168 KESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



the Ophir $1,200,000, the Hale & Norcross and the Gould & 

 Curry each $800,000, and the Crown Point and Belcher each 

 $600,000 of assessments ; but all these have paid more divi- 

 dends than assessments in some cases several millions more. 

 The total amount of assessments paid by the Comstock min- 

 ing companies has been $14,000,000, and dividends $35,000,- 

 000, leaving a nice surplus on the profit side. 



Mining is an uncertain business, and mines, when managed 

 in the most competent manner, rapidly change in value. The 

 opening, or the unexpected exhaustion of a rich body of ore, 

 may give or take away great value within a few weeks. But 

 the stock market in San Francisco is not governed, though it 

 is influenced, by the condition of the mines. The prices are 

 determined, to a great extent, by folly and dishonesty. Out 

 of the one hundred and fifty mines on the stock list, not ten 

 are now paying dividends, and four-fifths, though worked for 

 years, have never paid a dividend. Yet any one of these un- 

 profitable mines may strike a rich body of ore ; and so long as 

 they continue to work, the officers circulate encouraging re- 

 ports, and the stock fluctuates in market price. If a body of 

 ore be struck, the fact of the discovery may be concealed, or 

 its nature misrepresented, for the purpose of defrauding the 

 shareholders, by inducing them to buy or sell. The superin- 

 tendent holds his place at the mercy of the trustees, and they 

 often require him to inform them privately of any change in 

 the mine several days before it is announced publicly, so 

 they can make something. If he has a rich body of ore, he 

 manages to pay very large dividends for several months, and 

 asserts that he can continue them for a long time, and then 

 the stock goes up ; or he keeps his men out of the good ore, 

 and sends poor stuff to mill, so that an assessment is levied, 

 and then the stock goes down. In either case, the outsiders 

 are swindled. These are only a few of the numerous tricks 

 common among the mining sharps, and he who deals with 

 them, does so with greater risk and with less chance of fail- 

 dealing than when he sits down at the faro table. 



