| Show t Swindling In Mines I i I j 1 i I flow I Gold nwl Sllvoj Iloporllo ro non ht ami 1 I Hokl null 1 low tho TomloiJnot M Tnlccii I I In by iMiiiiim Slmiliv I I f I Y I r I I f TAl Moan I lII iM A SrWV AV CHV Oirt Altmt Minn 1 and Jhv It It 1 t J Mr hu > a fjooi Ball CaifM ftjovon Small tlmtnuti 1 UUek I I fait I I II 1 ibid Hell Tile mutt Jfofti filter Mine llUtk lint lId Alrtni Hi 1l + Sttt lib and Jwin C ntalni itilHmant IIIK lixchtngtl of Clrh 1 dNIIz > Ufllimtle I Colorado tit llete ttval njr e era I I q I llrglimale lt 1IJ1Ad It iititon Fu ICaplnbmid Iltatty Frk U Lornl1 apKIl 1 lorrapondeartN 4w i HAI T LAKt ClTV September 1I89 1 Leadville Is 1 seventeen years old nod ll I produced more than f 00000000 worth of precious metals Cripple Creek has within five years pfoduud more than Hioooooo worth of gold and there are a half doien other camps 1 In Colorado which have turned out millions I i mil-lions Utahs vast wealh of gold and I I I 1 silver Is 1 just beginning lo lie known In I all of the Rocky mountain states new 1 mines are being opened and within Ihe tf t neil lew years hundcds of fortunes I ii will be made At the same lime hun 1 t dreds will lose the money that t they put I f Into mines ami mining I and the old sayIng ifj I say-Ing that ll lakes fa In work and losses lo h net 11 tout ol the earth will hold good I There Is I no business In which men will j risk so much as In mining and none Into ff I u In-to which they will fo so blindly t I Managed legitimacy and on buslncsi principles I believe the gelling out of gold and silver Is more certain of profit + than lournitlis of the other businesses of i Ili h Ihe United States How few ol our proleiilonal men make forlunesl The I4 tlatislks show thai tp per cent of the c z = n merchant fall I am told here thai more than 75 per cent of those who use the same builneis judgment care and I lime as are needed lor other businesses la working and dealing In mines succeed suc-ceed It will seem strange to many people to think that you can till just Ky 1 what a mine Is worm Nevertheless this to a large eilenl can be eitlmaleil by eiperts Mines are olten sold lor i lite amount ol ore In light fly going down a certain distance on a lino and I by letting the rock at the dlfleient It levels you can tell almost how much ore Ii I I you are sure ol gelling out and you can buy the mine lor this sum with a big 1 + chance ol gelling more gold further down Good mlues cannot be bought for nothing but properly 1 puichaied Ir 1 many show rvtle I chance or los wllh i big prospects ol fortune making lu their developments I We now have n large I class 1 ol r men who may be called mm I Ing Investors They do not buy holes In the ground without those holts have already produced gold l or silver In pay I log quantities They have experts lock at the mines and carefully Investigate the titles to them bclore they purchase I I ry Many of them do not Invest until they I L have been here for six months or a year r det they use the same care as to mining i that they would were they Investing In business properly or pulling their money Into a manufacturing plant cl t loam tAyt Nit INVkSTUCNTl I There Is a great fascination In mining I speculation I A good mine I pays 10 well + I and so last thai the temptation Is great and a mine which has produced something 1 some-thing and has a good prospect for the y future Is not hard lo sell I rode not 1 long ago with Colonel Ulck Kerens lime t i railroad millionaire I and republican r politician 01 hi 1 Louis Ironi his summer i home In West Virginia to Washington During the trip he told I ma of an investment invest-ment which I rlr antes t Maine Stephen I I II h bikini and himself made In a silver I mine at Uadvllle II 1 was said let le-t I called the Small lopes I and ll cost h us Just about f 400001 lu buy and i develop IL You cannot Imagine how 1 last the money came back lo us We got loooo a day on the t average out ol j a I the mine for a period of more than lour Ir > ears and we nave already J rat more oti worthlol I than j4JjoOLo worth ol silver out ol IL lay Cooke after his failure In business in New York went west to Utah and Invested I In-vested In a mine there He I brought Into In-to him deal the same furj rj Judgment i I and business bruins that he used In sellIng sell-Ing his government bonds and when he ful J returned ho organcd a company to develop de-velop his proieily taking as