The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1886-03-02

the receipt of these names and the Sl5O
Smith proceeds to institute the lodge. A
treasurer il appointed and Smith becomes
the financial agent of the lodge by right,
as the head Of the order. Only twelve
members are allowed to each lodge and
all who enter after Its institution
are required to pay an initia-
ton fee of 500. This fund and the char
ter fund, il is claimed, constitutes the
working fund of the order, and each men,
Der is entitled to draw out at any meeting
of the lodge the amount he has deposited
tor the purpose of making purchases ct
specializing, and all the purchasing and
specializing of the lodges is carried on
within themselves on the following plan
If tpwn property is desired The lodge p O.
ceeds to purchase from the original owner
plat of ground adjacent to the city where
they desire To locate prop rty. This plat
is laid of in lots and the lodge members
proceed TO buy it as follows: A will
purchase lot for $50, paying
rs in cash and giving his note
for SIS. To do this he draws $50 from the
treasurer, giving his receipt therefor, and
when he has made the purchase he returns
the 81 to the tire isurer, t,,gether with his
note for Sl5. The treasurer credits the So
to the lodge fund and debts the purchaser
with that amount of his fee withdrawn and
turns over the note to he financial agent,
whs holds all papers belonging to the order.
"B" then purchases the lot from "A" for
SIS, paying one fourth cash in like man
ner, and giving his note for the remainder.
"C' purchases from "B" in like manner,
paying $50 for the lot, and so on until the
twelfth and last number is reached, who
pays $50 for the lct, go of which is cash
ami $50 in a note. After all the property has
thus been disposed of the amount of cash
paid in is paid by the financial agent to
the original owner of the land, and the
first notes given are sold to secure the bal
anre necessary to the purchase OF the prop
erty, which then becomes Ostensibly the
property of the lodge, and the financial
agent claims that holding the balance of
the numerous notes, as he does, he will,
when the first notes fall due, redeem them
by the sale of the next notes which, are for
an increased sum, the surplus of which is
placed in the treasury to be used for specu-
lation until the last and final note has been
disposed of and becomes due, when 1t is to
ne paid out of the general fund
which will by that time have become sui.
hciently large to meet any liability.
Strange as il may seem, numbers of citI-
zens have been induced to enter into these
schemes ami have even gone so lar as TO
DEED their farms TO the order to secure the
amount of money necessary 10 secure
m mbeTship in the crd,r. The conse-
quence of this is that Chas. II. Smith, as
financial agent, has come into the posses
sion not only of clear deeds TO several
farms but in addition holds from one to a
Cozen notes on every member who has en-
tered the organization. Many of these
notes are worthless, as the parties have no
property that would make them collectable
by law. But large number of them are
bankable notes in Cass and adjoining
counties, where the parties are known
and recent developments brought about by
Smith attempting to dispose of some Of tie
unbankable notes for one-fourth their face
value has caused nervous and uneasy
sensation to thrill the ne YES of his more
wealthy dupes, as they have no means of
showing where or when their little due
bills viii turn up for payment, or in whose
hands they now rest. This feeling has
correctly speaking, the wealthier ones are
knocking very hard at the door to secure
an exit, with all the chances in favor of
their exit costing them far more
than there entrance did. Legal
advice has been sought by some,
while others have had recourse
to such remedy as chance offered. Smith,
however, is still at large and as hard at
werk as ever, with bold defiance that
seems reckless in face of the fact that
n, tiers grow more and more stormy each
day, with a certainty of hurricane in the
near future that will send the bubble into
thin air and send forth its gases like the
poison of the deadly upas tree to destroy
everything within its reach.
That Smith is already well heeled is best
proven by the fact that when he welded
Miss Emery he had to pawn his watch to
pay the preacher, but he has since not
only redeemed il but has purchased his
wife gold watch and clothed her in
silk and satin. Think OF it,
We dudes, q half-wiited wife dwelling in q
mud cabin, clothed 10 silk and beds cked in
diamonds and jewels. So far as has yet
been learned, Smith has Instituted lodges
at the following points: Garden City, w IN.
Emrye's, Creton and IRdex. 1t is also
stated that he has q number of lodges in
the neighborhood of Clinton, from which
point he has stated to some that he came,
though he denies it to others.
: Among his principle victims, who have
commenced efforts to save themselves from
his clutches, are known TO be the following:
First, his father-in-lsw, VIM. Emery,
man of perhaps so years of
age, poor man with family
nj s;v chiidren tao IF whom,
are grown, his properly consists mainly of
forty acre farm, watch he was Induced by
smith to deed to him in Greer to secure the
500 necessary to entitle him to member
ship. After securing this deed Smith trans
ferred it to Redmond Bullock for a hause
and lot said to belong to the Garden City