Prologue. After nine months out of work, a friend Julian Gillespie, partner in Mackel and Coe. ( A small D. C. Investment banking firm) invited me to go to work on a commission basis. Through two years of chasing deals, I made enough with the Capital Mortgage REIT, to pay family expenses for two years. it was a wonderful education in deal making and seeing through phony deals. Many stories, but not the best of times.

I). Capital Mortgage REIT. This was the luckiest deal of my early years. Local lawyer brought in the client with a new concept. I was assigned the deal. It was a trust vehicle, that would lend money to commercial real estate developers. The trust called a REIT. Only two REITs in the country had preceded it. There are thousands today.The second one ever created was Continental Mortgage. It’s lawyer had been Marx Leva,(Marx had been my lawyer for the firm that me represented in the Parkwood reorganization. He also had arranged for me to be the lawyer in the Humphrey presidential campaign. Mark’s famous lawyer, other clients included Ross Perot startup. Wonderful man). I went to him, explained the deal. He introduced me to Mr. Legg, of Legg-Mason, Baltimore investment firm. Mr. Legg agreed to do the deal with Mackel and Coe. $18 million initial public offering largest in the area for the year.

II). Tales of the Bird-dog. My job was essentially to go and check out potential investments and deals. Like many of the banks and investment institutions of the day, many of the associates and partners were from wealthy families. Had to have a place to put them. I certainly fell into that category being, John Sweeterman’s son-in-law. Wilford Goodwin, classmate of mine at Columbia business school was one of those super wealthy fellows. He and a couple others would find deals and I would investigate. They paid me a pittance but it was fun. Some examples.

A). Hawaii. A prominent Washington lawyer, a bit shady, offered them a deal. He owned a company that had the state of Hawaii franchise for devices that you see behind a bar. That serve Coke soda etc. the company provided all of the ingredients, the soda water, the Coca-Cola etc. It was extremely profitable. They sent me to Hawaii to check it outan extremely profitable franchise. As a precaution the lawyer had a "watchdog" named Abernathy, guide take me around Honolulu. Provided a beautiful dinner at a Japanese-Americans mansion. I became suspicious however. I went one day on my own to the biggest source of revenues, US Army officers, NGO club. There I talked with the bartender. He told me how the company was paying off certain people in the military, and charging enormous amounts for the Coca-Cola soda etc. I took the next weekoff and went to the Big Island, saw the famous volcano by helicopter, came home and killed the deal!

B). Coalinga California. Famous small town, at the top of the mountains by the San Andreas fault. Wonderful history regarding Basque sheep herders;100 years ago raised large herds of sheep and herded them to market hundred miles to San Francisco. Beautiful country. My mission was to research one of Wilford Goodwin’s intended investments. He had been offered the opportunity to buy a abandoned mercury mine 20 miles from Coalinga. (See my stories about Tales of The Butte). He had retained a geologist to analyze the tailings of the mine. He said that there was a significantly high enough concentration to open the mine. They were ready to purchase. Before I went to Coalinga, I called the professor and geology at Stanford University. He was very kind to explain the history of the mine to me. It was open during the war because all sources of mercury came from Spain, out of our control. He thought the mind had a very low concentration. He said that the geologist analysis was probably incorrect in that over the many years the rain had leached the soil away from the mercury that the 1st inch or two showed an unrealistically high concentration. This later proved to be the case. I went to Coalinga had a wonderful three or four days driving through the mountains, and drinking at the local bar. Once again, back to Washington and killed the deal.

C). Kings Oil. A number of the clients for the firm wanted to invest in interests in a company that had oil wells in Colorado. These were unique formations, but when the driller said quite profitable. A former congressman from Illinois, named King founded that the King Oil Drilling Company. He had an office in Washington. I went to meetings there. He had a long conference table with a raised throne like chair at the end. His top assistant, had married a friend of mine. Went to Colorado, asked many questions. I also killed this deal. Later it turned out to be extremely fraudulent. The King dethroned, jail time.