his share I one fourth of the stock That fourth I i am told paid him more than n million dollars and made him again rich i 1 I Senator Hearsts millions were made In 1 mIne and he kept up his buying until i the day of his death He dealt In stiver gold anil copper and made money In I all The Itotluclilldi have It ll I aald recently bought hit Interests In the great copper millo at Anaconda MontMv lug I J7ooo < < > > o lor them There are a large number ol men here In Colorado who buy mines lo develop them and I i i believe that men with cinllal can find I I I penty of good Investments In Ihe welt today The oppoitnnllles I I are by no I means confined lo the Cripple Creek lesion nor to Colorado here Is I good mining territory In Montana Nevada t Arizona Utah and Califoinla and Ihe right man with a little money or murh mane can do more business here ust t than I ir now to almost any outer part oii United Stales Money IN Itritll I Ily this Ida not tuean Ih1 money into I be made by careless speculation I Vhe dollars Wherever dollars are offered I for cents and bit dividends are guaranteed lor H small mm Invested It Is pretty safe lo believe that the mailer Its l a gamble There fu 1 > plenty ol money out herr In Colorado and Ulah and 1 things ol that kind are not going lo waste Many pro pecti however are effaced for J sale en the ground ol their being u I gamble Twomen may have what trey I thuk la I good thing but may lack the i i money to develop u They will form a company reserving a certain part ot 1 the ii stock for themselves I and selling I the I I I rest for development II they are honest men they will tell you that the j matter Is I a speculation and you can I Imd whether bury 1 1 are using jour money 1 I I In developing the proper If they do so you may be sure Hut their enterprise I s U a ICKillniate one and lilt succeeds you will get your share I t Hut how you ask shall I find out t k whither my men are honest or null Mr c Well In the fust place any man who Invests much in mines ought I tn t to conic 1 out here and stay long enough lo know howto judge a mine He ought to look fa r f aiiould f I well before he buys and lie should have Ihe report of good mining engineer or A wperton the property In which ha la + II cat veils There are a number ol such men litre and you can easily find whether they are reliable II one wlshet lo Invest In-vest In mines and cannot t come to the west he ought to Inquire as to the reliability of the parly with whom he I lhlrUohlrf ertXn lb kI deals through his banker C Any bank In the counlty can find out through Ito banks ol the Rocky mountains al lo the character of any of Ihe men who are dealing In mines and both the banks and the newspapers ale ready and anxious to expose gambling specula lions The editors the Cripple Creek and Salt Lake newspapers have requested request-ed mo to Invite examination of men and properly through them and I do not believe be-lieve there Is I a newspaper editor In Colorado Ih tali who would not give I ian i-an honest reply In such a case and who would not aid in exposing Iraud In buying mines Ihe prolpcctuiel of Ihe properties should give the names of all lie mines owned by Ihe company Tney should slate lust what hat ben done as In development of the mine and what U to be done with the receipts Ilemltcd fumes and data should be given and Ihe names and addresses of alt Ihe olflccrs lly means uf such state < menu properly made a little correspond else will I give any one such an Insight WI 1 Into i the company ai will show him whether It Is A legitimate one or not The chlol JudiDleDloC a mine should be based lint on the reputation of Ihe parties who own ll and secondly whether the money received Is actually being put Into the ground SWINDLING IS MINIS In all mining camps some swindling goes on Men will try lo cheat In min lung quite as much as Ihey do In oilier buslncssei and there are Instance where worthless holes have been stocked lor millions and Ihe shares sold for a hew cents apiece the l Incorporators lulling I the money loco their pockets v > hen Cripple Creek was first opened there was quite a lot of such schemes and II was hard to tell Ihe legitimate from Ihe Illegitimate The fact that a prospect was stocked at a million at ace a-ce value ol a dollar a share and that the tock was sold for I cent a bow bo-w no sign that the propeity was not a good one It only shocd that the mine was estimated