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THE Great Diamond Hoax AND Other Stirring Incidents IN THE LIFE OF ASBURY HARPENDING
THE Great Diamond Hoax AND Other Stirring Incidents IN THE LIFE OF ASBURY HARPENDING
□□□□ EDITED BY JAMES H. WILKINS Copyright by A. HARPENDING, 1913 The James H. Barry Co., San Francisco. To my friend, unassuming John A. Finch, of Spokane, Washington, a man of great ability, possessing, according to my ideals, all the attributes of greatness, as a token of my deep esteem, this book is dedicated. The Author....
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
On my return to California, after an absence of many years, my attention was called, for the first time, to the fact that my name had been associated unpleasantly with the great diamond fraud that startled the financial world nearly half a century ago. Plain duty to my family name and reputation compelled me to tell the whole story of that strange incident so far as my knowledge of it extends. I sincerely trust that a candid reading of these pages will satisfy the public that I was only a dupe,
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CHAPTER I. Early Years—My Voyage to California.
CHAPTER I. Early Years—My Voyage to California.
My father was one of the largest landed proprietors of Kentucky, in the southwestern section of the State. That was still on the frontier of the Far West. Beyond stretched the land of enchantment and adventure—the plains, the mountains, the unbroken solitudes, the wild Indians, the buffaloes and the Golden State on the shore of the Pacific. Youngsters whose minds are occupied today with baseball and tennis and who still retain a lingering love for taffy, sixty years ago on the frontier were drea
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CHAPTER II. My Experience in Mexico. How Luck Again Brought Me Fortune.
CHAPTER II. My Experience in Mexico. How Luck Again Brought Me Fortune.
All the early gold seekers of California had some knowledge of Mexico. The great argosies of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company stopped at various points, such as Acapulco, Manzanillo and sometimes at Mazatlan. Thus the passengers gained a sort of hurricane deck impression of the Latin nation to the southward. But it extended no further than these glimpses of the coast. A veil of profound mystery and romance shut out a view of the vast interior. Only, we knew that it was immensely rich in precio
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CHAPTER III. Story of Southern Plan to Make California Secede From the Union Is Told for First Time. Narrator Describes His Invitation Into Band of 30, Which Planned to Organize Republic of Pacific.
CHAPTER III. Story of Southern Plan to Make California Secede From the Union Is Told for First Time. Narrator Describes His Invitation Into Band of 30, Which Planned to Organize Republic of Pacific.
I had barely reached San Francisco when the election of 1860 took place, resulting in the choice of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. All through the South this was accepted as the signal for a civil contest. The work of organization went ahead with feverish haste and long before the inauguration of the new President the authority of the Federal Government was paralyzed in most of the slave States. The attitude of California was a matter of supreme moment, not understood, howeve
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CHAPTER IV. Southern General, Albert Sidney Johnston, Played Important Part in Preventing Organized Revolt for Secession. Discovery of Comstock Lode With Its Vast Hoard of Gold Another Factor in Keeping This State in the Union.
CHAPTER IV. Southern General, Albert Sidney Johnston, Played Important Part in Preventing Organized Revolt for Secession. Discovery of Comstock Lode With Its Vast Hoard of Gold Another Factor in Keeping This State in the Union.
General Albert Sidney Johnston was in command of the military department of the Pacific. He had graduated from West Point in 1826 and saw seven years of active service on the frontier, especially in the famous Black Hawk war. He resigned from the service on account of his wife’s failing health, and settled in Texas. On the uprising against Mexican rule, he had enlisted as a private soldier in the army of his new country, but through the compelling force of genius soon became commander-in-chief o
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CHAPTER V. Randolph Betrayed Conspiracy for Revolt in California, and Wrote Letter to Lincoln that Caused Johnston’s Removal.
CHAPTER V. Randolph Betrayed Conspiracy for Revolt in California, and Wrote Letter to Lincoln that Caused Johnston’s Removal.
