Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-01-05
HERE AND THERE.
The Electric Sugar Refining
Company's Collapse.
a STARTLING SECRET PROCESS
An Almost Incredible Tale o
Gigantic Fraud-Dimmig
Acquitted.
i, associated Press Dispatches to the HERALD

f, A Associated Press Dispatches to the HERALD
New York, January 4.-The Euensng
Sun prints what it calls an "almost in
credible tale of gigantic fraud" 1t states
that the Electric Sugar Refining Com
pany has been duped to the extent oil
over a million dollars; that its whole
sssecret process" turns out to be humbug
of the most barefaced kind. The secret
process was the invention of one Henry
G. Friend, who appeared in the trade
about four years ago with samples OF
wonderfully pure sugar which ne salu
had been refined by his electric process.
About year ago he induced number
of English and American capitalists to
organize the company and buy the secret
process from him. This was done. Fac
tories we're erected, but no one was al
lowed inside of them save Friend, his
wife and a few ignorant workmen. The
rooms where the refining was supposed
to be going on were always kept securely
locked. as Friend said his process was
not patentable, and he could not afford
to allow anyone to share his secret.
Meantime the stock of the company
has been bouncing up until worth nearly
5000 per share of the $100 par value.
Friend then began to unload, but sud-
denly died. Officers of the company
suspected nothing wrong until few days
ago. when it was found that Mrs. Friend
and all who had been connected with the
factory had disappeared, Mrs. Friend
leaving word that she had gone West.
Officers of the company entered the secret
chamber and found no sugar refined
there at all, merely number
of machines used in breaking cube
sugar into smaller particles and in
granulating coarser grades. Quanti..
ties of refined sugar, chiefly cubes, had
been purchased by the operators and
prepared in some secret spot with a
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 chemical used had crys-
talized the cubes to large 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 stockhold-
ers and officers of the company were
kept in perfect confidence as to the fu-
ture of the process until the largest pos.
sible amount of money was 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 areporter
sI am heart broken over the discovery
we have made. 1 don't care so much
about losing my own money, but l in
duced numbers 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 deceived! 1t
means ruin to us. It's the most out
rageous thing ever heard Of"
"Is there no prospect of being able to
save anything out of the wreck" 7"
s'Not that can see. The revelations
found in the factory prove the entire
thing to have been a fraud"