The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 14, 1898, Page 17

& MOST PICTURESQ Af;tonis}fing Way in Which the Rev. F. F. Jernegan Originated and Promoted -~ y B — PRETENDED - A B i~ 8 ¥ e = in the Experiments. N\ 7% % 7 7 L oW THE SCHEME WAJS WORKED T0 EXTRACT GOLD FROM SEA WATER. :# "D/'uar Fixed the *‘Returns’ While Rich _ Dupes Waited Above for Them. The Swindlers Were Clearing Thousands of Dollars Were Discovered. Hundreds of They Up When . 'STORY OF ONE OF THE MEN WHO WORKED WITH THEM. one © shrewd financial operations of the Rev. P. F. Jernegan, under the pre- tense of e divided attention ease W npot only took gold from their pocket of their banks and give it to him. Assay flice, quietly turned it Intc 1y fled abroa 1 th Like the electric sugar refining sc be done. How many swindlers d of. The stock is now wvestors will lose nearly everything. France was connected with a secret process and efforts are being made to arrest and extradite him. ow York Herald has just laid before the public the details of the most remarkable swindles in history. For several days the abstracting gold from sea water, and his flight upon exposure, with the news from h which the reverend gentleman found dupes was astonishing. He s, but he caused them to draw it out Then he sent it to the United States the seat of war. The ) bank notes and securities, then quick- country amazed at the ease with which he did it. heme and the Keeley motor, its suc- Without this secret nothing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of stock was sold not yet known, but over $350,000 worth is held in Boston. tant treasurer of the company thinks $300,000 worth of stock had selling at 10 cents a share and the in- Rev. Mr. Jernegan is supposed to be in The other tors of the sctrolytic Marine Salt Company, among them another ster, Rev. Willlam Arrington, are trying “to explain” themselves out the matter as best they can. The following story was given the New Detective ¥ inal conspirators to hold the safety pipe while Diver Fisher walked under “salted” the experimenting tanks where “gold was being ex- rk Herald by the water and tracted” from the ocean water. an the New York, Boston, ‘ighted, 1808, by James Gordon Bennett. N- September, 1896, T recelved a let- ter {from.C. E. Fisher, at Deland, Fla., in regard to a schemé he had on foot. He was a diver by pro- forsion, but had been a floorwalker in a Brooklyn dry goods store. He referred to his friend Jernegan as ist clergyman who had invented s for king money out of the 3y the aid of electricity he tract ‘he gold held in solu- ordinary sea water. This was a Bar a proce ocean. could z tic ned to me at that time. He nothing then, but he of great fortunes ame to New York, a¢com- y Jernegan, and asked if I ould give them a room in my house. “Thiey were anzious to establish them- in a quiet place where they could prosecute some important busi- ness eonnected with their experfment. But it must be with a man they could trust. :. I gave them my front parlor. Al- “though they remain month, 19th- ing except in the way of hints was said : of the.proposed scheme to make us all They only reiterated that it was e -biggest thing outside of bonanza gold rines for making fortunes. “Later Fisher d me to go to 1NI- and I went. I w to do some tive work in connection with his ‘gold producing scheme, he said. In -a cottage just outside of Niantic I ind Jernegan. It belonged to A. B. ‘Ryan, afterward president of the gold company. They were apparently put- { ting up some chemical machinery. In a day or two, on returning to ew York, I recetved word from Fisher that the Niantic people had become uspicious and they proposed to move eir works to Rhode Island. Follow- g the announcément came u second i e ‘William Phalen, When Phalen learned the nature of iness. he had joined he refused to have anything more to do with the That was In the early days of the operations. road to high success and millions, opened up gorgeous offices London and other big cities and began the sale of stock that had nettea $900,000 when the swindle fell to pieces. ho was employed by the orig- the Later the swind- letter from Fisher, dated Providence. He wanted me to join him there and assist in some important experiments about to take place. connected with their great scheme for making gold. As he explained it, there was some div- ing to be done and a life line to be held in the water. It was so important that only a man in whom he had im- plicit trust would be allowed to do the work. He offered to pay my expenses and reimburse me for outlays, regard- less of what they were, so I went to Providence. On reaching Providence Fisher fur- ther explained that I was to go down the bay a mile or so to a point where their éxperiments were to be made and begin operations. To conceal the pur- pose of his operations, notwithstanding all that he had, hinted about their in- tention of producing gold he declared they were only te make a geographi- cal survey. It would be necessary to do some diving to get the exact con- figuration of the bottom of the bay. I naturally believed this statement. T found -that my duties were to