I could not close this phase of the story without further reference to Edmond Randolph, for I sincerely want to set him right. I said he went mad. Everything later proved it. He not only committed the gravest indiscretions, but in addition he, a Southern man, with a couple of centuries of Southern traditions behind him, actually wrote a letter to President Lincoln warning him of a vast conspiracy to carry California out of the Union and questioning the trustworthiness of General Johnston. Nothin
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CHAPTER VI. Perilous Trip Across Mexico and Voyage on Blockade Runner Enter Into Narrator’s Experiences on Visit to Jefferson Davis. Southerners in California Form Plan to Intercept Gold Shipments on Pacific Mail Liners from San Francisco to Capital.
CHAPTER VI. Perilous Trip Across Mexico and Voyage on Blockade Runner Enter Into Narrator’s Experiences on Visit to Jefferson Davis. Southerners in California Form Plan to Intercept Gold Shipments on Pacific Mail Liners from San Francisco to Capital.
I was broken-hearted at the turn of affairs in California. Needless to say, I was one of those who voted “yes” on the memorable night when the committee disbanded. The actions of General Sumner, which were needlessly severe and autocratic, tended to make the tension more severe. Just for some idle expression of sympathy for the South, all sorts of really inoffensive people were clapped into Alcatraz and subjected to indignity and loss. President Lincoln later on realized that Sumner was only mak
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CHAPTER VII. The Great Battle of Shiloh and the South’s Irreparable Loss in the Death of General Johnston.
CHAPTER VII. The Great Battle of Shiloh and the South’s Irreparable Loss in the Death of General Johnston.
War, fifty years ago, was bad enough, but it wasn’t the plain, cold-blooded deviltry that it is to-day. When men met face to face and leaders led, in fact as well as theory, I can understand the inspiration, the enthusiasm, the wild love of glory, that invited the best blood to a military life. But now, when victories are to be won by pressing buttons, switching on or off electric currents or dropping bombs from the sky on the heads of helpless women and children, while it may attract those of a
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CHAPTER VIII. Nephew of Celebrated English Leader Takes Hand in Conspiracy, and Also Figures in Amusing Near-Duel.
CHAPTER VIII. Nephew of Celebrated English Leader Takes Hand in Conspiracy, and Also Figures in Amusing Near-Duel.
I did not return to California after my visit to the seat of war until late in the month of July, 1862. Everything seemed in regular shape for outfitting a privateer. But again the Comstock Lode interfered. Speculation was fast and furious. Of those who subscribed to the fund of $250,000 to carry on the enterprise only two remained steadfast, Mr. Ridgley Greathouse and myself. Greathouse was connected with some of the well-known families of the South and of California. He was a man of unusual co
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CHAPTER IX. Plan to Capture Gold Ships Develops, But Trouble Follows Engagement of Villainous-Looking Pilot.
CHAPTER IX. Plan to Capture Gold Ships Develops, But Trouble Follows Engagement of Villainous-Looking Pilot.
The three of us—Greathouse, Rubery and myself—now worked in unison. My first intention was to outfit in British Columbia, but an agent stationed at Vancouver was unable to find anything fit for our purpose. We negotiated for the purchase of the steamer Otter, owned in Oregon, but on a trial trip she failed to develop a speed much greater than that of a rowboat—not enough either to fight or run away. While we were fretting over the delay a small deep-water vessel came into port, after a record-br
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CHAPTER X. We Wake to Find Warship Near and Boat Filled With Police Approaching.
CHAPTER X. We Wake to Find Warship Near and Boat Filled With Police Approaching.
Somebody else slumbered on board the Chapman that night besides the men below. Morpheus evidently got a strangle-hold on our vigilant sentinel, from what followed. I was wakened by a shake and a startled cry from the lookout. I sprang hastily to the deck. It was broad daylight. A couple of hundred yards away I looked into the trained guns of the U. S. warship Cyane. Several boatloads of officers and marines were just starting from her in our direction. A hasty look also revealed a tugboat making
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CHAPTER XI. Technicalities Fall Before True and Perjured Testimony and Author is Quickly Convicted of Treason. We Find Consolation in Lack of Proof Until a Foolish Remark Causes Weakling to Turn Informer.
