Show THE prospector AND HIS BURRO 5 ifal 1 I want to advise you said the prose pros actor to his burro to beware of flaming erti in which the cunning promoter i oter moter off offers ers treasury stock in a mining I 1 company in whose property there are mili lions in sight stock having a par value of a dollar a share and which can be had for the insignificant sum of one cent a share apont ont buy it for it is not worth the paper it ri J PS written upon and more the money so sched from the public never goes into mine C C envelopment and would not accomplish any important results of it did as it generally inoes goes to fatten the bank account of the ras 1 I t Us Is who take this means of milking the pub 11 c 1 still another danger I 1 desire to warn you against is the company which is selling V treasury stock and which at the same time Js is promising and guaranteeing regular 1 monthly dividend payments you ask how a company can be selling treasury stock and at the same time be paying anin g dividends the action does seem some what peculiar and I 1 am somewhat surprised that your dull brain should evolve such a i query but the question shows that you are along the right line of reasoning and had I 1 been I 1 of equal intelligence some years ago I 1 r P would not have been taken in by those get rich quick advertisements and would now 7 V have more of the coin of the realm in my possession I 1 see that you are interested and will therefore tell you my tale of woe one time 4 k when we came in from a tramp in the hills I 1 saw a denver paper in which appeared an advertisement of a mining company which offered stock for sale at five cents a share the company had untold wealth in ore in sight ight in its mine and guaranteed regular monthly dividends of half a cent a share to purchasers of treasury stock did I 1 bitet bite au u ask well I 1 should say I 1 did for here 11 wais was the opportunity of my life I 1 had never ord ard of anything like it before and it was 41 jle ate receiving money from home it was 41 jaike picking up gold nuggets from a glory hole and not near as hard work well to be brief I 1 invested in this fascinating scheme and the next month I 1 received my dividend all right the velvet money came along all right the next month also and I 1 began slapping myself on the back and gave myself a good many bouquets I 1 even became somewhat distant in my intercourse with you for I 1 was a capitalist and next door kin to the owner of government bonds the next month the dividend did not come along as usual but I 1 laid the delinquency to a delay in the mails the next month there was nothing doing and I 1 became anxious so much so in fact that I 1 became more sociable with you and it was at your suggestion that I 1 finally wrote the company asking for explanations did I 1 get an ansbert answer none whatever and the untold millions in sight were still untold to me in fact they were dumb and also deaf for they heard me not and had apparently been taken to a private hospital for treatment for paralysis oh it was tough and it was some time before I 1 began to make an investigation when I 1 found that the companas comp anys possessions consisted of a group of claims on a sagebrush flat and on which a ten foot hole was the only evidence of development and operation upon further investigation I 1 found that the company had never shipped a pound of ore and that it had been paying dividends from funds received from the sale of its treasury stock in the transaction I 1 was nearly to the bad and the company was ahead to this amount the dividends I 1 had received being merely a return to me of a small stipend of my own money while the company simply kept the balance to repay it for the trouble it had been put to in skinning suckers when the final investigation came it was discovered that the company had no existence f for or it had no legal organization t iza tion and its alleged members and officers had skipped to greener fields 1 I want to tell you old long ears never become impregnated with the idea that you can get something for nothing the scheme may look all right for awhile but the first thing you know your nose is out of joint and the cops are ru running nning you in on a charge of vagrancy to thrive and prosper an honest effort must be made and I 1 have found that these propositions of easy wealth always have a string to them most people see only the ready money but as for me I 1 now always look around for fo r the string and for the knaves who are pulling it I 1 have had my lesson and from this time on when I 1 engage in any enterprise I 1 want control of the string and must have the pull before the proposition looks good to me 1 I see that your honest heart cries out against these get rich quick methods and that you grieve for the victims of rogues and thieves who manipulate them in this we are ae two souls with but a single thought but as for me a go good od honest prospect appeals more and more to me as a medium me daum for the making of good money and this is why at the present time we are out in the hills looking for something good while thousands flock to the cities in order to join hands with mining companies having millions in sight and stock to sell on which dividends may be expected before the secretary has time to embellish it with the seal of the corporation |