement steps i'm
posing enough for an entrance to
public museum, and pressed the cleo
trio bell.
Mr. Vain" 1 said briefly. to the
q
once she ushered me into a large re-
CeptiOn hall reSplendent with Persian
rugs, marble Statuary, French clocks,
and all the other decorative evidences
Of luxury
Almost Immediately there stood be-
fore me q withered-lOOkiug. middle
aged man, whose general appearance
was that OF well-grOOmed i'll health
He had been a small man at his best;
he was now evidently shrunken from
Indigestion He was very thin In the
wrists; the skin was loose about his
eyes; his eyelidS were Wrlnkled IKE
a fowls his cheeks sunken under
rusty side-whiskers. his reddish hair
cOmbed across the badness Of head
that looked as white and soft as a
bladder of lard
Mr. VAIN 7 said with an official
air 81 should like to speak TO you
privately for a moment"
He gave me rather blank. indiffer-
ent look and then led me TO an inner
room which proved to be library.
I told him my name and occupation
Then, 4 am seeking Information, !
said, concerning the cOunterfeitlnS OF
a certain ten-dollar note / have rea-
son TO believe that you are IN 20
sition to tell me something OF the
makers Of it.
Out Of staring eyes Vain looked at
Mr.. Burns" he asked. at last,
would YOU mind telling me how you
learned that knew Of this"
sat down. That. of course, j an
swered, lis a confidential matter win
the government an not permitted
to tell you
4 WatchfuI Young Woman.
All the time I was aware that
Young Woman-WhOm I tOk TO be the
daughter of the hOuse-was watching
US through the hangings OF door
way at the farther end of the room
As I looked aside at her, she with
drew. but not before I saw the anxiety
and apprehension written upon her
face She was, Of course. unable 70
hear what was being said w nat
then. was it that she suspectedZ
I studied the man before me. W ain
was regarding me sharply
at is true" he said, at last as
7 supDOse YOU know. that I have been
interested in the making OF that noIe.
That is to say, the proposition was put
I'D to me by the engrayer or II. VINO
wished me to finance the undertaking
because my business is that Of a pro-
mOter.
7 Iisteneded with as little show Of
interest as possible in order 10 pre-
tend that what was being said was not
worth being greatly interested In ana
thus draw out Wain's story to the
smallest detail. As a matter of tact,
was thinking that the girl must nave
I5nOwn-that she must have supposed
me to be another Of the counterfelters
That would explain her alarm
But what of the easy nonchalance
OF VANS admission He was TAX
ine, OF a proposition" to finance
,,ounterfeiting as If il were the most
ordinary of business undertakings
Why" I asked. disinterestedly, 90
you suppose these men came 10 you
with such a scheme
s'That is simple enough" and VAIN
sDread his hands at was in line with
what men in our business have been
doing all over this country for years
past. Take my own case, for example
Consider 1t in the aspects IN which
this counterfeit presented II TO me
L began here as a sepculator IN real
estate boom times In my land deals
I capitalized the future earnings OF
this town. as you might say You IN
darsfand of course, a town lot mas no
value exceDt what comes to it from the
Industry and success Of the CITIZENS OF
fine town I capitalized the future
earning power and production OF those
citiZens-overcapi talized it-and they
are still working to pay interest On
that capital, If you understand what
Burns Arrives at a Theory
Suddenly, 7 arrived at a theory
that EXPLAINED the daughters anxiety
as well as her fathers truly aston
II but into my pocket" continued
Vain encouraged by my NOD, the
public increment on huge. blocks OF
land here-money that, in the tlnal as
meet belonged to the city itself. But
I'm doing so I was only doing what
promoters make a business Of DONG
generally in this country, you under
stand. he added. half apologetlcaliy-
listened without a word The girl
stin fingered about, behind the cur
tains-
sThen I went into loans, collecting
uDon the commercial distress when
nv previous operations had helped 70
create. I bought a controlling interest
lin several industrial companies and
reorganized them in such way that
an the profits of the Industries came
10 us and the original stockholders
received only small income on their
Investments. These operations are