a fabulous source of wealth, was about $100,000. The original stock issue was 10,700 shares, selling for between $4 and $5 a share. Stock gambling fever The new firm gained control of the 'Consolidated Virginia Mining Company' stock in 1873, and it was in this mine that the greatest silver bonanza in history was discovered in 1873. The ore body was more than 1,200 feet deep, which yielded in March of that year as much as $632 per ton. A little while after uncovering the "big bonanza" the price of the stock went skyward. Flood is traditionally credited with having directed the subsequent proceedings so far as stock market operations were concerned. San Francisco and the entire mining world were hurtled into a fever of excitement by proof of early reports of richness of the mining claims. The first stock issue was converted into two issues of 108,000 shares each, and by the middle of 1875 the speculative value of the two mines were close to $1,000,000,000. Shares went as high as $710. It was said that in the first six months of 1875 the output of the mines averaged $1,500,000 monthly. Seats on the San Francisco Stock and Exchange Board jumped to $25,000 each as a result of the excitement. Varied interests sought to obtain stock control of the rich properties and there came the inevitable crash in which many went to financial doom. The "Bonanza Kings" profited, however, and late in 1875 Flood and O'Brien sought to become leaders in finance. After producing $133,471,000, the Consolidated Virginia and California mines could not be operated profitably, but in the language of the street, the owners had "caught them coming and going." Bank of Nevada The Bonanza firm was said to be held together by Flood, though he was the most unpopular of the partners with the public, and was regarded by some as a stock manipulator. The advent of Flood and O'Brien, operating independently of Fair and Mackay, into the financial field met fierce resistance from William Sharon and William C. Ralston of the Bank of California. As a result of a battle between the two groups, the Bank of California failed and Flood and O'Brien started the Nevada Bank. From that time on finance more than mining engaged Flood's time, and much of his wealth went into real estate. Dissension and an ill-fated attempt to corner the world