The Republican journal., 1881-02-10
Maine Matters.

There Is great excitement in Minot at the rev
Citations in regard to the swindling operations of
the Eastern Manufacturing Company and the
discovery that one of the prominent citizens of
Mlnot and present representative OF the Leglsla
ture, IN short, no less q person than the Hon
Thomas b. Swan, who figured i'll the alleged
bribery in the Fusion Legislature of last winter,
was the head of the concern The company sent
thousands OF circulars through the country offering
to send corn shelling machine Scythe shar-
pener on receipt OF one dollar for packing dc.
The bait took and great many registered letters
came through the post Office, all OF which were
ceved by Swan.
The shelter consisted of small piece of sheet
iron worth about five cents, and the scythe shar-
pener was simply piece of sanded wood about six
inches in length, of the same value. The scheme
has been working about two months and the mat
ter was put into the hands of officers by some Of
the vctlmlzed parties, and Monday, Jan. 3lst, the
deputy marshal arrested two parties-CharleS orll
Of Mechanic Falls, and one Davis Of Empire station,
four miles from the Falls, for completely Ill the
scheme and they were taken to Portland. These
parties have been IN the employ Of Thomas b.
Swan in his nursery and pump mandatory,
and 1t appeared in the preliminary examination
before Justice that they in his employ
and that MIR. Swan was the manager and sole oper-
ator of the Eastern Manufacturing Company; that
he received all the mail Iorks wife testified on
oath that Swan employed her to address thousand
circulars containing the company circulars, and
another party named Hall testified that he also
addressed another thousand envelopes.
Jan 3lst, Swan called for letter which the
snsnoctnd tbat so,,otbin,, ms ,rro,r ar5 Ift e..
parts unknown by the first train. Officers are
after him and thcra is Ittlo dnnht bnf that ~
will be arrested Swan has LETT a good many
creditors behind and it is rumored that he has
embezzled the towns funds to some extent He
was town treasurer
The house of the vast manufacturing interests
represented by MIR Swan, was located i'll the back
building at Mechanic Falls TIA f,otnrv il ni rhf
feet bv len in size and tha stool, was ,.,;,rosad If
several thousand envelones and \ small drantit,-
of emery silo on a ninca IL HAS, 4r M ,iant,f,o
tnre of the ..Emary Nowinr Machine Tlaro va :
one old desk and a stove
t,horlas " vi 80; ~ l. .,, - .
married viii no ntbor h"snnSs tIa IND u
E1och Davis a man abont IN years If are MAJ
rjed were Mr. swans associates uarTaIt Iras
issued nm = nnmnit far a,S;a a.
an otf4nsa araiDtt = io,r II Xxx 1>39i.o1 o+ntas
a5a,nst Sw,an Vor a,,i n,I,,s ''NN "'''e'
The law of the United states which il i aIIaeed
these nartiss baye ,,;nia,ad - ~ M 81
lows. If two or mora ,ersn1s la,7S f., In,1,i+
an nifansa a,roirS+ tbo Trr1taa S+a,tt o,,l ~ ~
more of suc6 parties do AZ, act +" lact rho sheet
nf the consriran,. al ,} ,t;,, i,,,
Sh hn I,of,I ~ ~" ~
O0o or i,,nr;son,rfn+ a. IL. o ,h, 49, Nr,,,''
The law uhicL - - oIo1i t, 'l,''i 0''''
Iata con+ai1od ~ ,:o * t,o "a ~ ~
StatntoS $40 - = ~ W ~ ~ ioeu
any, scheme "a datraI ,r - =" NY 800 ~
nnca or cn,,,it1 y! +IP "
he nited SI,tas NV nt '''I '' ors
t45o H. ,i,i - W - :! l'i1as ~ tIle poS,
ir,rris[nr,a't + $500 +l Inv ~ ','0 'i"
Inc nf1.rs s., tho+ ,i, 80 1
the f,)lowiny c;ronls,a, r; 49,. M wv
swan. MAI whom Swan ca,a 20
his seat IN ha leeisiatnrn ba yay H. t'st
AT Mechanic Falls ovnross rlr = 49,
til he returned at ne cIsa If onr, ,"il @
eonsennnntlv hat Saror b;r,eoIf ;.a III INV
istnr,d Ia++y ". oS'i'u ~" az ~
have been mentioned Mr. R@eI"w saTs w. has
in his possession besides tn sa71i ~, M
tools pnantionad no. go y 90 {"
letters sent tha ..East mo,f l9i
and which signatnras ara ha SaIs -, Uu.
own hand writing ' " -
Mr. YORK saws on Dao .,,b IVA ol-d u ,.
work Swan asked him What Ia u,n111 +n1i n;,,
lars for Yori- told hin, t ~ ~ , o" '"l' @
gave him pight cents bnndrod a., 1911 %-lJ o."