CHAPTER XI. Technicalities Fall Before True and Perjured Testimony and Author is Quickly Convicted of Treason. We Find Consolation in Lack of Proof Until a Foolish Remark Causes Weakling to Turn Informer.
As I said, Rubery, Libby and myself were brought from Alcatraz to the Broadway jail, while Greathouse was enlarged on bail. We remained there over six months, while the Government was preparing for our trial. At that time there was published in San Francisco a paper called the American Flag. It perished peacefully after the war ended, but while it lasted, outclassed every publication of the North in downright ferocity, not alone to the cause of the South, but to every person of Southern parentag
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CHAPTER XII. Arrest of Accomplice Alarms Author and on Advice of Friends He Takes Flight. Amnesty Act Unlocks Prison Doors of Conspirators, But Fails to Bring Security.
CHAPTER XII. Arrest of Accomplice Alarms Author and on Advice of Friends He Takes Flight. Amnesty Act Unlocks Prison Doors of Conspirators, But Fails to Bring Security.
In war times, the American Eagle was not a bloodthirsty bird. We began to have sympathizers, even among prominent Union men. Greathouse was released after a brief confinement under a general amnesty act and upon taking the oath of allegiance. Rubery, a foreigner, could not take advantage of the amnesty act. However, at the request of John Bright, President Lincoln granted him a free pardon. But the astute statesman arranged that his precious nephew should not be involved in future trouble becaus
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CHAPTER XIII. Hits for the Hills in Effort to Lose Pursuers, Passes One Good Thing and Stumbles Into a Bonanza. Company of Soldiers Goes to Arrest Him; Is Taken Into Camp and Very Soon After Everything Is Fine.
CHAPTER XIII. Hits for the Hills in Effort to Lose Pursuers, Passes One Good Thing and Stumbles Into a Bonanza. Company of Soldiers Goes to Arrest Him; Is Taken Into Camp and Very Soon After Everything Is Fine.
I stayed overnight at San Jose at the house of a friend, a stanch Southern sympathizer, who had been advised by wire that he might expect a guest by the late train. The next morning bright and early I left with a companion and a stout team for Santa Cruz. On the outskirts of that town—pardon me, city—my companion left me late in the afternoon, directing me to a house of accommodation kept by a man I knew, of strong “secesh” proclivities. I passed into the waiting room, where a number of men were
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CHAPTER XIV. Decade Between 1860 and ’70, Next to the Gold Age, One of the Most Stirring Times in History of State. Realization Had Come That Mineral Riches Formed Smallest Part of Resources; Outlook Was Bright.
CHAPTER XIV. Decade Between 1860 and ’70, Next to the Gold Age, One of the Most Stirring Times in History of State. Realization Had Come That Mineral Riches Formed Smallest Part of Resources; Outlook Was Bright.
Late in the summer of 1865, I took up my residence in San Francisco. The war was over, the country settling down after the intoxication of a terrific struggle. But one fever was only followed by another, so far as I was concerned. I was barely 25, but far older than my years. In fact, I never had any youth at all. From the time when I ran away from college to join Walker’s expedition against Nicaragua, I was called on to meet problems that required a man’s decision, and so became one, long ahead
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CHAPTER XV. First Speculator to Figure That Market Street Had Future Buys Several Choice Lots for a Pittance. Earthquake Plays Important Part in Big Deal; Timid Citizen Sells Out in Hurry and Loses $350,000.
CHAPTER XV. First Speculator to Figure That Market Street Had Future Buys Several Choice Lots for a Pittance. Earthquake Plays Important Part in Big Deal; Timid Citizen Sells Out in Hurry and Loses $350,000.