help him (Fisher) put on his armor and then hold the life line while he made his dive. He remained under from a half to three-quarters of an hour at a time. It should be explained that Jernegan was also there on the scene. Although she was exceedingly active in flying around the country in all directions, he was still mysterious and evasive—al. ways hinting at great fortunes, but never explaining. I understood that we were to things ready for Ryan, the Middleto jeweler and capitalist, and also =on, the florist, both of whom were to put up money. Hence the necessity of having things ready for making the experiments perfect. The idea was io paralyze them and produce gold from sea water there before their eyes. One evening, after a day of experi- ments, We Croas Narragansett Bay and began to make soundings from a little rocky island to a wharf on shore SRR N AN S NN AN B e e o, e JanES TOREON By, 2 s not far distant. The soundings showed the depth of water between the wharf and the island to be from seven to nine feet. An insulated wire or cable was laid along the bottom, connecting the d. When we were on the isle overed that Fisher's plan was to follow the wire under water and by the aid of his diving suit reach the wharf, where he was to manipulate some of the apparatus at the bottom of the bay against the wharf. I also discovered that a little 8x10 house of boards had been constructed on the end of the whexf for Jernegan's use In making the alleged geographical survey. Thatis the way he explained it. Fisher was successful in following the wire to and from the bottom of the wharf, under water, even without a lifeline, I remaining on the island un- til he made the trip. As I remember he was not absent more than ten or fifteen minites. “What are you up to, anyway?” I exclaimed, as he came out of the water in his diving suit, surmounted by a tank of compressed air, which he wore on his back. Greatly elated at the success of his submarine trip he exclaimed: “We are going to make gold. Jerne- gan is to have two men here. They will stay in that hut on the wharf over night and ‘atch the process. There is a fortune in it for us. It will «stonish the world. These capitalicts arej zeing to furnish their own chemicals and place them in the water themselves, while Jernegan will supply the battery connected with the submarine recepta- cle for getting goll from the sea.” He further explained that platinum wires were connected with the appa- ratus making it easy to abstract the gold from the surrounding salt water, which held the precious metal in solu- tion. It all seemed marvelous. At first I could scarcely believe the thing pos- sible, but on further explanation the operation appeared simple and plausi- Dble. On the following day the capitalists arrived, registered at the City Hotel in Providence . .d that afternoon they went to the wharf, where they re- mained over night in the little house. The quicksilver which they hadbrought with them was deposited in the sub- marine tank before it was lowered into the sea. Then the current was turned on from Jernegan's battery, while the ists watched the operations, v and in wonder. These men sat there all night waiting in bitter cold in February for the gold to accumulate in the box. These confiding gentlemen —supposed to be shrewd business men —when they dropped their own honest quicksilver into the square lead-lined box little. dreamed that Fisher, the diver, would come around later walk- ing on the bottom of the sea, and empty their quicksilver into the water, replacing it with some doctored mer- cury of his own, well saturated with gold. I was told subsequently by Jernegan himself that on the following morning, when the submerged box was hoisted out of the water, it was found that the mercury had eaten through the lin- ing of the box and some of it had di appeared into the sea. Enough, how ever, remained to show the value of the alleged experiment. To still further aid the demonstra- tion, Jernegan slipped a little Califor- nia nugget, which he had been wear- ing as a scarf ornament, into the quick- silver, to be dissolved. This greatly added to the yleld of gold from the salt water of th§ sea. The contents of the box were then given to an assayer who made his analysis, while the capitalists waited in the receptlon-room. The assayer’s report made the yield about $4 50—a fairly good night's work for a little box in the bottom of Nar- ragansett Bay with only an ordinary battery to do the mining and abstract the gold from the sea water. The capitalists were not only satis- fied, but amazed at the result, and said they were willing to put up handsomely for building machinery on a large scale that would take gold by the car- load out of the sea. As the outlook appeared, Aladdin’s lamp and the big diamond mines of the “Arablan Nights” were not in it with this little chain lightning gold mining apparatus invented by the Rev. P. T. Jernegan. Being a good Baptist, he no doubt could get better results from water, either fresh or salt, than any other living man in that part of , the country, and he did. His process has satisfied the most skeptical. After congratulations