IA 600 They we're tbosn rnantin-1od 49,, >,,,' I
we're sent all over Nav EnoIand and Nv" Iors ",
He also made the knifa sharnanars ia I,'Gly
nothing of tho corn shnIIorS M 5 ny
boxed and sent to swan At Apg1sta Tr I,1;T;r
Davis SAYS that all ~, l,,oaa aI,t h.
that he IA nn,,lrad b 'i!e "'' ,, ,s
enveones At 4 t},o,n "a IL :" ', W., i.po
nso ~ Ib;t -, '.o'S"iui Ht "Iu Ho' kno" the
An Augusta dispatch says Last Sunday at Me
chanlc Falls DIRK and Davis burnt no 5000 enyel-
opes winch had been backed and stamped, and
oNan was mere on sunday and hlred q team that
eisnt ana uroFe 10 Le"lslon where he took the
iirsI Tram west early Monday morning He Went
10 5ne transfer station. not gong into Portland,
az " a' I"e' seen at Exeter; y. lhe |. )
olllcers are using every effort TO ascertain lis
whereabouts Inc evidence against him is acCum
ulatlpg hour by hour, showing that it is greater
fraud than II was first supposed to be. Detraudcd
parties through New England are writing indignant
letters 10 the Post Office Department at Washing
ION ana sending the goods they received from Mr.
oWdh 10 W. d Blgelow.
swan also dealt II bogus jewelry. Th. kenne-
pee journal OF Monday says: Swans jeWelrv has
began 10 arrive in Augusta The american Elk
press 20 delivered box to his address at the Couy
House, Saturday from Chicago parties The box
containing me leWelry had been broken in its
transit and glmpses OF the glittering contents
Gould De mad The fusion member from Mechanic
ans eVluehtlY intended to I'LL his orders from
augusta ana spend his time not occupied in law
making IN the pleasant and profitable occupation
oi selllng cheap JeWelry to factory girls
mere is posluve evidence that the abscondiDg
10" an vas III oledo' ohlo as late as Friday last
and from that city sent package by mail brarirr
no GATE 10 relative at Mechanic Falls The
Pachdge contained statement OF his affairs by
"hlGh IL appears that his business with the town
10 oil iisni'
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INSPECTORS al, Prisons
AND JAILS
The renort ,f tho i,s,oo. D;
for the wear endu IN Isu9 h. '- an
mitted TO the Cow rnor and rnmnn;l M DGg SUP
OTIS express the oninion tbat tho ny g.
MANAGEMENT shonI3 he rttori,. d;f iiDg ''iiu ~
ltes that its officers sbnnii l a,',, - ui POI
term of Years and not removed o. ,t,rG Ioi
petepce or dishonesty ~ 'A''l' ''i lneoii
The liabilities Of tha nr;son Nav Ia te-o 49,.
13250 -. and on NV "a ISsn IA .i,,n -
About $40 900 of debt ofin,, IoT 'qn ~ 30 -.
still unpaid This amonnt is excInsi,,a =, aie
which is claimed at Nor nrt ~ aH'e1 l
debts due the prison nrior to tnrii illa lng
also a very LARGO mart Az stlI l ri, i'" an"
mated very SLOW assets The Nc ueoLl
mad ON a.,,r,i '7'e ne inspections recon-,
debts Of the prison Tba ,r;t" fe ~ pay aHe "id
years has been Obliged to nav bi+b i, e. ~; -,
foods and stonl had','a ~ pay n.en prices for ITS
present insnectors be,o (leui "%s poor me
The prison Oh cash hasis WITT vsgPs 10 pun
If the old debts were mad tha ,,' 'ai s"ccef
and materials might be had AT bottntn oa Sh Srioog
aha mus saving OF from 10 to 20 per cent effected
During the year L. prisoners were pardoned
OrlV eight cOQVlCtS 1ispbarund Nv