The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1884-01-10
Making Gold.

| IHlLS OH my HtluO 1UT dDOub bHI6e
weeks that think ought to be told.
There's a moral goes with the story,
but don't furnish that, only the story.
A little more than month ago p gen
tleman came here to the Denison House
at least | met him here. He was a
hungarian, man of medium height,
wore his hair, which, Ike his beard,
was black as a ravens wing, quite long,
while his whiskers, that curled beauti,
fully, were neatly trimmed. His skin
was of olive hue, his nose hooked and
mis- age about forty-tive years He was
del ghtfully smooth and ready talker,
being a complete master of English,
though he spoke it with decidedly for
eign accent He went, soon after his
arrival, to Dun & Co.'S agency, and
stating that he had an enterprise in
which he might desire to interest q
number of capitalists, was furnished
with the names and rating of several of
those amiable and interesting gentle
men. He represented himself as
chemist, and opened out his plan with
as much secrecy as a dealer in counter
felt coin. He had found the secret
hunted for through several centuries,
| and could transmute metals to gold.
The few citizens he approached were
too shy to entertain his propositions,
and he did not even unfold them; but
he got two elderly gentlemen interested
| (don't look at me that way; I'm not
one OF 'em), and renting an upstairs
room on South Meridian street, fitted it
up with lead-lined tanks, curious
| shaped bottles, crucibles, retorts, alem-
bics, etc.s so that it looked like the lair
| of a medieval alchemist. He had the
room fixed up like an illicit medicine,
secure from observation and every
! thing was altogether mysterious. He
| didn't show the capitalists his hand I'M
til the room was ready. Then he
brought them there and showed his ap-
paratus, which of course impressed
them. told them he had come from
| New York with little more than 800.
| He could not undertake to do what he
wanted to do there He could trans
mute metals into gold; had spent his
| life and fortune in acquiring the secret,
and if he did not know that he could
| do what he promised he would commit
suicide, as life was not worth having
any longer. He impressed my friends
| with his earnestness. At the labora-
tory he took two $50 gold pieces, So. SO
| in silver, and chemicals which he said
eest $50, in all, as he represented, a
| total value of $42. so. and with this he
proposed to make S120 in gold.
Indeed, he told the two amateur al
chemists that they themselves might
put the material in the crucible. He
c4a - Il e al
room, and they could make the gold
themselves. He explained to them that
the gold and silver needed in the exper-
iment had been subjected to the potent
influences of compound gases for the
purpose of reviVifying their molecular
energies. This did not show any ex-
ternal change in the coin, but the
molecular transition had, he said, new
ertheless taken place.
"They put the gold silver and chem
ieal compound into the crucible, and in
little while poured out nugget which,
as he said, was actually gold with a
trace of silver, and worth nearly $120.
''My old friends were very much ex-
cited. They made hasty calculation
and thought they saw $4,000 day
clear profit-if they worked hard at the
melting pot, $4,000. But they sEs-
peeted thechemical compound; it might,
be hoeussed, and so furnish the addi-
tional gold in the nugget. The amia-
BILE Hungarian smiled and gave them a
| portion of the chemical to have ana
lyzed. They had it done, and there
wasn't trace of the valuable metal in
lit. On finding the strangers word thus
confirmed they were eager to close with
| him, but they restrained their ardor
| and asked few more questions. They
wanted to know if he could transmute
metals into gold why did he need sill
yer, and, above all, why did he need
| gold to assist in the transmutation.
Easily explained He said that he had
| discovered that gold was not, as chem
kind; it was a compound. He had dis
covered all the ingredients that go to
make up the compound called gold. ex-
cept one, and that had partially to be
supplied by gold itself and little sill
yer, both being requisite to supply that
want.
'tHe had nearly silenced every doubt,
and the capitalists were about to invest,
when, for some reason, the Hungarian
gotfrightened and skipped the town, and
they were thus undoubtedly saved from
being the dupes of as clever ascoundrel
as ever walked in shoe leather. / asked
scientific friend of mine how he sup
posed the Hungarian managed the
thing, as my friend undoubtedly rolled
out the nugget. His idea was that it
was done by a clever slight-of-hand, or
that the silver pieces might have been
filed with gold, though that wouldn't
account for all the gold turned out of
the nugget. OF course it was swindle,
and am surprised that two such old.
acute, and dlong-headed financiers should
have so narrowly escaped being taken
in. I'm not quite sure he didn't get
money enough of them to pay his hotel
expenses here, at least IF [ were to
give you the names of the gentlemen
who wanted to go into the manufacture
| of gold, You wouldn' but, by Jove, ]
will give 'em to you, but you mustn't
| publish 'em."
When the reporter heard the names
he tumbled in a fit, and has just recov-