In the early 60’s no one thought of Market street except as a disfigurement to the city and a broad impediment to its progress. It began almost nowhere, at an unfrequented section of the waterfront, where the dullness was relieved only by the arrival and departure four or five times a day of a ferryboat owned by Charles Minturn, which transported a few straggling passengers between San Francisco and the small village of Oakland, across the bay. If I recollect aright, the fare was 50 cents each w
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CHAPTER XVI. Montgomery South Deal Comes to Notice of Ralston, Who Buys Quarter Interest in Real Estate Project.
CHAPTER XVI. Montgomery South Deal Comes to Notice of Ralston, Who Buys Quarter Interest in Real Estate Project.
Long before the events narrated in the last chapter a most important person became a character in this narrative. In one way or another, I had become quite a figure in the business world of San Francisco; I took a flyer at several things in a speculative line, always made money at my ventures, and was generally looked on as what we now call “a comer.” But it was entirely because of my large and peculiar real estate investments that I attracted the notice of the great central figure of California
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CHAPTER XVII. Sharon, Too, Becomes Associate of Famous Pioneer; This Chapter Tells How Great Panic Was Averted. Ralston Lays Foundation for Huge Fortune of D. O. Mills by Making Him a Bank President
CHAPTER XVII. Sharon, Too, Becomes Associate of Famous Pioneer; This Chapter Tells How Great Panic Was Averted. Ralston Lays Foundation for Huge Fortune of D. O. Mills by Making Him a Bank President
Ralston had two business associates—I might almost call them familiars—William Sharon and D. O. Mills. D. O. Mills was a man of some fortune, worth perhaps half a million dollars. He was about to leave for the East to settle down somewhere under his own vine and fig tree, when Ralston took him up. The latter was just organizing the Bank of California, had no ambition for titular dignities, and offered Mills the place of president. He promised that the job would be a sinecure—that he would do all
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CHAPTER XVIII. “Big Four” Intervenes and Sets Up Obstacles; Ralston Acts as Mediator and Is Badly Gold-Bricked. Railroad Madness Results in the Narrator Securing Franchise for Line From Sausalito to Humboldt.
CHAPTER XVIII. “Big Four” Intervenes and Sets Up Obstacles; Ralston Acts as Mediator and Is Badly Gold-Bricked. Railroad Madness Results in the Narrator Securing Franchise for Line From Sausalito to Humboldt.
Way back in 1868, the Legislature passed a bill giving a franchise to a corporation organized under the name of the San Francisco & Humboldt Bay Railroad Company, to construct a railroad from an indefinite point on the bay of San Francisco to Eureka, in Humboldt county. The franchise was coupled with a provision that the electors of the counties through which it passed should be authorized to vote a subsidy in bonds of $5,000 per mile, payable as every section of 25 miles was completed.
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CHAPTER XIX. Two Men Block Plan to Run New Montgomery Street to the Bay; One Asks Coin, Other Prefers Fight. Promoters Appeal to Legislature and Do Not Neglect Precaution of First “Seeing” Vote Brokers.
CHAPTER XIX. Two Men Block Plan to Run New Montgomery Street to the Bay; One Asks Coin, Other Prefers Fight. Promoters Appeal to Legislature and Do Not Neglect Precaution of First “Seeing” Vote Brokers.
When Ralston and I opened New Montgomery street we never doubted that its manifest importance would compel an immediate and voluntary extension to the natural terminus of the waterfront and prove the logical outlet for congested trade. That this would have been the case had the majority of property owners been able to follow our example, I have no reasonable doubt. But just as in the case of “Montgomery Street Straight,” special interests and selfish considerations stood in the way. Less than ha
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CHAPTER XX. Burning of Harpending Block Provides Fine Spectacle, But Oversight of Owner Costs Him Dearly. George Hearst Makes Stake on Comstock and Celebrates by Taking Joe Clark on a Trip to Europe.
