Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1884-10-16
A CLEVER FRAUD.


walked into the Bank of California, at San
Francisco, and asked for Mr.. Ralston. the
cashier and leading spirit OF the bank. They
had 100 little buckskin bags, which they
said contained something, and they did not
exactly know what it was. One OF the bags
thev said they believed mad diamonds IN the
rough, but the other they said they did not
know what kind of id Stone it was.
They must he garnets." Ralston laughed
NJ the idea of diamonds" Dnt he asked to
see them. There was about half n pint o!
black, dirty looking crystals, Ranging Ill s'za
from u pea to /. haZe!cut. The other bag
had dark blood-red Stones that were prompt
Is pronounced Arizona "garnets" by the
Great banker, and cast aside as worthless.
lie told the prospector5 to leave The bhS
with the black crystals, and he would have
them examined by experts. He did SO.
Professor LIE Countc, the Geclogst of the
University Of California, pronounced them
diamonds. So did Professor Janin, the best
mining expert in San Francisco. ShreVe
and other leading jewelers. all agreed they
were diamonds. Shreye had one partly
cut. and it revealed beautiful white
stone. The question then arose: Where
did they come FROM" Ralston was
greatly excited. He called il Sharon
and even took D. o. Mills into hi;
confidence. The two prospectors gave
their names as William Arnold and
Isaac w. Slack, and said they had been
prospecting in Arizona and Utah and Wy
oming, and they had found these stones in
one of the regions named, but refused to
say Just where. They said, however, that
there were bushels of the same kind left.
The diamond fever grew, and finally Rals-
ton, Sharon, Nicholas Lunning, great San
Francisco capitalist, William NJ. Lent, ,. j.
NJ Barlow, of New York, Geo ID. Roberts,
the present postal telegraph man, hlicnael
Reese. the great Jewish millionaire, and
several others formed syndicate and
agreed TO take the diamond fields" at
81 100000, provided the representations OF
Arnold and Slack were verified by experts.
Meantime the other bag Of specimens was
submitted to test ana found 10 contain
genuine rubies. Some were sent to New
York to be. cut, and were found to be eenu-
inc stones. These were said to come from
the same fields"
When they hat! the bargain drawn up in
black and white ami S25, 900 paid rs earnest
money Arnold and Slack revealed secretly
to Ralston the location Of the find, and
offered 10 pilot three Of the Banks
own experts TO the ground. One morn.
Ing in April, 1872 four disguised figures
crp,,t down III the dawn 10 the Oak
land Ferry. They were Arnold, George
ID. Roberts, Ifcnry J.nin and George
Hearst. Janiu was the most accomplished
geoogist aud mining engineer III the city,
and Roberts and Hearst were .ac best prac-
tical miners in California. The party took
the cars and Arnold pilote1 them u Green
river, Wy. r. There they left the rain,
20, mules and an ambulance and strtck Tor
the Green River Mountains, for!y-fve miles
south Of the railroad. They were on the
ground a week. The diamond field did
not seem to be more than fifty acres II ex-
tent, and was at the base Of low range Of
barreu red sandstone bills. They found
diamonds in the greatest quantities scatter
ed abodt in the low beds Of dry gravel.
They dug down and found them in groups
of six and eight. They were all greatly ex.
cited except Arnold. When, at the cad Ot
week, they prepared to leave they had
more than quart of diamonds and rah!es
of all sizes. Well, when they got back 10
San Francisco the town was ailame. \
company was at once organized with So
100000 capital. The million dollars t" pay
Arnold and Slack was advanced 3y Ra'sEun
and in part made good BY TIE syndicate.
Roberts, Lunniug, Lent, Raistou ard Sharon
each put III 100000, and Barinw made
up put in New York to take $3.50, 900
more Then the public began 10
camor for he stock, but so couli.
dent We're the promoters Of the
scheme that they had IL new Goconda that
they licked the stock up in the Bank Of
California and>retused to let share go out.
Arnold and Slack took their money anG
left the coast. Arnold got $4,000 in casi!
He went to Eiizahethtown, KY, Dough. !.
magnificent farm and settled down. Slack
went 10 Europe and was never heard OF
again.
Clarence King, the United States ge"'-
oslst had made Il survey of that region and
remembered the exact spot in which the d.
amonds were said to be found. He knew
II was not a diamond country. He suspect
cd fraud. Anyhow his reputation as
geological surveyor wasat staSe.and hewent
10 examine it quietly BY himself. A weeks
close study revealed the whole truth, and
In an elaborate report he showed how the
ground had been salted, and even the me
chanlcal applications used. He found
few of the diamonds and unhesitat-
ngiy declared them the same char
acter MS the stones from South
America. An investigation followed,
and in few months the whole
truth came out. Harpendins had
put up the job and had supplied Arnold and
Slack with the money TO carry it out. The
latter bought in London $4,000 worth of
rough diamonds and $4,000 worth of COM
mon rubies. They picked them up at odd
times and in odd lots, and Arnold smugsled
them into the country by way OF Quebec.
Slack. vino had been in South Africa, selec-
ted the lield-and Clarence King said the
Immediate region was well selected too
and together they planted them, pokins
Them down one by one with slim steel rods
They also scattered some into gravel bank
with shotgun, and it was this last method
'hat King detected by the powder stains.
Ine company burst up at once and Rails
.on and the rest set about recovering por-
1 sson OF the money. Lent and Roberts hunt.
"a s up Arnold, in Kentucky, and it was said
W some he gave up q portion of the money