Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1913-11-28


could not be made to earn its own
maintenance instead of being eaten
up by expenses and salaries to the
Aments. During all this time the
Ament family and employees, with nc
financial interests in the property,
composed the board of disectors and
the stockholders letters and anxious
inquiries went unanswered or their
request for real information, such as
a stockholder has a legal right to,
was evaded or ignored.
The next move on the part of the
Ament management brought about
the crisis. In the spring OF 1909
the stockholders received a notice of
stockholders meeting to amend the
charter and asking them to ratify a
deal with the Josephine County Irri-
cation & Power Company giving an
option on the Golden Drift property
for s290.O00.OO. The stockholders,
better informed as to loca, conditions.
could not conceive of reason for
selling all the principal asset of the
company for $500. 100000 In face of
the last statement giving the net
value of the property at s2.394,-
O66.26. A number of the stockhold-
ers wrote the Aments for full particu-
lars about the sale, a copy of the
Ament contract, etc., all of which
was denied them for no reason other
than it was not good for them to
know the inner workings of the COM
pany.
Notwithstanding large sums of
money had been furnished to the
Aments, the people furnishing same
were without representation on the
board of directors, and were depend
ent entirely for information on what
the Aments saw fit to give them, none
of which was specific or direct. This
failure, and the realization on the
part of the stockholders that what
they considered the only valuable
asset the company had, was to be
sold, caused them to create an organ
ization among themselves, which they
did in the form of a protective COM
mittee. This committee wrote to
the management of the COLLEEN Drift
Mining Company and were still
denied the information asked for,
which any stockholder was entitled
to, and G. w. Ament personally wrote
to them to the effect that they had
a delicate situation to handle here
locally, and that they should send
some competent man here to Oregon
to make the investigation and report.
This committee selected Geo. e. San
ders as their representative and ne
gotiations for a better deal for stock
holders with representation was
started August /, 1909, and not be-
ing able to secure a reorganization
on equitable terms, the agent of the
stockholders filed the suit and had a
receiver appointed for the Golden
Drift Mining Company.
When the stockholders first heard
of the Josephine County Irrigation G.
Power Company they naturally
thought is was another Advance Pow
er, Electric & Irrigation Company
deal, dummy corporation to deprive
them of the irrigation business, and
after the investigation by Sanders
the local company was found to be
set of earnest men with their own
money invested, working to an end
that the valley be given irrigation.
No effort was made by Sanders or the
stockholders to interfere with their
option or contract"
"The same day the receiver was ap-
pointed the big food of 1909 washed
away the wing dam on the north side
and carried the pump house and
pumps and dynamo into the river and
deprived the community of irrigation
for the year 1910.
The stockholders afterward fur
nished the necessary funds to the re-
ceivership and put the plant back in
operation for the irrigation season of
1911, and settled the matter with the
local irrigation company by buying
out the local company.
The decree handed down by the
court gives over to the Golden Drift
Mining Company the real estate in
yolved in the suit, and also gives it
the right of redemption of property
from the foreclosure sale previously
had in the circuit court 1t cancels
the blocks of stocks and bonds held
by the Aments, and gives judgment
against C. W. Ameut, C. G. Ament
and NJ. c. Ament in the sum of $1O2,-
362.s9. together with the costs and