CHAPTER XX. Burning of Harpending Block Provides Fine Spectacle, But Oversight of Owner Costs Him Dearly. George Hearst Makes Stake on Comstock and Celebrates by Taking Joe Clark on a Trip to Europe.
I was busy with other things besides real estate investments, financing railroads, and politics, during the five years between 1865 and 1870. In 1869 I built the first fine business block on the south side of Market street, the Harpending Block, between First and Second streets. It was also in 1869–1870 that Ralston and myself built the Grand Hotel, partly on our own land, partly on land belonging to the Platt estate, which we held under 20 years’ lease. The Harpending Block cost nearly $400,000
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CHAPTER XXI. Sam Brannan Strikes It Rich and Refuses to Share With Mormon Church Except on Order From Lord. Mine Bargain Fails to Stand Inquiry of Author, But Others Invest and Figure as Victims of Fraud.
CHAPTER XXI. Sam Brannan Strikes It Rich and Refuses to Share With Mormon Church Except on Order From Lord. Mine Bargain Fails to Stand Inquiry of Author, But Others Invest and Figure as Victims of Fraud.
I had early been familiar with Utah and its mines, through an acquaintance with “Sam” Brannan. Brannan had a history of thrills and adventures which if gathered into book form would make the heroes of Dumas look cheap and commonplace. Originally a Mormon, high in the councils of Brigham Young, he led a body of his co-religionists around Cape Horn to California, before the earliest Argonauts. He staked out claims on the American River, about two miles from where Folsom prison stands, the location
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CHAPTER XXII. Briton With Oriental Imagination Seeks to Lure Investors With Tales of Mountain of Silver. New Promotion Company Tells Truth, But Editor Samson Frightens Off Public at Critical Moment.
CHAPTER XXII. Briton With Oriental Imagination Seeks to Lure Investors With Tales of Mountain of Silver. New Promotion Company Tells Truth, But Editor Samson Frightens Off Public at Critical Moment.
When I reached Salt Lake City after examining the Emma mine, I found awaiting me a telegram from Mr. Ralston to the effect that the president of the Bank of England, a Mr. Green, then traveling in the Far West, would be in Cheyenne on a certain day. He asked me to meet the gentleman, and in his name, as president of the Bank of California, extend to the visiting banker any courtesies that his time and inclination might permit. So I journeyed to Cheyenne in quest of Mr. Green. I stopped at the pr
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CHAPTER XXIII. Baron Grant Demonstrates His Talent for Exploitation by Putting Over a Deal That Nets $1,500,000. Happy Directors Decide That Occasion Calls for Generous Cash Souvenirs, But Stockholders Object.
CHAPTER XXIII. Baron Grant Demonstrates His Talent for Exploitation by Putting Over a Deal That Nets $1,500,000. Happy Directors Decide That Occasion Calls for Generous Cash Souvenirs, But Stockholders Object.
Those who are familiar with the staid, conservative, even-paced London of to-day can hardly realize what that same London was in 1871, the period of my first visit there. It was the year of the great Franco-Prussian war. The pleasure capital of the world was transferred from the River Seine to the River Thames. Male and female adventurers of every nation thronged the British capital; speculators eager to tap the great reservoirs of English wealth, gentlemen who lived by their wits, chevaliers d’
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CHAPTER XXIV. Baron Grant Demands More Time, Thereby Knocking Out Option for Mine That Soon Developed Bonanza. Exploiter Breaks His Promise and Litigation Follows; Public Fooled Into Buying Worthless Securities.
CHAPTER XXIV. Baron Grant Demands More Time, Thereby Knocking Out Option for Mine That Soon Developed Bonanza. Exploiter Breaks His Promise and Litigation Follows; Public Fooled Into Buying Worthless Securities.
