Evening star., 1924-11-04
OIL STOCK RECORD
TELLS SAD STORY
HopetuIs Contributed $780,
100000 in Four Years in
Los Angeles Field.
By Consolidated Press.

LOS ANGELES, November 4.-Hope-
full persons who invest their hard
earned savings in oil-promotion
schemes may easily gather an object
lesson in too much trustfulness if
they will check the performance rec
ords of few of the many oil stock
selling companies fioated in southern
California during the past four years.
In that interval the investing public
mas contributed something like $780,
100000 to such rainbow chasing en-
terprises and most of it has gone into
worthless holes in the ground or into
the laps of suave promoters.
The cash-saving information which
chronic oil stock buyers will assimi-
late by such an investigation will be
that every dollar sunk in such con-
Germs has 1872 chances out of 1,S00 Of
never being heard from again, 112
chances out of 1900 that it may earn
the donor as much as per cent for
brief intervals and then forever dis
appear, 2S chances to 1900 that 1t
may double or treble itself, II chances
OF 1900 that it will live up to the rosy
prognostications of plausible pro-
moters.
These figures are not the Pigments
Of somebody's imagination. The ra-
tioS were obtained from the records
Of 1,S00 oil stock selling schemes
promoted in this section of the State
during the hectic days of the Signal
Hill, Santa Fe Springs, Huntington
Beach and Rochfield oil strikes.
Greatest Cleanup of All.
In these four wears stock promoters
put over the greatest cleanup" this
country ever suffered-or probably
ever will suffer. In the wake of the
cleanup, however, have stalked suf-
fering and frequently tragedy. Ex-
pected pots of gold at the oil rain
bows end all too often have turned
into dross, or-nothing.
OF the original 1900 oil stock
concerns toward which a gullible
$3.50, 900, ,000-some of them capital
lied at s250,0Oo, with nothing more
than town lot lease as initial as
sets-less than 400 survive today.
Almost 800 of the 400 survive only
on paper: their treasures long since
have been exhausted. Only 112 out
of the 400 ever paid dividends and
these usually were SO negligible as
to be less than a bank would pay
In interest for. the same money on
deposit
There are occasions when oil stock
investments live up to the rosy fore
casts always made by promoters. But
such occasions, as is shown by the
records. are painfully negligible. OF
the 1.S00 oil stock promotions only
IL have justified, in part at least,
the faith of the investor. Three such
concerns have paid as much as Is
for l. Six returned from to II for
l and two from to for L. An
other 20 have paid from to for /.
1.5s6 Were Blanks.
Except for 263 stock-sellfng com
panies ffoated during the current
year, which have not had chance to
go broke yet. the remainder of the
l,soO-l,oS6 in all-never returned a
penny to stockholders
Although 1856 stock-selling COM
panies out of 1900 have never paid
dividends. that does not mean that
all of them failed to find oil. There
are scores of cases where such con-
Germs drilled one or more highly
profitable wells. But If, as has
happened here numerous times, the
stock-selling company hits it," all
lhe promoter has to do is vote him
self a salary equal to all the profits
IN sight. 1t has been done here
quite often.
If there is any doubt on the mart
OF intending oil stock investigators
that the average oil promoters policy
IS ike that of the professional gam
bier and gold brick artist-"heads I
WIN, tails YOU lose"-southern Cali
fornia's srecord of $500 such promo
t1ons ought to prove it.