Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-01-05
STR ANGER THAN FICTION.
Capitalists Swindled Out of Million
Dollars by an Electric Fraud.


New YORK, January 4th.-The Eretino
Sun prints what it calls An Almost In
credible Tale of Gigantic Fraud" 1t states
that the Electric Sugar Refining Company
has been duped to the extent OF 81 900, 600,
and that its whole secret process turns
out TO be humbug of the most barefaced
kind The secret process was the inven-
ton of one Henry G. Friend, who APP
peared in the trade about four years ago
with samples of wonderfully pure sugar,
which, he said, had been refined by his
-" electric process" About year ago he
induced number of English and Ameri-
can capitalists to organize company 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 few ignorant workmen.
The rooms where the refining was sup
posed to be going on were always kept
securely locked, IS Friend said that his
process was not patentahle and be could
not afford to allow any one to share his
secret.
In the meantime, the stock of the COM
pany has been bouncing up until within
nearly $500 per share of 800 par value
Friend then began 10 unload, but suddenly
died. The officers of the company sus-
pected nothing wrong until few days ago,
when they found that Mrs. Friend and all
who had been connected with the factory
bad disappeared. Mrs. Friend leaving word
that she had gone West.
The officers of the company entered the
secret chamber and found that no sugar
was refined there at all, merely a number
of machines used in breaking cube sugar
into smaller particles and in granulating
coarser grades. Quantities of refined sugar.
chiefly cubes, bad been purchased by the
nr1Gr tNr nd
with chemical liquid which eliminated
the ordinary impurities found in all sugars.
This 'doctored' sugar was then carted to
The factory in bags purporting TO contain
raw sugar. The chemicals used had crys-
tallized the cubes to a larger extent and
when broken they had finer appearance
and quality than sugar was ever known to
possess.
The scheme was cleverly worked to the
very last. The stockholders and officers of
the company were kept in perfect conf
dence as to the future OF the process until
the largest possible amount of money was
secured, and then the bubble was allowed
to burst. There is no such process as
Electrical Sugar Refinery, and the bugbear
of the Sugar Trust is dead
Treasurer Robertson said to a reporter:
II am heartbroken over the discovery we
have made. l don't care so much about
losing my own money, but induced num-
bers of my friends to invest in the scheme,
and it is their financial ruin that distresses
me. Then had such high hopes that the
scheme would bring fortunes to us all. Oh,
we've been shamefully tricked and de-
ceived. 1t means ruin to us. 1t is the
most outrageous thing ever heard OF"
rs there no prospect of being able to
save anything out of the wreck ?"
of
found in the factory prove the entire thing
to have been fraud"
WORSE AND MORE OF IT.
NEW YORK, January 4th.-The results of
to-day's investigation of the the affairs of
the Electric Sugar Refinery gives addi-
tional evidence of fraud, and President
Cottrell left the city tonight for the pur-
pose of procuring the arrest of Oliver
Friend and William Z. Howard.