all around the capitalists returned to Middletown, Conn., where they lived, but we re- mained. In a few days along came a draft—the amount of the first install- ment on the payments to be made. After staying in Providence two or three days I came to New York, hav- ing done what Fisher had requested in the way of aiding him in his experi- ments. According to instructions I sent on my bill—$500. Instead of pay- ing it promptly Jernegan sent me $200 by Fisher. I protested vigorously and sald that I proposed to have amount of my bill. it was paid. I thought the matter over and con- cluded to get out-of the business, and I 80 informed Jernegan. He saidq that he was sorry to “I'would remain, but my mind was made up and they couldn’t change me. But the promoters continued to visit me as usual and still urged me to re- sume operations. They even wanted me to accompany them to Europe on a money raising trip for further promot- ing the scheme, but I declined. I wanted nothing to do with the affair in any shape or manner. Aater the Rev. Mr. Allington, a Bap- tist clergyman of Newburyport. was persuaded to join the enterprise and they sent him abroad to raise funds. Jernegan soon followed and opened a laboratory at 75 Gloucester place, Port- man Square, W., London, England. He operated under the alias of Dr. W. L. Stanley at that address. This was at the beginning of the London season of last year. For a time I heard no more of them until I learned that a gentleman—Mr. Kilgore, a lawyer, of Boston—had loaned them $3000. for which he was to receive 100 per cent interest, payable semi-annually. In view of the declara- tion that they could take gold out of the ocean day and night, without labor or particular expense, this was no more than for a laboring man to pay 1 per cent for money. Another man was duped by the scheme—the Rev. Mr. Tuller of Ja- maica Plains, Mass.—and induced to in- vest $2000. He was so infatuated with the prospectus that he even mortgaged his house to join in the great work of plunging your hand in the ocean and pulling cut a fortune. I next learned that the syndicate had opened offices in Boston, at 53 State street, .and were doing business on a large scale. They had established works on an island at North Lubec, Me. The report sent abroad was that they were taking out gold off the Maine coast by the bucketful and sending it through their bankers, Messrs. Ladenburg, Thalmann & Co. of 40 Wall street, to the United States Assay Office, of which Mr. Torrey is the head. The total, representing $15,000 to $20,- 000, was sent in various sums from time to time. But these amounts do not by any means represent the full amount of gold sent to the assay office. This Rev. Mr. Jernegan is a polished gentleman. He has a classical educa- tion, but he does not talk like a clergy- man. He preaches a beautiful sermon and has a fine delivery, but his con- versation was far from that of a clergy- man during veek days, when he was on his.great still hunt for a fortune in the bottom of the sea. It will be observed in his letter to ‘ Diver Fisher, who was his old play- mate in Edgartown, that the Rev. Jer- negan had no hesitation in admitting his manifold shortcomings. His refer- ence to his lust for gold and evidently lust for women, as having been the vexing problem of his life, hints at a phase of the story. Here is the letter in full, which refers to his financlal affairs at the beginning of their venture, when clergymen and capitalists were coaxed Into the trap; as well as to his lust for gold: “CASTLE SQUARE HOTEL, Boston, Feb, 26, 1888, 1 2 m.—Dear C.: You will sne how T. is getting along by inclosed. “T am almost sick abed. Have lost nine R_nunds in the last few weeks. Took a urkish bath this morning and am goin, to bed now and take the best of care o myself. “Since we landed in New York Novem- ber 19, we have received: the full After some delay Cash on hand. $55 00 Books ..... 14 00 ‘Small loans. 285 00 pm £ From 5 From P., $20, $2734 50, $1200. 3,954 50—$5,128 50 1 have on hand now 2,814 37 AddINg ceeeeeseenne 450 00— 3,264 37 5,128 50 3,264 37 $1,864 13 “I still owe, not counting obligations to 1886 ligations 3 - 53. including my ol to R. and to White & M. “Now, if in the land of our friends and with no more needs than we had, we have ot through so much time and money in Soing what was child's pay compared with the job before us, is it not reason- able,thnz we observe the strictest econ- omy sg.ine and hoped that - Rev.P.F. L JERMEGAN VICE PRESIDENT AnD ORUGLS A=AR: OF THE SCHEME “Let old bills go to — temporarily; forget that there are lots of things we want, and act as if we had no money yet. Of course we shall profit by our experi- ence to date, but there is untried exper- fence yet to come that may open up new and “T w see whether he nonsense. “My ambition is not so much to get rich as it is to get my debts paid, and then invest a snug fortune in as safe and permanent investments as this world of- fers, and then live habitually on about two-thirds of my annual income. 