Correspondence, Levi Syphus to Sadie George Clayton

Panaca, Nevada September 17, 1939 Mrs. W. M. Clayton Santa Ana, California Dear Madam: My mail has not been forwarded to me from Nepac for some time and it may be there is a letter there from you for me. I am in need of the letter which I sent you for inspection, which was written to me by the U. S. Bureau of Mines. If you have not returned it, please do so at your earliest convenience. I expect to go to Nepac in a few days. Let me know whether or not Willard thinks he can negotiate a loan for me along the lines I mentioned to you when last I wrote. I expect to have the prospectus ready for forwarding within a couple of weeks time if he thinks he can turn the deal for me. Senator Pittman has been in Nevada, but failed to call upon me. Whether it is his national duties as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee that prevented him seeing me, or whether he shyed away for ssome other reason, I do not know. Certain of the owners in the magnesite deposit and myself now own all of the rights in and to the following three processes: 1. For separating the soda content from the chlorine content of sodium chloride. 2. For separating the magnesium content from the chlorine content of magnesium chloride. And, 3. One for eliminating the impurities, or most of them, from the ore of our deposit, under what is really a flotation process. We also own all of the inventor's rights under his applications for letters patent, in the U. S. Patent Office, for letters patent for said processes. I am under the impression there is at least one other process in existence, which I believe is owned by big people, financially. I suspect they are moving through second parties to come into possession of the deposit for a small sum. Recently there have been several nibbles, one of them on the basis of $150,000, one-third of it down, and the other two-thirds year* 1 “ takinS stePs to get the information before the nublic M s fellows, aad W U 1 StSp °Utl if " S a ti8 fa M ory p rio e, 2 rather than let someone else get it. I have advised the U. S. Bureauuof Mines and each of the Nevada Congressional Delegation of our processes explaining enough of them to give them a general idea without exposing the most important details, thinking that if there is not another process (of which they would probably know if it existed) they might interest themselves toward procuring government money with which to install a pilot plant in connection with our processes and deposit in order that the bulk of the future great magnesia business may come to Southern Nevada and the Southwest instead of being held almost exclusively in the State of Washington in connection with the great magnesite deposits there, for which they now have a refining process, by means of which they float out the dolomite and other kmpurities, just as ours will do from our ore, although the two processes are entirely different and neither will apply to any ore excepting that for which it is especially designed. The future will see airplanes constructed by the tens and hundreds of thousands from plastic magnesite, for which our nation's supply exists almost altogether in the Washington deposits and our own. It may seem that we would be foolish to think of silling, but as things are in the world today we cannot tell what may happen at any time or where. Therefore, the majority of the owners expefit, as soon as a reasonable offer comes, to get the thing off our hands, for quite a number of us have got to hurry if we blow in very much money before going West. The possible terrors of the future throughout the world are appalling and it seems we are in the eve of the time the prophetic history of the world indicates unless brotherly love shall control instead of the selfishness and sin which now exists. I I have a good deal of pain this morning, which possibly accounts for my pessimistic spirit. I hope Mr. Clayton has gotten along nicely with his teeth trouble and that this health will be better and that he may yet see long years of usefullness and happiness in this mortal state, and as the fellow says, That goes for you, too. Very truly yours, Levi W. Syphus Ivi W. Syphus D.naca, Nevada Kris'. W. M. Clayton 1315 North Main Street Santa Ana, California