Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1890-01-01
TRICKS OF ASSlYERs.
A Chemist Relates Soms Expef
ences IN Ills Business
All visitors Regarded as Knsves--h
sarnpIe-Owners Try 70 Obtain
Fraudulent Certificates-The
Gabriel Sword swindis.

"Pardon me, SIR, we allow no enc IN I IA "a
room but the assayers." looked at ~
sneaker with an expression Of injured q
nocence, writes q correspondent OF the NV
York Mol aud Express. He was che memuel
of the great firm Of chemists whose cert q
cate as to the output of a mine would Ok
worth a fortune il favorable. "Sorry u
offend you, SIR" he continued, "but we -
sumo chat every man who comes bore IS
knave.n
This aroused my curiosity, and improved
the first opportunity to ask an expert VI
sayer to explain these misanthroplc senii-
ments DR. Ledoux, famous Chemist COP
nected with the firm mentioned above, sf-
isfied me that they were well founded. Vle
can hardly trust our own senses, he say
al have known a sample of orr q ylcldR
heavy percentage of gold when its ownh
was present at the test and none at
when he was absent. How can that IN
a Well, in this instance / saw nothing W ~
but recently was conducting an as 4
the presence of the owner of the ~
and noticed that he was chewing Z "
very vigorously and also gong to the
furnace to expectorate into the fire. W a
ing him narrowly saw him spit int
crucibe, and, seizing him by the II
n forced out of his mouth the TOBACCO h.
along with it quantity OF gold dust, VI 9p
he was attempting to get into the crucil n
this was to make his assay run hlghU 4
would require very lutte gold thus ao cd
to an ounce of ore to make a differeN me
of many hundreds of dollars per ton in kn
result.
"The most singular attempt at swindle
which we have ever come across was in
connection with 'GabriePs Sword You
NAV remember that in the month of May,
1888, the papers IN Ulster and Sullivan Con-
ties and the New York daily papers were
widely excited over a most remarkable dis
covery back of Kingston, N. Y. A strange
sword had fallen from the skies and had
been discovered in the town of Rochester
4 Ulster County.
"Some time IN July following, long
haired individual came into our Office stag.
gering under the weight Of a box seven
feet long with cross piece near one end
about two feet in length. He asked if we
would assay any thing, and on being as
sured that we would, pulled out screw
driver and carefully unscrewed his box, out
Of which he took sword. 1t was curious
weapon nearly seven feet long and so heavy
that could scarcely lift the point from the
ground with one hand by taking hold of the
handle. 1t was covered with Hebrew or
Phoenecian characters apparently, and COW
bred with rude figures of men and animals.
This marking was only apparent where the
rust with which most Of the weapon was
heavily corroded had been rubbed off.
"The man said that he was the discoverer
Of this strange sword, and was exhibiting
II about the country; that some unbelievers
had scotfed at his statements that 1t came
from spiritual world, and that he desired
us TO make an assay of it TO prove that it
was genuine. He stated further that on
Its appearance and ring when it was struck
one would naturally take it to be STEEL but
that he had been in times past blacksmith,
and was samllar with metals, and that it
was his opinion that it was compound Of
silver and iron, and asked me whether such
an alloy was not uncommon.
a "I told him yes, of course, when he tri-
umphantly added: Now, want you to as
say this sword and give me a certificate
that it is neither iron nor steel but an alloy
containing silver, and want you to say on
rour certificate that such an alloy is not
nsed in this world for such purposes and
would not have the hardness, fiexibility
and other characteristics which this sword
Possesses
a 81 was interested and amused and agreed
10 make the test. The old mau seemed anx-
ious not to mutilate the weapon, and it was
agreed that we should file off portion from
d place where it was particularly rusted
and assay the fling. was convinced that
u was nothing but steel, and was most in
tensely surprised when our assayer brought
mp a large silver button which he had Oh
tained from the filings. The old man was
triumphant, but was at once on my guard,
as 1 scented swindle. 1t was, OF course,
possible to coat the surface with silver so
luton which would dry on and produce the
result which we found, and refused to give
him a certificate without further test.
he readily acquiesced in this, and said that
he had rather anticipated such a request,
and proposed that he should file the end OF
the cross-bar, calling my attention to the
fact that one end was about half an inch
longer than the other, and that the cross
bar and sword were undoubtedly forged out
of the same piece of metal, so that what was
true of the composition Of the bar was true
bf the sword. This / agreed to, and the
end was filed of. 1t appeared to be
simply cube Of soft iron or steel, heavily
rusted on five sides, and bright and homo
geneous where cut by the file. "Now,"
bald my client, ''you tell your man to put
lhis in the srucible and will abide by the
|CohlIs III oplOO VI thS oPpSoiohNO VI bhS
piece of metal our assayer was instructed
TO take cold chisel and cut it in two and
assav the two halves separately. To our
Intense astonishment he brought the two
portions upstairs, showing US, concealed in
the middle, plug Of silver surrounded on
Bill sides by the steel or iron. The whole
thing was at once plain The old man, or
some one, in anIfacturing the sword had
bored hole through one end Of the cross
bar and plugged it up with silver, so that
u did not show. He had probably invent
Ia the meteoric story. We, of course, de-
elined 10 give him certificate OF the su-
pernatural origin of the weopen, which he
had undoubtedly made himself, and he de-
parted.
"The men we most fear are the new proc
ess' characters who profess to be able TO
Ind gold or tin or other metal in the most
Unlikely rocks by secret means of their
own. They come to US for certificates and
Always insist on being present when their
Process is tried. Sometimes they will salt
he sample or put gold into the crucible in
Apite OF the greatest watcbfulness."
A Collier rtiOn of Pens.
f| Ynar in nanvar FOL uama5 Tvon y,t