Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1889-01-18
BIG FRAUD.
Erench's Electric Process OF Purifying SUI
gar Turns Out an Electrical swindle
Without q Single Volt OF IElec-
tricity In 1t.
Friend Dies and His wife lights Out When
Investigation Reveals That Nothing
Is Required to Purify Sugar
Except to Grind tt

NEW YORK, January 6.-The Evening Sun
prints what It calls an almost incredible
tale Of gigantic fraud" 1t states that the
Electric Sugar Refining company has been
duped to the extent of over million dollars
and that its whole secret process turns out
to be a humbug Of the most barefaced
kind.
The ''secret process was the invention Of
Henry @. Friend, who appeared IN the trade
about fou years ago with samples Of won
derfully pure sugar which he SAID had been
refined by his electric process" About a
year ago he induced a number of English
and American capitalists to organize a com
pany and buy the ''secret process from
him. This was done and factories erected,
but no one was allowed inside of them save
Friend, his wife and a few ignorant work
men. The rooms where the refining was
supposed 70 be going on were always kept
securely locked, as FRIEND said his process i
was not patentaDle, and he could not afford
10 allow any one to share his secret. In the
meantime the stock of the company had
been bouncing up until it was worth nearly
SoUO per share OF 500 par value. Friend
then began to unload but suddenly he died.
Inc officers OF the company suspected
nothing wrong until few days ago, when
II was found that Mrs. Friend and al who
had been connected with the factory, had
disappeared Mrs. Friend leaving word that
she had gone 10 the west President Colt
rlIi' treasurer Robertson and number of
stockholders proceeded TO the factory and
invaded the secret rooms. What they dis
covered made their eyes bulge out and
every hair on their heads gave limitations of
the qullls OF pOrcuplne when he Is fretful. /
There were number Of machines used in
breaking cube sugar into smaller particles, ]
and IN graduating the cOarser grades; and
nothing else. There was no mysterious cleo
M "a tina HgF Tu, A-a.v
should DO transferred as by flash into the
purest sacharIne crystals, no wonderful CYL !
lnders, pots or pans charged with purging
electrical current. There were crushers and
that was ali. Investigation at once set on
foot showed how great the scheme had been |
worked. Not a pound of raw sugar had
been rehned IN the factory. Quantities OF
rehneQ sugar, chiefly cubes, had been pur-
chased by the operators and prepared in !
some secret spot with the chemical LIQUID
which eliminated the ordinary impurities
found IN all sugar. The ''dOctored" sugar
was then carried to the factory in bags DUR
porting 10 contain raw sugar. The chemi-
cal used had crystaliZed the cubes to a large
extent, and when they were broken they had
liner appearance and quality than sugar
was ever known to possess. Mrs. Friend
and those connected with her received a
large sum IN cash from the com any for the
process and heavy block Of the stock, which
Was disposed of, partly in England and
value.
Interested
the scheme does not seem clear nor will the
officers Of the company tell how much
money was paid to them, though they admit
that adding the cash and proceeds from the
stock together they must have received a !
sum approximatiug $3.50, 600. The scheme
was clearly worked to the very last. The
stockholders and officers of the comDany
were Kept IN perfect confidence as to the fu- |
ture of the proceeds Until the largest DOS
81 bic amount of money could be secured !
and then the bubble was allowed to burst |
There Is no such process as electrical sugar !
refining and the bugbear of the sugar trust
Is dead. Treasurer Robertson said to an
Evening Sun reporter this morning:
Il am heart broken over the discovery
that we have made" and he certainly ap-
peareo as II he were. Continuing he said: /
81 don't care so much about losing my own
money, but induced numbers of my friends
to invest IN the scheme and it is their hnan-
c1ai ruin that dlstresses me; then had such
high hopes that the scheme would bring
fortunes to Us all. Oh, we've been shame
fully trlcked and deceived. It means ruin
to Us. 1t is the most outrageous thing
eyer heard of. Yes, we have been over to
the factory and seen the interior of the Sc
cret rooms. L would rather not tell all that
they contained Just yet. 1 am preparing a
statement for the public IN which will set
al matters forth just as they are''
lis there no prospect OF being able to save
anything out of the wreck?''
mot that 1 can see. The revelations found
IN the factory prove the entire thing to have
been a fraud. President COttriIl left for the /
west to try to find Mrs Friend and endeav-
or to learn what chemical was used In the
sugar. After 1t Is treated with il, it becomes
a remarkably pure product If this proves
to be worth anything, it might save total
collapse, but l can not have any faith in It
I can not tell just how much stock is held
here and in England. That will all come
out in my statement"
Later-The results of to-day's investiga-
ton of the affairs of the Electric Sugar re- /
hnery gives additional evidences of fraud
and President Cottrill left the city for the
purpose of procuring the arrest of Mrs.
Olive Friend and William E. Howard.
THE NEWS IN LONDON.
LONDON, January 6.-The sensation in
Birmingham over revelations regarding the
Electric Sugar Refining company has been
increased by alarming Cablegrams. The
local holding of stock is stated TO be 10000
pounds. One of the principal stockholders
has departed for America to inquire person.
ally into the matter, The stock fell greatly
In Birmingham and Liverpool.
A.