The Sullivan Trust Company bought Mr. Taylor's interest in the Eagle's
Nest for $8,000, Mr. Luce's for $8,000 (he had been awarded a quarter
interest for his work), and Mr. Peery's for $30,000. It made the
property the basis for the promotion of the Eagle's Nest Fairview
Mining Company, capitalized for 1,000,000 shares of the par value of $5
each. Governor John Sparks accepted our invitation to become president
of the company. The entire capitalization was sold to the public
through Eastern and Western stock brokers within thirty days at a
subscription price of 35 cents per share. After paying for the
property, our net profits were in the neighborhood of $150,000.
The Eagle's Nest deal enabled the trust company to repay most of the
money it had borrowed after the San Francisco earthquake and put the
company on Easy Street again.
THE TALE OF BULLFROG RUSH
Following the Eagle's Nest promotion, the Sullivan Trust Company became
sponsor for Bullfrog Rush. I had met Dr. J. Grant Lyman, owner of the
property, on the lawn of one of the cottages of the United States Hotel
in Saratoga a few years before, where he raced a string of horses and
mixed with good people, and I knew of nothing that was to his
discredit. Dr. Lyman bought the Bullfrog Rush property for $150,000. I
was present when he paid $100,000 of this money in cash at John S. Cook
& Company's bank in Goldfield. The Bullfrog Rush property was of large
acreage, enjoyed splendid surface showings, and was situated contiguous
to the Tramps Consolidated, which was then selling around $3 a share.
It looked like a fine prospect.
Dr. Lyman incorporated the company for 1,000,000 shares of the par
value of $1 each. The services of the Sullivan Trust Company were
employed to finance the enterprise for mine development. The Trust
company obtained an option on the treasury stock of the company at 35
cents per share, and proceeded to dispose of it through Eastern brokers
and direct to the public by advertising, at 45 cents per share to
brokers and 50 cents per share to investors. We sold 200,000 shares,
realizing $90,000 in less than thirty days, retained $20,000 for
commission and expenses, and turned into the treasury of the Bullfrog
Rush company $70,000, all of which was placed at the disposal of the
company for mine development.
Half a dozen tunnels were run and several shafts were sunk. Down to the
400-foot level the mine appeared to be of much promise. It was then
learned that the shaft at the 400-foot point had encountered a bed of
lime. It appeared that all the properties on Bonanza Mountain, where
the Bullfrog Rush was situated, including the Tramps Consolidated,
which was then selling in the market at a valuation of $3,000,000, were
bound to turn out to be rank mining failures. The entire hill,
according to our engineer, was a "slide," and below the 400-point ore
could not possibly exist.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account