by Us owners at J 10000 111 that 1 they hoped eIL would bring a million Many of r the best mines today have been sold lor I or 3 cents and upwards up-wards a share The Anchorla eland now oar at the most valuable properties ol Cripple Creek IOU hawked nhoul it 4 b ADd 6 cents a apart During the past year ore has been taken oul ol It worth more than 17005 to the ton and no tt the nun who leaiul t It has I made a fortune for-tune All Cripple Creek mines are cap rol riCr 11 lnl Itallied very high higher I think I than Iho mines of Ihe Mcrcur district No one stocks any kind ol a hole In Cripple Creek for a lace value of much less than a million but purchasers look at the market value and not at the lace value ol the skates I have before me a table of the Incorporated nilnlnK companies of the Clippie Creek region there are mote than a thousand ul them and the I capilallillon I ol rt the new tin ti-n Incorporated last year agysre gated 6ooox > oua The fee which f Col irada gen hoe each Incorporation of A nllllon ll flu and limo state received More than 160 ooo last l year for Incorpor itlons alone ll h estimated that cipltil Jock al a lace value I of 500000000 has j1nk li f been floated on limo Cili pie trek mines I within HID past year and It ll probable that the oilier mining companies ol the stile added to It vvojld have a lace value equal lo the national debt STOCK I1UYINO IN COLORADO Slocks In many of these mines are bought and so d on the exchange There are slock exchanges all of the mining cities Denver has twos Cripple Creek two and lima I people ol Colorado Springs I speculate so generally in mining clock that ll Is said when von hire a servant girl there you have to give her an hour off In the middle ol the day to attend to her stock speculations Wllh stock selling one cent share such a girl could buy fits share lor a dollar or II she had received her monthly waeishe could perhaps l buy a thousand shares of these one cent stocks lor fro The mines are capltallied In this way largely ai a icsull 01 the hard times A great deal of the mining done now Is by a combination ol small l Investors nll incase In-case a onecent mine turns out well the Investors reallie lately I 01 course most of such Investments are gambling and a large proportion at those who invest in-vest In them take the tock as a llycr many not even knowing anything about the mine which they are buying One ol the shrewdest mining capitalists 1 In Colorado said to me the oilier dayi Many of the tcnderfeet who come out here seem to want to be hum bugged They dont Investigate the properties In which they buy amuck and hey dont seem to want legitimate mlies Their sole care seems to be whether the tock Is cheap or not pay lug little regard as to helher r It Is good bume ol them want 1 to buy gold lands 1I1 by limo acre aud In fact t a large part of speculation In Colorado mines this year has been loitered by real estate agents You sec Denver has been very dull during the h ird times and the real estate men wire almost starving when the Cripple Creek gold lever broke nub At 1 tills lime they hell Denver and went I Pt lo Cripple I1 Creek and bought land by llio Mia near Ihe mining camps aDd capitalizedII At the saute ilm real I estate laklrs from illllerent pans of the country lame In They went through thus ceremony ol digging hoes called them mines I and stocked them They took their amuck books home wilt them and filled them out ad libitum They sold their stock at a few cents a share and In many comics limo buyers are still waiting lu hear lurther from them The U nth Is I the man who believes in a guarantee vf ll out ol a onecent Investment Invest-ment U n lool There It a chance for such an ttcurrence It It true and 1 know mat there have been many Instances In-stances of this kind In Cripple Creek I know cur example one man who bought Iorllaiid stock when It was 3 Jy cents a share He Invested 1400 mit l and when he sold the other day he JI L cleared f 90000 I know or other bellows who have put f4oo Into other slocks and hoe tocks ae nol now worth more than Ihe paper on which they are 1 re rn raieb pW Ir printed Iluylng cheap and unlisted stock H like gambling In Monte Carlo The chance are almost altogether against you Till SIOUNT riVlMI HWINIILIf And still you can never tell where gold Is I until you find It borne ol those one cent holes may turn out to Ie worth fortunes and It may py IOU 10 honest In