Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1886-06-12
AN MTED|LUVIAN SWINDLE,
The Venerable "GOld.Brick RacketN
Successfully Worked In This
Wideawake Community.
A Highly Respectable Citizen Victtmized
to the Tune Of Fifteen Hun.
bred Dollars.

Another Prominent Citizen and q Pro
f~essional Crook In Custody
for the Crime.
The "gOld-brick racket" is q chestnu
among swindles. It has been worked in tn,
West until 1t is thread bare, and it's modu!
operand has been SO often exposed tina,
its successful operation seems an impossi
bihty to the newspaper-reading citizen
Yet. incredible as it may appear, one O
those c~itizens-an old resident OF Butte, al
ex-detecti g, and a man who is regarded al
possessed OF more than the average allot
ment of horse -sense-was,d day before yes
terday, taken in and done for by the ante
deluvian fraud. The victim is Colonel J. D
jerks, the w%ell.known contractor aud build
er, andt the men accused of victimizing him
are Captain E. F. Page and William Shaw
The former is a man Of family, prominently
identified with the local Grand Army Post
and has heretofore carried an excellent
reputation. Shaw, who recently came to
Butte, is said to be a gambler, a desperate
land an all-around confidence m.,n. OF his
career before arriving in this city very little
can be learned from the officers, who are
now tracing it down.
THE TORY OF THE swENDLE,
az related by the victim, is q repetition,
with few variations Or trimmings, of the
venerable tale which has so often RECALLED
the patrons Of the Western press. One
day about three weeks ago Col. jerks was
seated in his Office when Capt. Page, an old
acquaintance and q Grand Army comrade,
entered and announced that he had some
thing important to communicate. "Fire
away" said the Colonel, and the Captain
opened fire by inquiring if the Colonel
pretty sure thing that would return at
least two-fold profits. The Colonel re-
piled that he could not realize that
amount of capital upon q moments
notice, but might scratch it up if hard
pressed. Then, after securing a pledge of
secrecy from his ~vis-a-vis, the Captain I'm.
folded his scheme.
THE CAPTAINS SCENE.
Il recently met a mai whom l once knew
in Nevada" commenced the Captain, land
he told me he had served a term in the
Penitentiary OF that State for killing a
man in a Quarr-l. While in prison my
friend formed the acquaintanceship of a
convict named Kelly, who was doing
time for holding up one of Wells Fargo's
stages coaches. He got away with a gold
brick worth 1000, and concealed it before
he was captured. Kelly told my friend
where he had planted the brick, and as
soon as the latter wal relies sed he secured
it. Now, my friend is pursued by the
brothers of the man whom he killed, and
he wants to go to South America. He will
sell the brick at a sacrifice to anyone who
will plank down the money and keep mum
as to where the brick CAMERON. What do
o uthink OF the scheme?"
The Colonel was cautious. He told the
Captain that he would say nothing about
the matter to any person, but he had no
money to invest in dishonest speculations.
With this understanding the veterans
parted.
THE coLoNEL's sCHEMA.
The Captains scheme preyed upon the
Colonel's mind, and the more study he de-
voted to it the more plausible did it be-
come. At length he incubated a scheme Of
his own. He visited Lawyer John Forbis
and to him repeated word for word the
Captains narrative. The lawyer told him
to 60 slow in the matter. and took it under
consideration. The Colonel told the Cap
tain that he had sought legal advice, and
the Captain did not demur. When Mr..
Forbis had thoroughly digested the pros
and ons of the Captains scheme he wrote
a letter to Manager Valentine, OF Wells,
Fargo & Co.'S Express, ut San Francisco,
ago received the following from James B.
Hume, Chief OF the Wells Fargo Detective
SAN FRANCISCO. June s, 1886.
Messrs. Knowles & Forbis, Butte City, NJ, T.
DEAR SIRs-Yours OF May 80, to John
Valentine, has been referred to me and
We have but little faith ia such
and believe, without doubt. that if
bogus, put up to deceive anyone but an
expert. We have no hesitancy at all in
to pay you so per cent Of valua-
ton of any and all bars taken from US.
Granting you full power to use your own
Judgment in the premises, l am truly yours,
JAMES B. HUME.
Mr.. Forbis handed the letter to Colonel
jerks, saying: Here's your authority to
act in the premises. l believe the scheme is
. humbug."
THE PLOT THICKENs.
Last Tuesday the Colonel carried the
letter to the Captain and told him to do
what he pleased with it. and added
the Colonel, land l am willing that you
should arrange a meeting between your
friend and myself, as I desire to talk to
The Captain retired. and that
returned and told the Colonel
that the man with the brick would be
happy to meet him. The couple then
hitched up the Colonel's rig and drove to
Horse Canyon, a few miles southeast OF
the city, where they met the Captains
friend. The Captain introduced him to the
Colonel as Bill Shaw, and then the trio got
down to business. The Colonel requested
declined. The Colonel then
proposed that he be entrusted with the
brick while he take it to the city and have
it assayed.
Gentlemen said Bill, solemnly. II have
had a little experience in this world-in
TACT, I've had a hard row to hoe. l believe
no person or thing but the Almighty,
and, gentlemen, l wouldn't enerust even
Him with that there brick"
Then Bills solemnity changed to buster.
He drew q revolver and flourished it to en-
phasize his decision to kill any person who
would attempt to deprive him OF his al
legeQ treasure WlChOuC putting up It's
In cash. The Colonel was too
old a soldier to be frightened BY Bills
however, and he calmly told
Bill if the brick was genuine goods he would
give him $500 for it If bogus, he didn't
want it at anv price. Bill almost wapt
when the calibre OF his brick was ques-
but he suppressed his la chrymose
and consented to have the brick tested by
The Colonel and the Captain re-
tired to the mouth OF the canyon while Bill
went of to resurrect the brick.
TIE BRICK APPEARETH.
When the comrades in speculation re-
Joined Bill he had the brick in his hand.
holes had already been bored in it,
and the Colonel, who had taken a brace
and drill with him, started to bore a fou. tn.
He bored until his drill broke, but he had
sufficient duse to make q test, and,
promising to see Bill again, returned to the
city with the Captain. On the return trip
the Captain produced some shav1nes which
he alleged he had bored from the brick.
The Colonel gave his dust to Mr.. Forbis to
have it assayed, and it returned 81 per
cent. gold and 8 per cent. silver. It was
pronounced excellent gold by Messrs. Ley
& Turck, who tested it with acid, and
it withstood an acid test applied by the
Colonel, who was almost satisfied that he
had struck a bonanza, Mr.. Forbia how.