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Show MINING AND FINANCIAL Theie is a controversy among the brokers as to the depths of value that will be reached by Columbus Extension stock. "I always said that it would come to 25 cents," ruminated one member mem-ber of the fraternity Monday when the curb made the price 36 cents. "Thirty-six is about what it is worth' said another. "No; not over 25," persisted per-sisted the first Without looking far one could have found brokers who would have sworn that the shaies was worthy of better offers all the way up to 70. It is the kind of difference of opinion that makes horse-racing profitable. There is no reason to fear that any of the points of I Columbus Extension, whether good or bad, will be overlooked by the patrons of the exchange. It is b now the sole remaining plaything of the coterie which kept Columbus Con., South Columbus and other Alta shares dancing to their music, now fast, now slow, as served their turn. Extension will , not grow stale for want of exercise. All the biok- ers may be right and all wrong. The stock is likely to 'be at 70 tomorrow and at 25 the day after. There is no gainsaying the fact that the mine has a lot of good ore in it, and that it can earn healthy profits under favorable conditions. On f the other hand every little tiff with the Columbus Con. will threaten its outlet and its power supply and several Alta prospectois are nursing claims to portions of its ground. The impiession made 'n the public will depend upon the feature of the situation that is emphasized. By playing the ore and profit string the stock can be made to appear altogether lovely. Then a twang or two on the Columbus tunnel and litigation strings will throw the gloom into the bunch. Could anyone ask a more flexible medium for speculation? There is a striking similarity between the re lationship of the Columbus Consolidated and that of the Mascotte Tunnel company to the Ohio Copper Cop-per at Bingham. In both cases the producing ccmpany is dependent upon its associated company com-pany for an exit. It has been predicted that with the annual meeting of the Ohio the hold of F. Augustus Heinze on the Mascotte tunnel would be loosened and the Ohio given a perpetual right of way to its mill. Nothing of the sdt happened. Heinze directors were re-elected without a struggle, strug-gle, the status of the Mascotte tunnel was unchanged un-changed and no financial statement was -given H out. Utah has always thought well of the Ohio H a 3 a mine, but its opinion of the business methods H of the company is unmailable. H Interests behind the Utah Copper and, more H broadly, behind all of the Guggenheim enterprises, H have, during the week, acquired control of the H First National Bank of Denver, known as the H "Moffac bank," an institution resembling in many H many particulars the McCornick bank in this city. m I When the Utafli crowd bought into McCornick's m bunk it was reported that the Guggenheim crowd H had set about the acquisition of a chain of banks H between Boston and San Francisco, 'with the ob- H jcct of counteracting the immense banking power H of the Amalgamated, No more institutions being H gnrnared for many months it was assumed that H the scheme had been abandoned. The Denver H purchase revives It. m H v Strong as it is in financial resources, the Amal- H ga mated is weak at its mining end. If it wasn't H for the Amalgamated's cash backing the curtail- B mont program would work itself out without an H agreement, gentlemen's or otherwise. The copper H mines which, because of their natural disadvant- H ages, cannot earn profits on 12 or 13-cent metal M would suspend production until the demand and fl the price rose to their level. To be specific, the M mines that would close would be the Ahmeek, Al- M louez, Centennial, Franklin, Isle Royale, Mohawk, M and Tamarack of Michigan. First National of m California, Greene Cananoa, Shannon of Arizona, South Utah and, if it cannot develop more gold, silver and lead ore, the Utah Consolidated. While other producers are making from 10 to 50 per cent on 12-cent copper, these are either losing money or barely making expenses. If they can escape fron financial thraldom the low-cost companies com-panies will not be compelled to dig bait that the oldr line companies may fish for profits. The strong probability that the $2,500,000 worth of ten-year six per cent convertible bonds to be issued by the Chino company will command a premium pre-mium as soon as they are placed on the market, gives lustre to Chino stock certificates. The stockholders, it is understood, have the privilege of purchasing the bonds at par in proportion to their stock interests. Hence their subscription rights are worth to them the amount of the premium pre-mium on the bonds. The controversy between Ernest R. Woolley and the Godbes over the Pioche consolidation that did not stick, has broken out in a new place, the new place being the Pioche Record, the camp newspaper. In its last issue the Record came out strong for the Woolley side, alluding to the Godbes as dogs-in the-manger. Its position is so strongly partisan that Mr. Woolley is suspected of buying an interest in the paper. If the Godbes are doing any talking they are doing it to themselves. Judging from the flurry in Prince Consolidated this week, the monologues in their office must be highly interesting. Treating the merger affair as a closed incident, they have been exerting themselvs to put the Prince in a position that will enable it to sell its developed ore above cost. There are three ways of doing this, by securing se-curing railroad connections and cheaper transportation, transpor-tation, by obtaining low treatment rates from the smelters, and by erecting a concentrating plant. , Progress along some of these lines is believed to I account for the recent popularity of Prince stock. 'v. " With Ernest Wolley putting the Nevada-Utah in J good shape for money-making and the Godbes ' pushing the Prince toward the same goal, it is hard to believe that the failure of the merger is I such a crushing blow to the camp as the Record I seems to consider it. |