New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-01-05
mcnts which the company formed with the IN
v,ntor and the widow, related by MI WlIlett

vontor and the widow, as related by Mr.. Wilett
and other authorities, were these: :. 49,,
contract was entered into, according to wnlcn,
when the refinery was completed and certain
amount of sugar had been produced, sum OF
money, about $4,000, was TO be placed oy inc
Electric Company on deposit with trust company
in New-York. Against that money sealed de-
scription Of the process was to be deposited with
the trust company which WIS to be opened ana
shown to the Electric Compa1y. IL was turtnef
agreed that there was to be go-between chossn
by Mrs Freund and the company, who was TO DC
taken TO the refinery to sec the complete process
II he approved of it, MIS-; Freund would get INC
money depost and the Electric Company would
learn the secret of the Freund method and patent
it On the day which the written description
of the process WAS TO be gwen to the company
Mrs Freund to receive $1,000 dowD.
DISSATISFIED WITH THE PROSPECTS
Mr. Robertson was scarcely satisfied with the
prospects here, and went to England with sam-
pies of the sugar They were viewed with en-
thusastic approval by the experts there. not un-
mixed, however, with scepticism TO the cleo
trical method which Mr. Robertson sought 10
dispe it is said, by making an offer of $500 to
any man who could by any process produce sugar
as pure as his samples. The rapid rise in the
stock of the Electric Sugar Refining Company VIII
not soon be forgotten. 1t was case OF up Ike
rocket and down like the stick!" A visit pald
by some British sugar refiners to TINS country 10
behold with their own eyes, not the process pn.
the apparent results of il as the sugar flowed from
the shoots in the refinery, confirmed the iaVor-
able impressions entertained in England.
| Three thousand shares sod there at prices
| ranging from S625 to 5000 a share One Liver
| pool refner bought block of ten for s3,ooO
| cash Mr.. Robertson himself is reported TO have
| bought $50, 900 worth in Liverpool, and II that
be true he is the heaviest sufferer of all the losers,
because it is understood that, though nearly every
sugar refner in England owns shares none OF
them risked buying enough 10 embarrass him in
aTsiRSSb niSble- OF ali 'S'' round ~is IS ssia-fsr
sucb details must be confined to il is sads' as
yet-that Freund's widow holds $3.50 shares, and
thus has control of the stock. If that is So, the
| woman's vauting ambition hath oerleaped IL
self7 in the failure of her scheme to hold out
until she could sell at incredible rates and retire
| to prosperity.
MR. wrLLErT HAS FEW WORDS TO SAY.
To take up the thread of the story in Mr.. viii
| letts words:
The refinery was completed about month ago and
certain made by which the company weS sat-
saed that process al right and indeed 50 con-
vinced Of this they thai they were Wiling 10 put
up their money according contract have the secret OF
the process revealed to ther patent It, and go on In
the latter part December Mr. Cotter the president
visited Mrs Freund, who is In Milan, Michiean. he
saw her In offce OF her lawyers Sawyer Noton'
at Ann Arbor. He said he ready to make the de-
post and wished the to be made known 70 MN
Mrs Freund required then that the deposit shouio De
made in q Western bank. To this Mr. Coterll assented
Freund next asked for the 50 600 cash wnich
vas to be paid her day the written account OF the
| process read by the company He would not agree
| 10 that, but finally he made proposal tha'
one OF Mrs. Freund's lawyers should accompany MIN
TO New-York should go through the refinery ana II ne
thought It all right the company would pay Mrs
Frsund the $4,000 She would not accede 10 this re-
quest He appealed to her lawyers and they acknowi-
edged fair offer But she persisted In re-
h,sny and Mr. Cotterll became suspicious There were
severa other people in the Az his request they
were asked to CO. and he was left alone with Mrs.
Freund Mr.. Coerlll then said 70 the woman II want
To ask you one question. and want answer, yes or
no. Does your process the raw sugar directly into
refined suparr She hesitated and finally refused to
answer He offered her $500 down II she would make
satisfactory reply Mr. Cotterin then ieft tho room
Mrs. Freund remained in consultation with her lawyer
The latter came and said that Mrs Freund nrmy
declined TO answer Mr. Coterils question. but that
her behalf he would ask Coeri whether process that
manipulated refined sugar would have value to him
| mo sirm said Mr.. Cotterl. "Then" remarked the
lawyer "you had better return to NewYork. Goodbye.
TO SET ALL DOUBTS AT REST.
It was on New Years morning that Mr.. Cot
tell arrived in New-Yorlz, in much perpleAity,
but resolved to set his doubts at rest. 1t was
| on Wednesday morning that he made the dis
covery which mpelled him to telegraph to Lon
don the astounding news which caused the
quickly responsive message from across the ocean
| published in yesterdays Tribune, that the stock
of tho Electric Sugar Refining Co. had dropped
| until, ike lfuHply-Dumps, du oto hihs
horses and all the kings men" couldn't hit 1t
| up again.
Mr. Cotterill, Mr. Robertson and Mr. Fuller went
to the refinery together. They found that George
Halstead and Gus" Halstead and Mr. Howard had
gone away and that cny jerry was there. so
they "bulldozed" Jerry" into admitting them
to one of the secret work-rooms The other was
| Immediately below it. Chamber No. la chamber
| of horrors for thcm-ouered quite enough TO
safe their present curiosity, however, They
saw all the sugar that had ever gone into
the place on pretence of being refined still there
| untouched unchanged. They found barrels OF
sugar refined by the ordinary process, and 1t
was at once made plain to them that this was
| trucll-load disguised in big wooden cases marked
| in black letters Machinery!'
| REAL CURIOSITY DISCOVERED.
| They discovered a real curiosity i'll barrels of
sodifed refined sugar, that had been apparently
| welded into hard masses by some process,
| probably "a chemical one. To set at tie sugar
| they had to remove the slaves of the barrels
and when the barrels fell apart the sugar remained
standing like barrelshabed pillars. There were
also in this home of wonders metal-covered table,
p,nnv heavy mallets and axes and q bIazen mop
pcr MIR Willett has nine samples of the Freuhd
sugar in his Office, and their appearance suggests
that rhc refined sugar was made into large blocks
| bv a genuinely process; that the blocks
were broken up on the metal table by means OF
! uhe mallets and axes and that it was put IN
| chunks into the hopper, and ground.
The second room was regular pro0I-roOm
,lad in sheet iron, and the cOmpany's officers were
not able to enter it until yesterday morning
They then took some worl1nen with them, aud
broke in upon it violently from the room above,
cutting a hole through the ceiling.
they found that it was an ordinary, sieve-room
eouipned for the sieying process which divides
| the sugar into various grades, according to its
| fneness. Having broken up ground and sorted
their prepared sugar, it was easy enough for the
electrical refiners7 to send it down the shoots
into barrels al a speed that astonished all out
side behoders, and complete the fraud. Mr.
Wjllett said last night that jerry had turned
States evidence, but Tribune reporter looked
| for jerry in vain.
Inspector Byrnes when asked yesterday whether
or not he had detectives looking after the people
interested in the sugar scheme. said that he had
nothing to do with the case
LAWSON n FULLER STILL HOPEFUL
ONE OF THE LARGEST STOCKHOLDERS THINKS
THERE MAY BIZ NO FRAUD-How HE.
| BECAME INTERESTED LIZ