$100,000,000, of which $30,000,000 went for cost and working expenses,
and $70,000,000 for profits. Altogether $300,000,000 have been taken
from that celebrated mine. In the African mines there are sixty-nine
companies. In 1896 the lowest dividend of any of these companies was 10
per cent., and the highest 350. In 1897 the lowest was 10 and the
highest 500 per cent. The accounts of the way that such men as James
Flood, James G. Fair, and William Sharon obtained their wealth from
silver mines reads like the fascinating story of a popular novel.