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Show I I'jl THE INSIDE OF THE BLUNK DEAL, ilfflf Tho denouement of the mystery that seems to gjjw'' surround the passing of Brother Blunk from the 'wlh management of the Smoot organ reveals a clever bit of financial strategy, such as newspaper row fflik ;; has not been regaled with since there have been ! f such things as newspapers In ZIon. I 'f It is the story of a clever sale of some nice j jl I . old nuichinery, tho turning of ten thousand and j!;J 1 some odd dollars at tho close of the managerial ca-;, ca-;, J t reer of the gentleman who made the turn, and f'f 'i the whole tale is one of the Blarney of Blunk 'rj that is a screamer. i Since the first appearance . the sickly Smoot p " organ the journal has consistently lost in the h ' neighborhood of about $150 a day. This is a fair j!j I average, as the losses have totalled a little more 'i'l ll than $4,000 a month. As all of the original owners fly j of the stock in the paper have not yet toed the ' . Scratch, the matter of raising the necessary y J5, amount to meet the payrolls and other expenses lj I' was a periodical event scarcely calculated to in-A,w'i, in-A,w'i, spire any amount of joy in the bosom of the peril per-il A; son upon whom the duty devolved, jjj J Naturally, among many of the stockholders I-ij:: who entered the newspaper field firm in the be-Ih be-Ih I' lief that through the columns of the new journal j;j $ personal fame and fortune were to be gained, and Th 1 incidentally the reuniting of the shattered rem-; rem-; 4 nants of the party, torn to shreds In this state 5 through the machinations of Mr. Smoot and his cohorts, was to be effected, began to wonder just , , i ' what was happening, and began to ask questions. jjH If they had entered another field, preferably : j - alfalfa, at the time they began their ill-advised ;i jk ; venture, It would have seemed more homelike to ijj'jl begin with, and the ending would be pleasanter. JJsi The dissatisfied stockholders asked that an au-L au-L dltor go ov the books and ascertain just where .r! " the money was being expended, and the revising of the records began. When the task was completed, his report showed that every dollar had been expended in proper channels, and after the report had been heard Mr. Blunk's opportunity presented Itself. Mr. Blunk was the owner of half of the outstanding out-standing stock and one share more, which gave him control. This did not amount to a majority of the entire capitalization, but the remaining shares which were not paid up would have been divided proportionately, and so it amounted to the same thing. Mr. Blunk made the other stockholders a proposition to take his stock at par, and put a time limit on the offer, giving them until Tuesday, May 22nd, to accept it The foxy Mr. Blunk well knew that the controlling con-trolling interest might be easily handled by others oth-ers antagonistic to the church, and the church knew it, too. The machinery in itself was quite an item, and $30,000 would have been easy money for the paper. For that is the amount that was paid Mr. Blunk, presumably by the church, r it is very doubtful if the other stockholders felt like contributing contrib-uting such a sum at this time. So the clever Mr. Blunk got the money back he put into the deal; he sold his machinery which he recently brought from New Yk-rk, or Jamestown, James-town, or Chiccopee Falls, or some other good place, and made a clear $10,000 besides, all of which is going some, considering the brief time he has visited in the city. Of course, too, the item of $100 a week salary amounted to something, and then the young Mr. Blunk has drawn a proportionate pro-portionate salary for his services every week. So, all In all, the Blunk family ought to like Utah pretty well and decide to settle here. Surely, Father Blunk from 'way down east can show his Utah friends a trick or two in the game of finance, and he is entitled to all credit for his brilliant bril-liant tie coup. In the meantime Malcolm McAllister has been appointed manager of the Smoot organ, and announces an-nounces a policy of retrenchment, and those who have had dealings with the unique little missionary mission-ary do not doubt that he will keep his word. Malcolm has been a faithful worker in the big store, and why not with the all-seeing eye over him? He has served in ouie' fields also where missionaries were needed, a training which eminently emi-nently qualifies him for position of manager of the new paper. The business ability displayed by Mr. Blunk was simply another evidence of training so careful care-ful that it looks like real art, because if the legends can be believed, it has been the business of Mr. Blunk for several years to carry to a strange town some shopworn machinery and a letter let-ter from the late President McKInley, then to organize a company, holding the control in his own hands, then to run a paper a few mouths, and get the business in such a fix that the balance bal-ance of the stockholders have the question up to them whether to lose what they put In or buy him out. And with a proper look of him out. And when a proper look of sorrow he generally sells. |