1
1
j The Market and The Mines
.'';
H It remains to be seen whether the discovery
, 6 of ore in the Sioux Consolidated and the Iron
8 Blossom will alienate the affections of the stock
I speculator and drag these properties down to
the level of mere dividend payeis. After the
f comment on the Tintic situation wa3 written
I last week, the shaft of the Sioux broke into a
I ' bed of silver-lead carbonates carrying minor
values in gold and a heavy excess of scandal.
When the news of the strike was confirmed a
mighty roar went up from the large contingent
that had been induced to sell Sioux by the rising
I prices and the official assurances of "no ore in
sight." The storm of indignation beat with par
ticular fury upon Manager A. N. Holdaway, the
original discoverer of no-ore, but there was
I' plenty of wrath left for the higher-ups Presi
dent Reed Smoot and Director E. C. Loose. It
was charged by the stung that the management
of the company knew of the strike before the
stock started upward and deliberately misrepre
sented conditions to induce ignorant stockholders
to sell.
The history of the market affords prima facie
evidence that someone know of the impending
strike when the stock boom started. To ask us
to believe that the sudden and sustained demand
for Sioux shares grew out of nothing and that
the ore find was simply a coincidence, is to over
tax our credulity. The incident of the broken
compressor was another significant circumstance.
The alleged accident to the machinery delayed
by at least twenty-four hours tho publication of
the itrike news, and in those hours thousands of
shares of stock were gathered in with a regu
larity which suggested an overruling intelligence
rather than a fortuitous concourse of "hunches."
tf ie &
If tho case of the Sioux strike Is not to go
down nmong the unsolved mysteries of history
it must be investigated according to the accepted
rules of evidence. The theory of a "revelation,"
which has been suggested, deserves no eonsld-
l eration first, because revelations have been ad-
i judged irrelevant in mundane affairs; second,
because President Smoot was getting his from
one Mr. La Folletto at Washington when the
Sioux scandal was incubating; and, third, because
Manager Holdaway and Director Loose are not
qualified as mediums for revelations. No, the
earliest information of the Sioux ore body camo
from below, not from above. Something an iso-
Ilated handful of ore among the lime or an al
most invisible seam of yellow in a crack of the
m country rock told someone that tho shaft was
i nearlng ore, and this recipient of nature's secret
hastened to cash it in the stock market.
tv i
The key to the enigma is concealed in tho
safes of the brokerage firms. If the orders upon
which the early purchases of Sioux were made
could bo examined the truth would come out.
The brokers know who the insiders were. The
j insiders themselves know. Is it expecting too
much to hope that someone will turn state's evi-
I dence? It is an unpleasant accusation to rest
i under this charge of betraying confiding stock
holders and using a position of trust for selfish
ends. If tho Sioux officials are innocent they
are deserving of sympathy and tliey are entitled
to the presumption of innocenco until the guilt
i is brought home to them. It should be remem
bered that the executive officers of a mine do not
always know everything that is happening in the
property. More than one mining magnate in this
western country got his start while working as
a miner for daj's pay, because ho saw things
that the boss overlooked, or drew conclusions
that did not occur to his superiors. If tho buy
ing orders for Sioux came from theniners of
Tintic and their friends, Messrs. Holdaway,
Loose and Smoot should be acquitted.
S w
Iron Blossom has also come into ore, if the
reports from Tintic are to be credited, but no
outraged ex-stockholders are hurling impreca
tions at the heads of the. management. In the
first place, Iron Blossom hardly has enough ore
to hurt, and in the second place, it is the evi
dence afforded by Sioux that the Colorado ledge
is making toward Iron Blossom, rather than the
actual showing on the latter property, that ac
counts for its popularity. From no source has
there been an intimation that the Iron Blossom
management has made a dollar in speculation
from ltd inside knowledge. Carisa, Utah Con.
and other companies owning ground .near the
Sioux and south of the Colorado have profited to
some extent from sympathetic advances, but the
public still shows a profound distrust of devel
oped mines that have been tried and found
guilty of having ore reserves in their possession.
Colorado has actually receded and May Day has
been at a standstill during the liveliest weeks
that the local mining exchange has ever known.
i3 c
We can no longer close our eyes to the fact
that a boom Is upon us. The sale of a million
and a half shares of stock for nearly a million
dollars in the first week of June proves it. Nat
urally, everyone is surprised. Three weeks ago
the most hardened optimist did not believe that
the mining situation contained the "makings" of
a boom. Who could have been expected to know
that the grouchy citizen standing on the street
corner with his hands in his pockets, complain
ing of the hard times, had both those pockets
full of money and was fairly aching for a chance
to pick a winner on 'change the moment the mar
ket offered him some, red and green fireworks?
Had the talent even suspected that tho public
was in a speculating mood, tlie fireworks would
have been provided long ago. With nothing bet
ter to start them the gang would have utilized
Emma Copper and Little. Chief. Verily, there is
no reliable method of gauging the moods and j
tenses of old Vox Populi! j
The worst of it is that these folks who are
plunging into the vortex of the boom take no !
heed of real values, estimated production or the
probability of dividends. Twelve out of every
dozen of them think only of buying while stocks
are on the up grade, and of unloading at the top.
The whole-market is suffering from brainstorm.
The real investor is out of it. He is not unwill
ing to buy, but he is waiting for the rich pickings
that will come when the summit is crossed and
the stocks start down the other side of the hill;
or, if he buys at all, he takes advantage of the
low prices that still obtain for the old and re
liable producing mines. It is a safe course for
the conservative man, but he misses lots of fun,
doesn't he? Judging by the appearance of the
game at this moment, the boom is booked for a
long engagement all summer, perhaps. When
the possibilities of Sioux Consolidated and Iron
Blossom are exhausted, new favorites will be
taken up and extolled with the same irrational
enthusiasm until the fiesta is over and the
guests under the table.
&
If the market- were in a logical and calculat
ing frame of mind, the news from Park City that
the Daly-West has begun the augmentation of
its working force and entered upon an active
campaign would be given duo weight. Few
mines in this state can make a better showing
than the Daly West, when conditions are favor
able, and the outlook for its progress during tho
coming year is all to the good.
A woman is not necessarily stupid merely
because she cannot learn to love you.
TEN DAYS' VACATION
pn FREE j
at a modem hotel, with clean, comfortable rooms, unexcelled cafe, dancing, music, bathing. Located
at the very foot of Mount Ben Lomond ten miles north of Ogdcn. Climate salubrious, mountatrs-and-sea,
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THE PLACE
THE UTAH HOT SPRINGS
We wish to have our agent call on those suffering from rheumatism. Fill out the coupon with
your own name and address and send
it with the names and addresses of
friends or acquaintances who have SCameof
rheumatism, y The person sending us Contestant
the greatest number by July 10 will
receive a complimentary ticket entitling a, .
them to a ten days stay at the hotel Address -,
FREE. This includes room, cafe, ia q
and bath. I t
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