5 “There is just one time that I expect to be liberal with money, and that is the. moment when, with it and us in a safe place, I sit down and divide up ac- cording to what each man has contrib- uted to the success of the undertakin and what he needs to fulfill his ideas o life. But until that time I want to see every penny saved that can possibly be saved, and after that time I swear I won't touch my principal for friend or costly problems. h you would read this to B. and thinks it is sense or foe. ““This deliverance may seem more than is called for, but I thought it would be fheupe!‘ to get it off my mind now than ater. ‘“‘Money and lust have been the _two most vexing problems of my life. I seo how both may be solved if I can get a home where I can keep my body in touch with nature and have a settled, even if small, income. “Having made up my mind about what it is necessary to Insist on in order to guarantee that the present undertaking will bring me to that goal, I shall stake everything on my opinfon, and if I see it is impossible to keep things within certain. limits I shall not hesitate to throw up the whole thing, and probably my life with it. What I say about what happens before the time of division ap- plies also to the position I expect to take after that. o “If you think I have said more than I ought to, attribute it to the pain that fills my whole body and depresses me. Ever affectionately yours. J." The way this clerical would-be Monte Cristo came to abandon his scheme was this: A certain gentleman, whom he is alleged to have wronged, requested an ex- planation from both Fisher and himself regarding certain facts that had been confessed to that gentleman. Many let- ters, in addition to the telegram, had been sent also demanding an explanation. Only one answer was recelved, and that came-from Fisher, to the effect that he would be in New York on the 23d or 24th of July, and that he would meet the gen- tleman referred to and talk the matter over. Diver Fisher, who was always success- ful in reaching bottom and tampering wvith Jernegan’'s gold pots in the sea, was unsuccessful in reaching New York. At least he did not appear as he promised. Then the gentleman went into the elec- tricity business himself, and telegraphed Fisher a_warning that he must appear or take the consequences. Again he did not appear. Hence the disclosures. P S BOSTON, Aug. 3.—The case of the missing Mr. Jernegan of the Elec- trolytic Marine Salt Company has been put into the hands of Chief Inspector ‘Watts of the Bureau of Criminal In- vestigation and Melvin O. Adams has . been retained as counsel by the stock- holders. The Government at Wash- ington has been asked to request .the French Government to detain Jernegan pending extradition papers. Now that the works of the Elec- trolytic Marine Salt Company at Lubec have been closed and the help paid off and discharged, the stock- holders are beginning to figure on what they will get out of the amount paid in. Dr. A. P. Sawyer of Newburyport, as- sistant treasurer, says that about $900,- 000 has been pald in. The company has recovered $23,000 in cash and securities from Marcus W. Jernegan, who is now in custody of detectives. The Rev. P. F. Jernegan's sum of $30,000 in a local bank has been attached. One of the heavy stockholders in this city said to-day that 500 shares of stock were sold in the office of the company yesterday at 10 ‘cents per share. L ——————————— Meri with wheels in their head are of a mechanical turn of mind. UE SWINDLE OF MODERN TIME. = 2 Scheme for Extracting Gold From Sea Water and How He Fooled His Rich Dupes by Substituting “Salted” Returns WOMEN WHO WERE' ' FAMOUS SOLDIERS HE spirit of the Amezons does not survive only in the women war- riors of Dahomey. The Sun re- cently published a story about wo- men- who enlisted and fought in the’civil war; and other co:ntries, also, have their women soldiers. The Cubans have had several women soldiers, who could ride and shoot and use a ma- chete; and the most romantic figure in _the recent Brazilian rebellion was Ma- ria Barbosa, who, with sword and cru- cifix in hand, led the rebels against the Government troops. The story goes that this modern Joan of Arc fell asleep in a church one day and saw a vision which commanded her to lead her townsmen against the Government post of Bon Jardin. She gathered a band of followers who believed in her revela- tion, captured Bon Jardin, where many of the citizens joined her forces, and went on to Soa Joao, where she took the town and killed' hundreds of Republi- cans. Her beauty and ferocious cour- age made her the idol of her followers. Another woman warrior of to-day.is Josephine Rizal, one of the leaders of the rebellion against Spain in the Phil- ippines. She was married at 20, and when she had béen a bride for only one hour her husband was executed before her eyes by the Spanish. The deed aroused widespread excitement, and was one of the causes that led to the assassination of Canovas, the Spanish Prime Minister. The frenzied young widow swore that she would avenge her husband’s murder, and that Span- ish lives by the score should pay for his life. She went to Aguinaldo at rebel headquarters and requested permission to enter the ranks, which was granted, and from the first