I returned to London as soon as my business was arranged in San Francisco. The boom times were still on. Speculation was running mad. I was a trifle chagrined at losing the best property I had bonded through the stubbornness of Baron Grant. This was the famous Raymond and Ely mine. By the payment of $10,000 I had secured an option on this famous property for sixty days for $900,000. I had cabled Grant about Raymond and Ely, in order to hasten arrangements, as the time was short. He answered that
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CHAPTER XXV. Inspired by Desire to Expose Emma Mine Swindle Author Begins Publication of Financial Journal. Ralston Reports Discovery of Immense Diamond Field and Declares His Find is Worth $50,000,000.
CHAPTER XXV. Inspired by Desire to Expose Emma Mine Swindle Author Begins Publication of Financial Journal. Ralston Reports Discovery of Immense Diamond Field and Declares His Find is Worth $50,000,000.
Many times I had learned to have a deep respect for printer’s ink. I had seen it make history, change fortune, influence the thought of great bodies of people, prove a mighty instrument for good or ill. Without the least desire to be disrespectful to the present, I have a strong impression that the journalism of fifty years ago had a wider dominion over the minds of its readers than the modern school. I cannot say that this was always for the best. Men had a blind devotion to their pet newspaper
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CHAPTER XXVI. Discoverers Decline to Reveal Location of Diamond Field, But Report of Agent Satisfies Promoters. Final Proof of Good Faith Is Offered in Form of Bag Filled With Collection of Eye-Dazzling Gems.
CHAPTER XXVI. Discoverers Decline to Reveal Location of Diamond Field, But Report of Agent Satisfies Promoters. Final Proof of Good Faith Is Offered in Form of Bag Filled With Collection of Eye-Dazzling Gems.
When I arrived in San Francisco I lost no time in getting in touch with the principals of the diamond deal. Three prominent men only were concerned in it at that time, W. C. Ralston, George D. Roberts and William M. Lent. From them I learned that the alleged discovery of the diamond fields had been known to them for many months. Two prospectors, Philip Arnold and John Slack, were the original locators. I had known Arnold previously in California. He had been employed by Roberts to look into mini
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CHAPTER XXVII. Promoters Decide to Submit Samples of Their Collection of Diamonds to Great Authority on Gems. Tiffany Consults His Lapidary and Soon Makes Report That Creates Big Stir in Speculative Circles.
CHAPTER XXVII. Promoters Decide to Submit Samples of Their Collection of Diamonds to Great Authority on Gems. Tiffany Consults His Lapidary and Soon Makes Report That Creates Big Stir in Speculative Circles.
I think it was the next day or the day following that a display of diamonds was made in the office of William Willis that filled San Francisco with astonishment. The precious stones were actually displayed in open trays to a multitude of sightseers, until I bought a show-case and gave them some kind of protection. General Dodge, a partner of Lent in mining, bought an interest from the prospectors at once, and Maurice Dore also acquired a small holding, although I do not remember exactly what. Hi
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CHAPTER XXVIII. Discoverers of Field of Diamonds Finally Lead the Party of Investors to the Scene of Wonderful Find. Pick Turns Up Many Fine Gems, and Expert Grows Enthusiastic as He Figures Out the Profits.
CHAPTER XXVIII. Discoverers of Field of Diamonds Finally Lead the Party of Investors to the Scene of Wonderful Find. Pick Turns Up Many Fine Gems, and Expert Grows Enthusiastic as He Figures Out the Profits.
Our friends in San Francisco had, of course, been advised by wire of our transactions and movements, including the date of our departure. We had not journeyed far before we received on the train a telegram that George D. Roberts and a considerable party were on the way to join us to visit the diamond fields and would meet us, if I recollect aright, at Omaha. Here again, Arnold absolutely rebelled. He had kept all his engagements, he said. The diamonds had been appraised by an expert of our own s
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CHAPTER XXIX. Public Soon Hears of Wonderful Find and Gossips Carry News Until Whole World Is Keenly Interested. Company to Develop Diamond Fields Includes Great Lords of Finance and One Noted Union General.
