The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1879-01-10
A GRAND FIAsco.
The Conversion of Maniac, and Dis
eOvery OF the Original Green
back Union.
GY COLONEL w.
iCOntiuued from first page.

The commOtion created in the minds
of those who gave credence to Kings
well told tale of plot that was to
overwhelm the credit of the country, |
strike CONSERVATION to the soul of Grant,
.elate the despairing hearts of the repudi-
ating Democrats, and completely demon
alize the people, was indeed very great. |
The distinguished Kentus Atan was deep
ly impressed with the magnitude of the !
scheme and the veritabIe existence of the |
appalling greenback union, with the re-
nowned Frank Blair at its head. The |
self-confessed counterfeiter was placed in
charge of one Hogeland. Together they
went to Kings home, where he resigned
his position as clerk of the Elliott county
circuit court and at once they started for
the national capital, accompanied by one
OF Kings staunchest converts, Mr.. L. j.
Fiiston, a lawyer who hailed from the
significant region of Greenups burg
Greenup county, Kentucky. Ostensibly
he was Kings legal adviser but he was
by no means so disinterested as his eli
ent, for his private. belief was that there
was pile Of money in it, and he had fig
ured up for himself the Hons share of
what was expected to come. into his eli
ent's Possession
| Nothing remarkable was visible in the
serene atmosphere of the city of Wash
ingtOn when the knowing trio arrived,
Hogeland armed with letter from
| nlrxrBo
with hIsjudicial bearing and mysterious
airs; King, with his bundle of papers.
vouching for his spotless name, his past
military fame (the Lee and Stonewall
autographs), and his well known eharac-
ter for truth, which was set down to be
equally as good as that which immortal
lied the father of his country Hoge-
land, the plOtter, and the lawyer marched
into the marble halls of the Treasury,
carrying their awful secret, that as a Sc
cret would have speedily destroyed ITS
Occupation, emptied its burdened vaults
and made it unnecessary for the noble
! pile to longer cumber the ground. 1t
might have been taken away stone by
stone and column by column undisput-
ed, for all further need the mighty
nation might have for the ponderous
building wherein to shrine its wealth
The portentious tread of the three com
ing to avert the impending calamity and
battle the schemes of Blair and his gang
disturbed not the clerkly hosts serb
, bling away attheir desks, little dream
ing of the amazing Developments that
Impaired would be the; signal for the
downfall of the republic, and the hurl-
Ing of the great government INTO ire
deemable chaos, and complete financial
nOnentity. The three lofty, lank Ken
; tuckians strobe into my Office in the
f treasury department with the air of con-
: quering heroes, upon whose shoulders
! | there rested the nations welfare After
: examining Kings affidavit in the hands
of HOgeland, and listening to Kings
; story, together with the learned Greenup
. lawyer, who viewed the subject in a
grave and dangerous aspect, it WAS clear
to my mind that.this stupendous, fraud,
this prodigious conspiracy had got to
be unearthed.t A failure on my part
might have cost my official head The
first step necessary, as King declared,
was to go to New York, where hewould
be compelled to use great caution, for
once suspected he was lost Mr.. Filston
asserted the same, and that the daggers
. of hundred of the betrayed would be
at the hearts of King and himself This
was a deplOrable situation, but King
made up his mind to face it bravely,
and to lull suspicion he would visit a
few hundred of the gang residing in New
York City. On our arrival in New
York, proposed to furnish him with a
, carriage, which he accepted. 1t is need
. less to say that King was closely shad-
owed on the drive, for the .Jehu" on that
carriage was United States detective.
instead of visiting his alleged confed-
crates, he told the driver to proceed to
the waterwOrks, and other places of note.
On Kings return he was asked if he
had seen the prominent New York
members of the order. He looked me
square in the eye and replied with the
/ ooH
about fifty. Ibid not have time to see
them all. Not one so much as dreamed
that had sold out to the government"
This was sublime, but l said nothing
The affair was rapidly brought to cri-
sis. The next morning after Kings
Imythical call on his friends, Filston
came rushing into my office, his hair
on end, and his teeth chattering.
Kings gone up" said he in breathless
agitation. THE thing is bowed and the
Tenraged Order are after him hot-footed.
They have been pushing letters and
cards under his door all the morning,
and he dare not leave the room" This
is alarming said 1, and we started at
once, with several of my assistants for
the Metropolitan hotel. On forcing an
entrance into Kings room, we found
him almost frozen with terror. His
eyes protruding from their sockets, his
hands extended and shaking with ex-
cessive fear. He was staring at the
ceiling over head as if 1t were frescoed
with bloody ku klux daggers. "King
what is the matter with youg" Said /.
Death! discovery am as good as
dead"! declared he, as he pointed to the
letters and cards at his feet They were
of the usual style of K. K. warning.
embellished with ominous daggers, mys-
tic letters and signs of the order.
Kings disheveled hair uncovered deep
furrow that had not before discovered
Placing my finger on the scar on his era
MUM asked where did. you get that
wound 81 at is where Yankee bullet
raked me-" said he lingering the spot
tenderly. why, King, you are crazy;
you wrote those letters and cards your
self. What do you take us all for:"
King acknowledged the corn at once and
admitted that he wrote the letters, but
said he would make matters square with
me by swearing to an affidavit against
Filston and Hogeland. This was lit
tie too much, and suggested the pro-
priety of his going to jail. In this he
perfectly agreed with me and actually
made an affidavit against himself, upon
which he was committed. I then sent