show what money there is in mining." The "property" sold may be a
ten-foot hole in a sand-bank two thousand miles from any of
these; yet this absurd argument is sufficient to extract coin
from the pocket of the American buyer. You can use Michigan to
tout him on to Arizona; Utah to land him in California; Mexico to
interest him in Alaska. Is it not true? There is no law against
it.

Again, the appeal to your mining pocket may come, not through the
advertising page, but in the proper person of the promoter or
owner himself. For instance, not long ago a gentleman from
California came into my office. He owned a mine on the old and
well-traced Mother Vein, of Tuolumne County, California. It had
been well opened, and showed, in development, according to a
reputable engineer's report, three million dollars' worth of ore
in sight, with many tons of the best ore already in the dump,
stuff which would run very high in value.

At the proper time the gentleman carefully produced from his
pocket a little ingot of pure gold, product of one test-mill run.
He gave the best of references as to his responsibility. He
offered to guarantee ten per cent. dividends on all money
invested, and declared that he had a banking proposition and not
a mine.


WHEELBARROW VS. $72,000

"My Christian friend," said I to him, "you seem to have a good
thing. How far is it from your mine dump to the nearest bank?"