one ob them II 1 IOU will take the preliminary steps which I have all vised in the beginning of thli letter lo find nut ai to whether they are offered by reliable parties The best pan of the Cripple Creek region vrai once sold for 7500 and only about sli years ago there were thousands of minus wanderIng wander-Ing over these gold fields which are now producing a million dollars a month and cursing eke authors ol Ihe famoui Mount IMgah swindle Mount Ilsgah is I onlya hew miles from Cripple Creek You can see II 1 Irom almost any one ol the famous mines ol the region ll was at that time the center 01 a gold excitement excite-ment brought about by two swindling proaleclors Time prospectors dug a hole on Mount Iligah and salted the mine as It Is termed by bringing rich gold ole from other parts ol the slate and burying It In their shall 1 hey then took specimens ol this ore and carried them lo Leadvllle staling that Ihev had struck It rich on Mount r Ilsgah there was n great excitement at once Lead vide capitalists went I back with Them and bought Ihe mine of Ito swindlers lor fouo hot some reason however tin money was not halt on the spot and ID the meantime the story ol tt I > e gold being found was heard In Denver and Colorado S rings There was at once a rusts ro Mount r Pisgah Mr I George Ady the general agent of the Union tactile company of Denver told me that be could not get enough cars tory to-ry the passengers SaId lies We put on extra trains and In lest i thin a week there were thousands ol men marching over what Is now Cripple Creek to get to Mount 1isgali Among luent were good miners and within a couple ol days these men saw that Ihe mine w as n fraud They saw that ll had l been sailed The news soon got out and the thousands of men came back leaving untouched the gold fields be laces them and the railroad time Iraud was discovered before the money was paid and the saltero had to keep out ol er the way for fear ol being lynched I ULTIMO UINLS There Is little sailing mines done today to-day There are too many honest ex peels and It Is seldom that a worthless Still ierly brings I nwl Immense fortune till the man who wishes to buy mines wand to keep hla eyes open and the ealerl who would Judge a mine correctly correct-ly ought lu go through It almost atone II he docs not and picks Ids samples Iron the places suggested he will be apt to strike only the richest parti of Ihe vein and he may get ore that Is salted An average mine may be salted with lie1 pieces of rock here and their and Iho result ot the assay will make It look far richer than II Is A good expert I lakes his samples from a number of places He uses good shed chunks as well as small bit and he lakes them front all parts of Ihe hole baiting Ii often done by means of scattering gold dull on Ihe rock ol the vein or on the loose dirt ol a placer and there have been run In which chloride of gold have been used Any expert however can tell thai the existence of chloride 01 gold la a Iraud as such gold does not occur Iree In natuie and you never find It In a mine In tills shape Sometime simples are sailed alter they are taken from the mines and the man who ls fudging a mine has to keep his eyes open Irom the time he gels the rock to the time he has made his assay KOSla CtKIOl SWINDLES You hear of all kinds of curloui swindles here A pipe lull of aides containing gold dUll may be dropped Into a sample of powdered rock ready for assaying and the assayer may be In conjunction with the miner to sell time mine Snch an Instance may be easily prevented I however by a government r Iluverument assay In placer mining gold dust may be dropped lobo the gravel almost under the eyes ol the capitalist and he will not see 16 Sometimes enormous amounts of dust are used Arthur Lake ot tho Stale School of Mints In his book which was published last year entitled from peeling for Gold I and Silver cites an Instance In-stance where some mining sharks spent f 50000 lor gold dust and with salted a placer mine Tory put up a livdraullc plant and prepared lo work the mine by means of quicksilver They brought capitallsta lo Ihe spot lust at ihe lime when they put Ibo dirt containing the 150000 worth of gold dust Into the mill and the result was that they sold Ihelr mine for > i5oooo In cash As soon as they got Ilia money they tell the country and it was some weeks before the capitalists found that they had been fooled l CF nt Ala |
