The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-12-24
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How The. Fraud was suggcstcd-An In
genious Scheme.
.T6sssanL Francisco Bulletin Of December Z
!. siges the following Summary Of the doings Of
fhS msnfwho ssalted',s the so-called diamond
fields of Colorado : rg.s
Arnold Slack and ]. B. Cooper are practical
miaers ofsmuchr experience, and In the sum
mer.ofIs7I they. were employed by Harpen-
ding 10 90 to the Burri Burrf mine, owned by
-6fnsfn New Mexico. forty miles from the
ARIZONA line. Harpending desired to eject q
safe of the mine 10 English capitalists,
z and he made use OF the practical Know;
able 1him1fo make favorable representa-
ss1ions concerning the mine prior to Its sale.
aaIn September, 1871, Harpending lelt Tor
London, and. the three mining experts started
on their Journey to San Francisco. On reach
! ing Fort Defiance they stopped TO prospect IN
AVAILABLE stones 10 that region. Their search
Was5crowned7 with success. They found a
isrpe number of stones, Of whose value they
wereienorant.the ruby business being at that
time out of their line. They concluded, how
ever, to bring the stones to San Francisco.
On their arrival here they. learned, quite to
their surprise, that some OF the stones were
aarnets, some sapphires, and probably some
Tubies, wi b now and then q black stone, r..
~ sembling The black, diamond. They thought
-, or taking steps to secure possession OF the
country In which the stones were found, but
had not capital to. carry out the plan unaided,
and ft was finally determined TO endeavor TO
trsal an Interest, meantime keeping the loca-
a zion "a secret. While endeavoring 10 nego-
tate q sale, finding many difficulties In the
wa and losing confidence in the value OF the
~ stones, they concluded To- change their plans.
They- determined to sell out their discovery,
: and 70 get 9 good price they. set ABOUT de-
character Of the discovery must be
Changed from q ruby to q, diamond field. This
Z Idea was suggested by the remarks OF ex-
perts and Jewellers, who told them thatit they
he'd diamonds Instead OF garnets they would
have something worth money and they could
d. notfbe as reasonable q story as diamonds In
Africa. Finally, some one, 1t Is said, proposed
TO obtain some diamonds of little value from
the Diamond Drill Company, and mix them
9 with the stones. The proposition was accept
= ed;. and the small diamonds, worthless except
for drills and other amond.polnt lnstru.
? ments, yet genuine, gave therefore suf1cient
a. Foundation for hope OF more valuable stones
stin unbound. After mixing these with the
stones found In New Mexico, they submitted
-4he- tot TO Frontier, Bellmere d Co., which
firm gave them a certificate that the lot con-
tsined genuine diamonds.
The plot had now progressed far enOL n to
enable them to make definite proposals -
capitalists. Arnold sought out G. D. Roberts.
meeting him on the street, as If casually, aud
limiting TO him that he had good thing"
Alter rousing Roperts's curiosity. he explained
tn him the difficulty under which the discoY-
erers labored, and offered to sell an interest.
- on no account, however, Arnold said, would
thew sell the whole; they only wanted means to
secure title aad prosecute the work. Arnold
proposed to organize q company. and sell a
limited quantity Of stock. Roberts said he
would write TO Harpendlng, and have him
ioin In the enterprise. He did 30, and Harpen-
ding wrote back that he would be In New
york In q few weeks, OF his return, and
ypranted some of the stones sent there to be
!, tested prior to his arrival.
a. Accordingly, Arnold and Slack, With q bag
mil OF stones, went to New York In March
slaat. and deposited the stones with Tiffany d
Co., whose experts selected some OF the dia-
: monds for examination, and pronounced them
genuine. When. Harpending arrived from
Europe, he brought with him William N. Lent
and an Engllshman named Rubery, who came
from Europe on Q tour. Lent at once became
Interested In tho statements made by Tlfany's
experts, snd the stories Of vast quantities oil
.stones in their native beds, located on United
Etates soil, and In a region the title to which
/. oonld be- secured before outsiders could Jump |
the claim. Tiffany & Co. valued the bag or
stones at $50. 900, and on their assurances
n. Lent placed such reliance that he imme-
dlately determined to join in the enterprise.
Harpending, also, was anxious to go In, but