Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-10-11
4 BIG smlNDLE &.

a BIG SWiNOl -.
erage Concern. After Gatherings CaH~
forsabla Amount 81 BOoals Quietly Der
parts for Other Fields In Whtch g. Enjoy
/ II.
New yoRK, Oct. 6. -One OF the biggest
swindling schemes that have bHen worked
in this city for many years has been
brought to light by the disappearance OF
Vim. II. Ingham and the closing of the
b.okerage Arm Of "W. n. Ingham q
Co.. at No. So Broadway AS yet
no accurate estimate of the swindierss
profits can be made. and very possibly
the extent of the fraud will never pc
known. But from present indications,
the losses Of the victims of the specu-
lative mania will run we'll up into the
thousands, and may aggregate more tnan
one hundred thousand dollars. The man
who has successfully played upon the
guIlib,e, calls himself VIM. n. Ingham.
| though his real name would probably
not sound like that. According TO
all accounts, he made his appearance In
the city the latter part of APRIL 1887, and
opened the Office of ". III. Ingham q Co
at No. 40 Broadway. His entry on the
scene was soon followed by the appear
ance Of advertisements in sundry promi-
nent papers calling attention to the inl-
mense profits TO be gained by investing
in w. III. InghaAn s. Co.'s speculative
syndicate" The sssyndicate" was de-
scribed as a mutual pool, which was
to operate in stocks, bonds and grain,
under the direction of VIM. II. Ingham
& Co. At the end of the first month
printed statement was forwarded to all
stockholders, or stmembers" as they were
termed. showing that the profits for the
month ~ Mor1pQy Hftu- IT
cent The statement issued by the Arm.
taking them for what they are worth, go
to show that the ssprofits" for the several
months from June down were:
July, forty three per cent; August,
twenty-four per cent; September,
sixty-seven per cent; October. forty.
six per cent; November, fifty
six per cent; December, forty two
per cent: January, 1855 twenty mine per
cent; February, thirty per cent; March.
eighteen and one-half per cent; April,
twenty-five per cent; May, twenty -one
per cent; June, twenty-six per cent;
July, twenty-five per cent; August, If
teen per cent. September, about twenty.
five per cent. OF course these "profits"
were all purely imaginary, and such
dividends as were paid were paid out OF
the money invested by the dupes. How.
many of the nominal dividends actually
were paid can not be ascertained. but
since December, at least, the dividends
indicated have actually been paid.
While Ingham's business was booming
along. and letters, kilograms and visit
ors daily pouring in, he was making
preparations to close up shop. On last
Saturday he mailed card to his victims,
reviewing the career of the syndicate and
announcing that In consequences OF the
mo NH a. en1inifafinn a had met with
heavy losses, which had forced him to
suspend with the loss of the entire sym
dictate membership capital, and all It's
business and offices are closed"
The card goes en- to significantly reMArk
that 1--WE only hold your names" ind
concludes in this way t'As soon a. we
can get matters arranged and oui &C.
counts Strengthened, with full details and
figures Of the losses and trades, and open
Offices again, we will notify You. ny the
word Co.. after the name Wv. H. Ingnam,,
is meant each and every syndicate
who constitute the company Of
the firm"
According to stories Of the other occu-
pants of the building at No. SO Broadway,
Ingham was last seen at his office Satur-
day. He had Yale LOCK- put on the outer
door when he removed to his new Office,
and as he took the key with him, no one
can now get into the room. A glimpse
the letter slit, however, shows q
big accumulation of mail lying on the
floor where 1t has fallen through the slit
Scores Of undelivered kilograms for
Ingham are also lying at the adjacent
Office. Ingham would
never allow the janitress or
any one else to see both his rooms at
once, and apparently removed important
books and papers to the rear room, and
locked the door when the woman cleaned
the directory as No. SO Broadway, and
there is no clew to either his actual resi-
dence or himself. He is not member Of
either of the New York stock exchanges,
the Consolidated Exchange or the Produce
Exchange, but had intrusted an aggre.
gate of about five hundred dollars worth
Of mining stock to the Open Stock and
Grain Board of New York (limited), at
No. IS New street. to sell for him.
All his checks were drawn on either
the Seaboard National Bank or the
United States National Bank. They we're
always careful to look up his account be-
fore cashing his checks, but he never
overdrew on them, and apparently paid
FOR hall services, ETC., in cash.
Judging from the bank officers state.
ments Ingham has altogether Withdrawn
his deposits. or has but small balance
On hand. There are some reasons for
thinking that he came to New York from
Chicago.