AUTHOR TRIES LUCK IN WALL STREET AND MAKES BIG FORTUNE, ONLY TO
LOSE IT IN MINING INVESTMENTS.
_Silver Falls and Land Slides, But Disaster Fails to Discourage Man
Who Has Outlived Old Associates._
All the various people of the story have been accounted for and
decently retired. Before the curtain falls I have just a word to say
about myself to those who have followed the narrative of sixteen
tempestuous years from 1857 to 1873.
The role of a Kentucky country gentleman was not to my liking. As I
have said, I sold out everything and retired from California after the
bursting of the diamond bubble. I resolved that nothing should tempt me
again into an active career. But the lure of the busy world was more
potent than I realized. After a few years of the simple life I made
my headquarters in New York, studied and grasped the investment and
speculative markets, and became one of the recognized figures of Wall
Street.
[Illustration: THE AUTHOR
At the period of his Wall Street operations]
Good fortune, as a rule, attended my ventures. Sometimes the tide
turned the other way, but I think, taking one year with another, each
saw my assets materially increased. At one time I was worth very near
if not quite four million dollars, which is distinctly more than
any man ought to have. But when one is fairly gone in the money-making
intoxication he never knows when to stop, any more than the victim of
alcohol.
When I was at the zenith of my good luck I was induced to invest in
two mining properties in the United States of Columbia, South America.
One was an immense silver mining district, the other a great hydraulic
proposition with almost fabulous gold-bearing gravel resources. Both
were passed upon favorably by the ablest experts that money could hire.
The reports were justified by the facts, yet both projects ended in
ruinous disaster to me.
I was drawn into a much larger investment than I contemplated. As I
developed the silver property, the economy of a much larger plant
and the ownership of adjacent mineral territory became self-evident.
There appeared no element of risk. Silver, after various fluctuations,
seemed to have reached a firm level. Financial experts were in accord
that the price of the white metal could not possibly go lower, was
much more likely to advance than to recede. Even with silver at 80
cents an ounce, the profits on my mining operations would be enormous.
I figured to clear such profits that in a few years I would receive
back my capital investment and own a property with an earning capacity
of millions. In fact, during the period of practical operation these
estimates were fully borne out.
Then something happened. Without a note of warning to the commercial
world, Great Britain closed the mints of India to the coinage of
silver. As long as this vast Oriental market was open, the value of
silver was secure. When it closed, like the snapping of a trap, a
panic followed which did not end until the price was squarely cut in
two. I could not produce an ounce of bullion without an actual loss.
An immense investment became instantly valueless. Nearly three million
dollars vanished into thin air with the scratching of a pen.
The hydraulic mining project fared no better. The gold gravel deposit
appeared humanly inexhaustible. All the physical conditions seemed
favorable. Water had to be brought in a ditch for twenty-three miles.
Most of the ditch, carrying 10,000 miner’s inches of water, was
completed. Then something happened again. For nearly a mile at its
upper end the line of the ditch ran along a rather steep hillside of
shale foundation. When the surface was broken, the whole mountain
seemed to get in motion. Millions of tons slid down, bringing to
naught every effort of our engineers. Money, as a rule, will in the
end conquer every physical obstacle. But about this time a third thing
happened, most serious of all: my funds ran so low that to continue the
enterprise further meant an invitation to a final and complete disaster.
My fortune was not lost. It is still intact, buried in the mountains of
the United States of Colombia. I have no doubt that some adventurous
speculator of the future, under happier conditions, will dig it out.
Since then I have been a miner and dealer in mining properties, with
the common average of the miner’s ups and downs. Much of my time has
been devoted to the mother lode of California, where I own a property
that has an immense future.
* * * * *
I am an old man now--in years, but not in hope. I have outlived not
alone nearly all my contemporaries, covered by this narrative, but
the turbulence and ardor of my early years as well. But while many
illusions inseparable from the imagination of a robust and enterprising
youth have disappeared, I still have very definite ambitions to pull
off one more surprise on the world before the close. There may yet be
a sequel, another chapter to the story to which may be attached more
fittingly than now the sad word that marks the conclusions of all
things human--
(THE END.)
[The above was written nearly two years ago. Since then Mr.
Harpending’s ambition has been realized. He sold one of his mines on
the Mother Lode and after many fluctuations of fortune is again the
possessor of ample means. One of his last and best friends was John
A. Finch, of Spokane, to whom this volume is dedicated. Just as the
forms were going to press, word came of the sudden death of this good
gentleman in Idaho. He took great interest in the publication of this
book, which he can never read.--Editor.]
[Illustration: THE LATE JOHN A. FINCH
Who possessed all the qualities of a good man and many of the qualities
of a great man.]
[Illustration]
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
predominant preference was found in this book, otherwise they were not
changed; simple typographical errors were corrected.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
Page 126: “incidentials” was printed that way.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Great Diamond Hoax, by Asbury Harpending