CHAPTER XXIX. Public Soon Hears of Wonderful Find and Gossips Carry News Until Whole World Is Keenly Interested. Company to Develop Diamond Fields Includes Great Lords of Finance and One Noted Union General.
We returned direct to New York; that is to say, all of the original party except Rubery and Slack. Of course, Mr. Ralston was advised by wire of the substantial results of our examination. Likewise, of course, we advised our New York friends who had been previously in our confidence, that our best expectations were exceeded. Where so many are cognizant of a secret, it very soon becomes public property, and in a brief space of time all New York and, for the matter of that, all the civilized world
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CHAPTER XXX. “Old Miner” Draws on His Imagination and Tells Wild Tale of Single Gem as Big as a Pigeon’s Egg. Winter Causes Lull, But Cold Fails to Chill the Ardor of Men Counting on Millions in Spring.
CHAPTER XXX. “Old Miner” Draws on His Imagination and Tells Wild Tale of Single Gem as Big as a Pigeon’s Egg. Winter Causes Lull, But Cold Fails to Chill the Ardor of Men Counting on Millions in Spring.
On July 30, 1872, the articles of incorporation of the San Francisco and New York Mining and Commercial Company were formally filed and the report of Expert Janin was made public. As yet, however, the exact location of the diamond fields was undisclosed, because the company’s rights to the great territories claimed were not completed, although a recent act of Congress changing the mining laws gave ample opportunity. The wildest tales concerning the new discoveries were at once turned loose. An a
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CHAPTER XXXI. Rude Awakening Follows Dreams of Boundless Wealth; While Promoters Wait for Spring Word Suddenly Comes That They Were Victims of Clever Swindle. Diamond Already Cut Reveals Fraud; Gems Had Been Carried to Scene of “Find” and Planted Like Seeds.
CHAPTER XXXI. Rude Awakening Follows Dreams of Boundless Wealth; While Promoters Wait for Spring Word Suddenly Comes That They Were Victims of Clever Swindle. Diamond Already Cut Reveals Fraud; Gems Had Been Carried to Scene of “Find” and Planted Like Seeds.
Just what might have happened in a single month of wild speculation had the stock of the San Francisco and New York Mining and Commercial Company been placed in any considerable quantity on the market, is hard to tell. But one thing is very certain—it would have caused a catastrophe almost without parallel in the civilized world. The public was keyed up to the point of a speculative craze such as even the Comstock never saw, not alone in San Francisco but in nearly every financial center of the
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CHAPTER XXXII. Victim of Big Swindle Explains How Rough Miners Managed to Deceive Men Like Tiffany and Janin. Inquiry Reveals That “Salting” of Diamond Field Cost Plotters $35,000 and Yielded $600,000 Net Profit.
CHAPTER XXXII. Victim of Big Swindle Explains How Rough Miners Managed to Deceive Men Like Tiffany and Janin. Inquiry Reveals That “Salting” of Diamond Field Cost Plotters $35,000 and Yielded $600,000 Net Profit.
How so many of the shrewdest men in the world could have been absolutely duped by the great diamond fraud may well be asked. The truth is it succeeded not because of the baleful craft employed in working out its details, but because of a rawness that seemed to disarm rather than arouse suspicion and the audacity and nerve with which everything was carried out. That diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires were found associated together—gems found elsewhere in the world under widely different geo
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CHAPTER XXXIII. Principal in Diamond Swindle Goes Back to His Old Home in Kentucky to Enjoy Hard-Earned Riches. Victims Bring Suit for $350,000, But Arnold Is Popular With Neighbors and Forces Compromise.
CHAPTER XXXIII. Principal in Diamond Swindle Goes Back to His Old Home in Kentucky to Enjoy Hard-Earned Riches. Victims Bring Suit for $350,000, But Arnold Is Popular With Neighbors and Forces Compromise.
