In a single fortnight the Sullivan Trust Company promoted the Lou
Dillon Goldfield Mining Company at 25 cents per share, a valuation of
$250,000 for the property, which cost $50,000; and the Silver Pick
Extension, which cost $25,000, at the same figure, netting several
hundred thousand dollars' profit on these two transactions. Options to
purchase the Lou Dillon and Silver Pick Extension, which were situated
within 500 feet of the Combination mine, had been in possession of the
Sullivan Trust Company for months, and had increased in value to such
an extent that on the day the subscriptions were opened in Goldfield
for Lou Dillon at 25 cents per share, a prospector named Phoenix, who
had received $50,000 from the Sullivan Trust Company for the entire
property, subscribed for 100,000 shares, or a tenth interest in the
enterprise, paying $25,000 therefor.
It was the rule of the Sullivan Trust Company to open subscriptions in
Goldfield on the day its advertising copy left the camp by mail for the
East. Newspaper publishers were always instructed to publish the
advertisements, which were generally of the full-page variety, on the
day following receipt. In the case of Lou Dillon it became necessary to
telegraph all newspapers east of Chicago not to publish the
advertisement because of oversubscription before the copy reached them,
and in the case of Silver Pick Extension the orders to publish the
advertisements were canceled by telegraph before the mail carrying the
copy reached Kansas City. San Francisco, Los Angeles and Salt Lake
subscribed for 50 per cent. of the entire offering of Lou Dillon and
Silver Pick Extension, and Goldfield for 25 per cent. As a matter of
fact, had we desired, we could have sold the entire offerings in
Goldfield, Tonopah and Reno without inserting any advertisements, so
great was the excitement in the State itself.
At this period the combined monthly payrolls of the mining companies
promoted by the Sullivan Trust Company totaled in excess of $50,000,
and excellent progress was being made in opening up the properties.
It was early Autumn in Goldfield, warm, dry and dusty, and never a
cloud in the sky. I was at my desk eighteen hours a day, and liked my
job. Things were coming our way.
The Sullivan Trust Company was in politics. Mr. Sullivan was popular
with the miners, and Governor Sparks was a large asset of the trust
company because he had been allowing the use of his name as president
of all the mining companies promoted by it. Nevertheless, when the
State election approached, the Governor had no money for campaign
expenses. He telegraphed the trust company from Carson:
"I will not stand for renomination."
We replied: "You are certain to be elected, and you will be renominated
by acclamation if you accept."
"I won't run unless you guarantee my election," he telegraphed.
We answered: "We guarantee."
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account