WHICH TELLS OF A GREAT PUBLIC MEETING IN SEVENOAKS, THE BURNING IN EFFIGY OF MR.

BELCHER, AND THAT GENTLEMAN'S INTERVIEW WITH A REPORTER.
Mr.Balfour, in his yearly journeys through Sevenoaks, had made several acquaintances among the citizens, and had impressed them as a man of ability and integrity; and, as he was the only New York lawyer of their acquaintance, they very naturally turned to him for information and advice.

Without consulting each other, or informing each other of what they had done, at least half a dozen wrote to him the moment Mr.Belcher was out of the village, seeking information concerning the Continental Petroleum Company.

They told him frankly about the enormous investments that they and their neighbors had made, and of their fears concerning the results.

With a friendly feeling toward the people, he undertook, as far as possible, to get at the bottom of the matter, and sent a man to look up the property, and to find the men who nominally composed the Company.
After a month had passed away and no dividend was announced, the people began to talk more freely among themselves.