"Holy Moses" Falls.
He is met with the doleful news that while his stock was on the way to Chicago, or elsewhere, the stock in "Holy Moses" had experienced such a decided slump that it was impossible for them to sell it at a profit. If he desires, they will hold the stock for a raise, which they expect as soon as the present unfortunate financial panic has passed, or until industrials begin to go up. The drop in "Holy Moses" is not due to any slump in the production of the mine; far from it. It is only the unfortunate financial depression which is to blame, and there is no doubt but that "Holy Moses" will go up a-whooping very soon.
Naturally Johnson bites again, and says hold the stock for that raise. Meanwhile the stock has been procured again from Wilson and sent to Baker, in Kentucky. And so on, indefinitely. It is only when some of the swindled ones become particularly savage that their stock is returned to them. And then it is not their original stock at all, but a new thousand shares which some sucker has sent in.
One block of stock in one company was sold in this way in 1907 by a Chicago mining company, no less than twelve times.
The activities of Detective Wooldridge afterward put this firm out of business, and the head promoter was arrested in the West by the federal authorities.
It is well that all these facts should be taken into consideration by the public before investing in mining shares.