The Goldfield news and weekly tribune. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1911-1947, 1914-04-11

planting the sale of goddess gold
mines and for smoothness the Wal
lingfords of the oil-stock business
are making their predecessors, the
gold-brick men and the fake mining
promoters, appear crude and incom-
petent. Uncle Sam has put out of
business more than one oil-stock
fraud the public, but many of them
are too clever to violate the letter of
the law. They sail as close to the
wind of misstatement as they dare,
publishing carefully worded adver-
tisements which convey totally false
impressions without actually making
false statements. One of their ia
vorite tricks is to lead people to be
lieve that the property they are
booming has been Endorsed by the
government oil experts. AS might be
imagined, the men who really make
examinations of oil lands for the
government are by n 70 means pleased
with this now familiar deception. DR..
George Otis Smith, directors of the
United States geological survey, said
in a recent extended interview:
Nothing is doing the oil business
more injury than widespread sales OF
worthless oil stock, and nowhere is
there more need of blue-sky laws to
deal with such promotions. 1t is in
teresting to note that most of these
takers try to make it appear that the
geological survey has Endorsed their
properties and predicted that oil will
be obtained from them. AS a matter
of fact, the survey does not make
reports on private holdings and it's
reports as to oil fields which it has
examined are never given to pro-
moters or to anyone else in advance
of publication. If people who are
solicited to buy oil stocks on the
strength of alleged Endorsement by
the government would insist on see
ing publications in which it is dis
tinctly stated that oil may be found
in the field hat is being promoted,
or would write to the survey at
Washington inquiring if there are
such publications, the loss of their
savings would be avoided.
Fraudulent Advertising
1.-The cleverness OIL some of these
promoters is nothing short of mar
velous. Recently a pamphlet has
come to my attention advertising So
called oil properties near MoorcrOft,
Wyoming, and stating that the lands
owned by this particular company are
surrounded by a naval petroleum re-
serve. AS a matter of fact, the gov
eminent has never made and does
not intend to make a naval reserve
in this part of Wyoming. Certain
lands in the vicinity were at one time
temporarily withdrawn pending ex-
animation as to their oil character,
but after biologists of the survey had
examined them the entire area was
classified as 'nOnoil' in February.
more recently a Widespread adj
vertising campaign has been carried
on in the newspapers by a company
claiming to own oil lands east of
Denver. Thousands of dollars must
have been expended in f~ull-page ad-
vertisements worded with consum
mate cleverness. Prominent in the
headings is the statement, Read
what your Uncle Sam thinks about
it, Throughout the advertisement
are paragraphs most skillfully franz
ed to convey the impression that gov
eminent biologists have examined
this property and reported upon it
favorably, although nowhere is such
a statement directly made. SO care
fully are these paragraphs wOrded
that after having read them once or
twice you are almost willing to take
oath that government biologists are
enthusiastic over these lands as a
rich oil territory, when, as a matter
of fact, no government biologists
would risk 10 cents on their oil pos
sibilities. Notice, for example, the
.cleverness of this:
Fine Juggling of Words
"'All of our operations are based
on our thorough investigation of the
United States government report on
the Denver basin. The governments
own biologists ought to be reliable
authority on what is in this region.
They are unprejudiced. They have
no axe to grind. Independent geo.
Iogists, engineers and oil experts
agree with the government investi~
gators. On the strength of the in
formation obtained there has been a
wild rush to secure land in the re-
gion. Who wouldn't consider this a
statement that government geo.
logists have investigated and report
ed favorably? The letters SEM out
in response to inquiries contain
many such skillfully drawn SEN
fences. In a recent letter to a suck
err one of the officers states: But
reports kept coming so persistentlV