The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1915-08-12
ON GETTING RICH QUICK
Nv Frank K. Finnegan in Munssy's

norris in the newspapers. The fig
ures sound so alluring. II looks like
such a perfectly simple way to get
rich. One wonders why anybody
continues TO work for living. All
Won need do is pick out some good,
lively stock, buy few thousand
shares at IS and sell out at about
no.
/ The most alluring Of all to me are
eo,dmine stocks. The very Thought
OF getting into that business makes
Won lump. And getting in on the
ground floor. That's where you al
WAYS get in when you buy mining
stocks.
A friend OF mine named Boggs
came to me on tiptoe a few years
ago and whispered that he and some
others had discovered gold-mine.
II was a dead secret. No one but
a few of us insiders was TO know
anything about il. | was sworn 10
silence. II was wonderfully excit-
ing.
Boggs told me they had found the
mine in a lonesome spot away out
West Hitherto IL had produced
nothing more nourishing than scorp-
ions and a poor quality OF sage
brush. His own fear was the big
f,nanciers on East. II was to be
kent from them at all hazards. IL
they heard of il they might burst
into the company's Office, force their
money on the terrified treasurer,
and escape with a majority OF the
stock. Boggs said they were quite
equal TO it. He called them the
buccaneers OF Wall Street.
I bought my shares after dark.
Boggs brought them TO the house
like a conspirator. He was pale and
trembling with excitement. l shoo-
ed the family into the basement I'M
oil the transaction was over. l was
determined no leak should be laid
at my door. When he was gone
with my money settled happily
into nv place in the wealthy class
and kept an eager eye out for the
postman. expected dividends al
most any minute.
! A few months later Boggs came
around one night and mysteriously
beckoned me into the hallway
. Standing in the deep shadow OF the
. mortgage, he whispered that WORE
, was about to begin at our mine
The earth was to yield us up It's
treasures. First, however, there
was a slight formality to be observ-
, ed. II was an assessment on all the
r stockholders.
| He explained that it was necessary
! TO buy a bucket to haul the gold tf
the surface, and the stockholders
would have to pay for 1t. This
sounded reasonable enough.
r couldn't expect any one else to pay
4 for the bucket that was to make me
. rich. Certainly not. paid my as
sessment cheerfully. I even urged
, Boggs to take half dollar more ane
!. get the best bucket in the market
5 There is no sense in being cheap II
, a matter Of that kind.
After a year or so l got a neatly
|, printed report about our mine. Il
. fairly oozed figures. l got dizzy try
ing to discover what they were al
about. Most of them concerned con.
struction work. That's where thu
money goes in mining. II must b.
: frightfully expensive. l had m
> idea they could dig so far withou
a finding gold. In fact, thought the!
c could go right ahead and get tn
/. gold when they brought the bucket
d But it's not as simple as that. Fa
r from il. Why, the report showe'
as plain as day that we were put
. ting money into our mine instead o
!. taking il out. l don't pretend to un
1 derstand IL.
e The next heard from the optimis
Il tic Boggs was by letter. II wa
l. typewriter and manifolded. pre-
n sumo he was too busy at the min
y TO come around and see me. In tn
= letter he regretted that progress a
the mine had been rather slow, bu
IS he assured me the gold was ther
It all right. Stacks Of ii. He had a
IT expert mining engineer tell him s
e at one hundred and fifty dollars
e. day. He told him for twenty-seve
'e days. didn't see the necessity
that. Boggs had told me a year be
fore that the gold was there and
n. hadn't even given him cigar.
+ He went on TO say that in orde
u 10 get at the gold another assess
ment was necessary. One OF tn
hoops had fallen off the bucket an
= the rope had worn out. Construc
tion work was at n standstill. Gu