Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-25
One Farmer Found Too Sharp to be
Fooled by the Golden Brick.
THREE GLIB-TONGUED STRANGERS,
After Thinking They Had Their Fish Safely
Fast on the hoOk,
FIND THEMSELVES BADLY TAKEN IN.
ESPECIAL rrLEeHAn TO THE p1srArcn.i

tuesday he was visited DIV man who
said he came from Huntington to buy farm
for gentleman worth S150,000. The gen.
tleman had some dissolute sons, he said, and
wished to get them away from their evil as
sociates and start them in life where they
would not be surrounded BY temptations
He thought perhaps Mr.. Stuckey's farm
would fill the bill, and in the course of his
conversation he managed to extract con-
siderable information concerning Mr.. Stuck
ey's personal history and financial standing
The man finally took his departure without
making an offer for the place. Next day a
second stranger put in an appearance.
Swindler No. on the Scene.
He introduced himself as John Sanders
and sand he was looking for relatives among
the Stuekeys, of Bedford county. He
claimed to be a descendant of the Stuckeys
OF Virginia, and said that his uncle had
taken him, when boy, TO California. He
had just returned from the lar West, and
was anxious to discover the relatives of his
family. Mr.. Stuckey kindly told him all
he knew about the Stuckeys, but Sanders
expressed himself as dissatisfied with the
search, and seemed 10 be very much dIsap-
pointed that he was not able to establish a
clear connection between himself and his
host.
After learning that Mr.. Stuckey knew no.
body in Piedmont, Sanders announced that
he had an aunt, Miss Susan Stuekey, living
in that place, and he thought perhaps a visit
to her would establish a satisfactory clew.
Mr.. Stuckey agreed with HIM, and also gave
him the names of some of his own relatives
in Napier township as persons likely to he
in he
actually call on the persons who were
named, and to them he pro essed great in
terest in his work.
Yesterday Sanders returned to Stuckey's.
He said he had been to Piedmont, and he
produced letter from Aunt Susan" ad-
dressed TO Stuckey The good old lady set
forth that Sanders was an uneducated man,
with little knowledge of the world, and she
commended him TO Stuckey's care. Sanders
then became communicative. He said that
while out West he had wandered from Cali
1ornia into Arizona
He Opens the Gold Racket.
He told how two Indians had discovered
rich deposit of gold in Arizona and had ac-
cumulated enough of the precious metal to
make three bars. Thei; treasure was dis
covered by some Mexicans, who undertook to
gain possession of it, fight ensued, i'll which
one of the Indians was killed and one of the
bars was captured. The other lndianITa badly
OF the bars. At this opporrune moment
Sanders appeared on the scene in the role of
good Samaritan. He fell IN with the wounded
Indian and nursed him back to health. The
grateful redskm thereupon offered TO share his
fortune with Sanders.
1t did not require much persuasion to induce
the latter TO accept, and he and the Indian
were now in the East for the purpose of turn
ing the metal into cash. Not only that, the
bars were near at hand, in fact lust outside in
his sleigh. And thereupon Sanders went forth
n q m nnln ant will : hn fraa 10
invited Stuckey TO bore in o the bars, assuring
him that he would find them solid and genuine.
Siuckey accordingly took brace and bit and
went TO work. Sanders stopped him, however,
complaining that his boring was crooked. He
took gimlet and did the boring himself; and
sure enough the bar was solid, aud golden
shavings were showered out by the Gimlet.
The next chapter in the plot was a trip to
Bedford by the two men to secure an expert
opinion on the metal. Stuckey did not accom-
pany Sanders about town, but after an absence
of some length Sanders returned and said that
he had visited Ridenour's and Borders jewerly
stores and the First National bank, but that
the gentlemen questioned frankly-admitted
their inability to decide the question.
Is introduced to Swindler No. 3.
He had been told that there was a United
States assayer stopping at the Bedford House.
and if that were true they were in rare luck, as
the assayers opinion would be absolutely re-
liable. They thereupon visited the hotel and
learned that the rumor was correct. The man
was registered as A. X. Preston, Philadelphia.
They found him in his room, surrounded by
walls and instruments and 'conJraptions" of all
kinds, and Stuckey noticed that the letters ~.
S.n were very prominent on all the labels. He
was extremely busy writing letters, and seemed
to be put out at the interruption.
Sanders stated his errand Preston pretended
to be not at all anxious to make the tests, but
finally in rather gruf manner, consented for
a fee of So. Sanders promptly laid down the
cash. and the experiments were begun. 1t is
r0d dnCP ha he 1prDa, 10 foil lx
Preston. 1t is enough that he pronounced the
gold to be of the finest quality.
Where did you get it ?" he asked, certainly
not around here 2"
Sanders replied that it made no difference
where he got it, and declared there was lots
more where that came from. Preston said
that part of his mission to Bedford was to test
some minerals found in that vicinity. and that
were supposed to contain gold His tests had
showed the minerals to be worthless and that
was the reason he knew these bars were not
the product of Bedford county, Sanders then
exhibited the gold shavings that had been
turned out by the gimlet. Preston promptly
bought them for s., and Sanders generously
handed 81 to Stuckey. The latter. it may be
mentioned parenthetically pocketed the dol
lar. Sanders asked the value of the bars.
Preston gave the value per ounce and told San
derS TO do his own figuring.
A Simple Problem of Arithmetic.
Sanders had on several occasions informed
Stuckey that he was unable to read or write.
problems in arithmetic, requesting Stuckey to
make the ca 'r'ation. The bars had been nut
on the sea cs at Stuckey's house and found to
weigh 10 pounds. The problem was, therefore
simply matter of multiplication. and the re-
suit proved the bars to be worth S2l U00 Pres
ton informed his visitors that it would be
necessary to take the bars to the United States
Mint, in Philadelphia, where they would be
purchased by the government and he gave
some directions concerning the methods of pro-
Cedure.
Sanders and Stuckey then started out
Preston called Stuckey back and in low tone
of voice advised him that If he made any bar
gain with Sanders that the contract should be
in writing, as the latter was very Ignorant in
tact unable to read or write "How the devil
DO you know that?" asked Stuckey. Preston
had made a bad break, as he and Sanders we're
supposed to be strangers. He made an effort
70 get out OF the hole, but il was an awkward
pne. Stuckey had been on his guard continu-
oily, as the whole affair bore suspicious re-
semblance TO the gold brick" swindles SO often
reported la the newspapers. Preston's blunder
now convinced him that the two men were con-
3ederates. and he decided to shake them with
out much further ceremony
The Tables Turned on the Swindlers.
Sanders Indian partner was supposed to he
somewhere in Bedford, and after the interview
with Preston, Sanders went out to confer with
him. Upon returning to the hotel be said thar
the Indian had noGiced his intimacy with
Stuckey and had grown suspicious, showing a
disposition TO make trouble. The best thing he
could think of was to ''buy outn the Indian
1t would have to be done at once, too, as the
Indian was a ward of the Government and was
of the reservation only on q temporary leave
of absence. He would have to go back to the
reservation within couple days. Mr.. Stuckey
replied that he had never bought out any
Indians and he didn't propose TO go into that
business now. He then said 'tgood day" to
Sanders and abruptly took his departure for