she fought with a reckless dash and courage that made her conspicuous in every engagement. At last she fell into the hands of Gen- eral Primo de Rivera, who, in recogni- tion of her bravery, released her. Later he repented his chivalrous generosity, and Spanish soldiers were sent to fol- low and capture her, but through the warning and assistance of friends she escaped to Hongkonsg. The Graeco-Turkish war also had its heroine, a Greek woman who incited the natives of her province to revolt and led them in a number of their skir- mishes. During the Tai Ping rebellion in Chi- na in 1850 an army of women was com- manded by woman officers. Earlier centuries furnish still more examples of the woman soldier, and the records of Europe cite striking ex- amples of woman’s heroism in battle. Rose Lacombe, the actress, and the beautiful /Theroigne de Mericourt were conspicuous figures in the battles of the French Revolution, and Renee Borde- reau, the heroiue of the Vendee, fought in more than 200 battles. Forty-two members of her family were killed in the revolution and her father was cut down by her side. In one encounter at a bridge she resisted and defeated with her own hand twenty-one of her ene- mies. Napoleon so feared the zeal and influence of La Bordereau that when he subdued the Vendee he refused to par- don her and threw her into prison; but she was released after the fall of the Empire. Another French woman, Mary Sche- lienck, fought in the armies of Napo- leon, and so signally distinguished her- self on the fleld of Austcrlitz that Na- poleon decorated her with the Cross of the Legion of Honor, and, later, grant- ed her a large pension. English soldier heroines are leglon. Christina Davis is one of the most fa- mous. She entered the English army in order to find her husband, who had been carried off by a press gang. In her first battle she was wounded in the foot and laid up for two months, but the secret of her sex was not dis- covered. No sooner did she join her regiment in Holland than she was cap- tured by the French, and, when ex- changed for French prisoners, ill luck still followed her. The daughter of a wealthy burgher fell in love with the disguised soldier, and Christina was forced into a duel with the sergeant of her own regiment, who happened to be devoted to the Dutch maiden. The sergeant was badly wounded and the voung soldier imprisoned, but she was finally released; and after that things went more smoothly for her. She joined the cavalry and followed Marl- borough, winning the admiration of all her regiment; but at Ramillies she was wounded and the news that she was a woman spread mbroad. She was the toast of all the army and every honor was paid her. Her husband was found and brought to her and the regi- ment gave them a new wedding, after which the officers claimed the privilege of kissing the bride, and her comrades of the ranks shouted themselves hoarse. Her .devotion to her leader and his cause influenced her to remain in the army until the end of the compaign, and she and her husband fought side by side until he was killed at Malpla- quet. ~ Then the wife retired and re- ceived a pension from the Queen; but at the funeral of the Duke of Marl- borough she rejoined her regiment and marched behind the coffin, with tears streaming down her cheeks. At her own,_ funeral she and her old comrades met once more and they buried her with military honors. Hannah Snell was another English girl who enlisted in order to follow her husband. She, too, made herself fa- mous for deeds of valor. At the slege of Pondicherry she led the troopers in fording a stream running breast high, and in the very face of the French bat- teries; and, in another siege, she fought for seven successive days and nights in trenches waist deep in water. In one engagement she received twelve wounds, but obtained the help of a peasant woman and attended to her own wounds in order to avoid the dis- covery of her sex. Finally, she learned that the husband for whom she was searching was dead, and then she ac- knowledged her disguise and left the army. Mary Ambree headed 1000 English- men, who fought for seven hours against 3000 Spanish soldiers, and when ordered to withdraw her troops lingered behind and sent a letter offering to fight single-handed any three Spaniards who would meet her. ————————- The Journal des Sapeurs-Pompiers has tabulated the losses by fire in this country and in Europe in 1897. As usual, it is in the United States that the fires were most numerous and the losses Jargest. Last year the damage by fire aggregated $114,000,000. In Russia the losses amounted to $105,000,000; in Great Britaln, $51,000,000; in Germany, $30,000,- 000; in France, $17,000,000; in Austria, $16,000,000, and in Italy, $6,000,000. If the number of fires is compared with the amount paid for the support of the fire departments each fire cost, in Chi- cago, $1500; in London, $220, and in Paris, $160. According to the Economista, there are more smokers in the United States than in all Europe; at any rate, more tobacco is_consumed in this country. Last &eu Europe consumed 305,150 tons and the United States 818,170 tons.