After Arnold received his final payment of $300,000 he retired to his old home at Elizabethtown in Hardin county, Kentucky, bought a fine piece of land and also a safe, which he kept in his house under strong guard. In this he deposited nearly all his spoils, although he also had a tidy balance in the local bank, which added greatly to his repute among his neighbors. He had a host of relatives in Hardin county, which borders on the primitive section of Kentucky. It was there that the most capabl
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CHAPTER XXXIV. Diamond Fraud Loss Falls on Shoulders of Original Dupes; Ralston Reimburses All Stockholders. Gossips Make Unjust Charge Against Men Who Acted in Good Faith and Were Deceived by Swindlers.
CHAPTER XXXIV. Diamond Fraud Loss Falls on Shoulders of Original Dupes; Ralston Reimburses All Stockholders. Gossips Make Unjust Charge Against Men Who Acted in Good Faith and Were Deceived by Swindlers.
The losses growing out of the diamond fraud fell on the shoulders of the original dupes—W. C. Ralston, William M. Lent, George Dodge and myself. My impression is that the money obtained by Mr. Lent from Arnold very nearly, if not quite, balanced his account. Perhaps he may have given a portion of this to General Dodge, his business associate. Mr. Ralston promptly paid the twenty-five stockholders who subscribed $2,000,000 for a half interest in the company, dollar for dollar. Not a man of them l
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CHAPTER XXXV. Baron Grant Bobs Up Again; Tries to Get Even on Man Who Exposed One of His Big Stock Swindles. Alfred Rubery Brings Suit Against London Times for Libel and Is Awarded £10,000 as Damages.
CHAPTER XXXV. Baron Grant Bobs Up Again; Tries to Get Even on Man Who Exposed One of His Big Stock Swindles. Alfred Rubery Brings Suit Against London Times for Libel and Is Awarded £10,000 as Damages.
In the charges made by the London Times, it was not difficult to recognize the handiwork of my old enemies, Baron Grant and the financial editor, Samson. The accusation seemed to be an echo of the old Emma Mine fight, when I warned the public against the exploitation of a worthless property. That bubble had burst, carrying ruin to investors, disgrace to the promoters and more than a decade of distrust for every American security in European markets. But the sting of defeat remained and the oppor
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CHAPTER XXXVI. Associates Bar Great Financier From Conference and Soon After His Body Is Found in the Bay. Fortune Plays Cruel Trick; At Height of Ralston’s Power His Big Bank Is Forced to Close Its Doors.
CHAPTER XXXVI. Associates Bar Great Financier From Conference and Soon After His Body Is Found in the Bay. Fortune Plays Cruel Trick; At Height of Ralston’s Power His Big Bank Is Forced to Close Its Doors.
Ralston succeeded D. O. Mills as president of the Bank of California, in 1872. While conceding the titular supremacy to another, and contenting himself with the station of cashier, Ralston had always been the actual head. In all matters of policy and large accommodation his word was law. After the withdrawal of Mills, the directors practically gave him a free hand. All through the ascendancy of Ralston, the institution had the splendid reputation that the Bank of California enjoys to-day. It not
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CHAPTER XXXVII. Testimony of Eye-witnesses and Experts Refutes Story That Wm. C. Ralston Took His Own Life. Ruined Financier Had Deeded His Property to William Sharon, Who Forces Widow to Accept $250,000 as Payment in Full.
CHAPTER XXXVII. Testimony of Eye-witnesses and Experts Refutes Story That Wm. C. Ralston Took His Own Life. Ruined Financier Had Deeded His Property to William Sharon, Who Forces Widow to Accept $250,000 as Payment in Full.
Among the common traditions of William C. Ralston’s death is the story that he committed suicide to escape exposure. Notwithstanding the fact that a coroner’s jury found on ample expert evidence that he died from a cerebral attack, and the further incident that a life insurance company promptly paid a policy of $50,000 to his widow—a policy void by express terms in the event of suicide—this impression seems to persist to-day. When I came to California for first-hand information concerning my old
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CHAPTER XXXVIII. 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.
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 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
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