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Show "7 WHAT GEN." WILEY MISSED.. " MUrlons That Might nave oen His If Fortune Ha4 Ilea More Propitious. Gen. John A. Wiley rises np every now and then in the middle of the night and kicks himself when he thinks how near he once came to being a millionaire. It waa through no fault of his own that his plans miscarried, but all on account of a trusted party failing to carry out instructions. in-structions. It happened about ton years ago, on a trip with a friend through the southwest, when the mining fever waa nt It height. They were at Tucson, Ariz., where prospectors were thick, and had talked to some of them who had the "best thing In the world" for sale. Finally a man put in an appearance who said he was positive that he had a big thing; that he had two claims sixty miles from there in which was a rich deposit of copper : that would assay $75 in silver to the ton; ; that there was a hog backed mountain on the claims which he had tupped in a straight lino in four different places and struck copper each time. I The man's talk had the trne ring, but, j like most of the prospectors, be was with-j with-j out money. He had a flue gold watch, ; and this he put up to guarantee tho ez-1 ez-1 penses of t he t wo days' journey by wagon in cse tho property was not what he i claimed. They paid his expenses at th? j hotel, and tho next morning started on the trip. Arriving there they found everything to bo as he had represented, and arranged to buy tho two claims outright out-right for tho sum of $3,000, the general agreeing to take a quarter interest for himself. They had traveling with them a young man in whom they had confidence, con-fidence, and to him they intrusted the details of the arrangement, as they j wished to proceed home and had found means of returning to Tucson at once. So the agreement was drawn, up and the j young man and the prospector were to I go to Tombstone, eighty miles in an opposite op-posite direction, where tho money had been deposited Bubjecttothoyoungman'a check, with positive instructions for him to pay the money and close the deal. ' The gpneral and his companion arrived home, but three weeks having passed by, and the letter that they longed for not having come, they telegraphed their agent to ascertain the cause of his delay in forwarding the papers. He answered that he had sent a letter. When it came they learned from the contents that he had not settled the matter, having come to the conclusion that it was best, in his judgment, not to purchase the claims. And this, too, from a man who had received re-ceived positive instructions to close tha deal! Well, shortly afterward an agent fit Flood and Mackay came along, gave the poor prospector a cool $100,000 and the retention of a one-eighth interest for his claims, and entered into an agreement with the millionaire to work the mine on a certain percentage. The company was stocked for $13,000,000. So, you see, the general's one-fourth interttt would I have stood him $3,000,000. Th? "Copper j Queen" is still a great mine, while it is ! said that the agent who took the contract con-tract of working the same has pulled out as high as $(10,000 in one month for his percentage. Franklin (Pa.) News. |
