Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-29
HIS TEN-YEAR RECORD In AMERICA
II is Said BE Left His Afianced to Get His
Fathers Consent to Wed, but For
got to Come Back to Her.
BOGUS ISSUES COULD BE PREVENTED
When Original Stock Certificates Are Stamped and
Recorded by Registrar.

UuIR DdukS DN al ISSUE O1 SzO.OOO NOTlll VI
bogus stock of the Jefferson Iron Company,
but nobody has said anything about the
mans past history or the little romance
that was told to a representative Of THE
DISPATCH by a well-known business man
yesterday. The Baron and his brother have
been heard of before, but in another section
of the country. The people living in the
vicinity of Shenandoah, Va, will not be
surprised when they hear of Baron
Frederick's stock escapade. and while dis
cussing it, many of them will pull out SUM-
dry bits of paper to which are attached the
forid autographs of Baron Carl Otto, Fred's
brother.
The two Lagerfelt brothers came to this
country from Sweden in 1880 and landed In
New York. Fred was first-class account
ant, while Carl was mining and metal
lurgicsl engineer. They had good letters of
reference to business men in New York, and
had no trouble in securing positions with
the Shenandoah Iron Works at Shenandoah
Iron Works, Va. The town is little place
about 20 miles from Luray Caverns, on the
Shenandoah Valley Railroad There is
nothing there but mill, furnaces and
cluster of houses occupied by the employees
and owners of the works. Fred was ap-
pointed assistant bookkeeper and Carl be-
came engineer The latter had charge of
all the furnace work, and made the analysis
Of ores and the product of the furnace.
THE BARoN'S wooING.
Society was dull in the place, and the two
young men from Sweden had no trouble
getting in the local 400. They soon became
acquainted with the families of the owners
of the plant, and the head partner did not
object when Baron Fred began to pay re-
spects to his daughter.
The young girl fell in love with the titled
foreigner and it was the same old story of
plighte6 troth and forgotten sweetheart.
As soon as Baron Fred found out every
thing he wanted to about the financial
standing of the girls father, his dream of
love had not such roseate hue. 1t is said
he found the girl would not get much money
from her father and determined to break off
the engagement. As time grew apace and
it was approaching that period when BRIDE
grooms begin to wonder where the honey
moon should be spent. Baron Fred proposed
to his sweetheart that he take trip home
to inform his parents of the match he had
made. He said that a marriage of
the nobility, even with one of the
select 400, would never be forgiven
in his country if the parents of the being
of noble birth were not consulted. He also
stated that if the marriage occurred without
the consent of his father he would be cut
out Of his possessions, and the estates that
would fall to him at his fathers death
would 60 to his brother.
OF course the bride to be was sorry he had
to go, but hoped her lover would obtain his
parents consent to the marriage, and he
started of.
HE NEVER RETURNED.
History does not record that he ever came
back, and the next place he was heard from
was in Steubenville. O., He had remained
in Sweden several years, and from his con-
duct afterward it is supposed he failed to
obtain the consent of his father to wed.
When he appeared again in this country be
went to Steubenville, where he obtained a
position as book-keeper with the Jefferson
Iron Company.
After the DAVIS work of scraping figures
with an ink eraser was over he managed to
scrape an acquaintance with Miss Mary,
daughter of C. B. Doty, the principal
stockholder in the company. This time the
figures showed up big tor his prospective
father-in-law, and in short time the Baron
asked Mary to share his small salary. She
consented aDd they were married. After
hot Al
Baron took his father-in-law's place in the |
business. 1t is said Baron Lagerfelt was |
always in dread of his Virginia love story |
being published, and at the time of his ap- |
pointment as Vice Swedish Consul lived in |
mortal fear af the affair being made known. |
Wh>le Fred vas making rapid progress,
his brother Carl was not far behind him on |
the ladder to fame. He thought he had dis |
covered a valuable copper mine in the hills |
not far from Shenandoah Iron Works, and |
tried to get capitalists interested in it. He |
made several trips to New York and talked |
up the idea of forming company for work. |
ing the mine, but the people he talked with |
were just the least bit 'tleery." He then
tried to do something himself, and went to |
people in the town who had money and |
asked them to endorse his notes. They did |
SO in the desire to help him along, and they |
still hold the notes as memeItoes of what \
might have been. The aggregate amount of |
money represented by the paper is several |
Thousand dollars, and Carl soon left the To- |
cality.
TWO DAsHING SOLDIERS.
Both .pen often talked of being in the /
edIsh army, and there is no question but /
Lev saw several years of post service. Both /
are higkly educated and speak several Ian
guages. Carl is a member Of the American
Society of Engineers.
1t would, no doubt, be interesting to many
people to know how Baron Lagerfelt could |
swindle the banks the way he is charged
with doing, and to get at an intelligent idea
OF how ii was done and how repetition /
could be prevented a reporter called on Mr.
William A. Carr and asked him to explain
the issue of false certificates. He said:
''The easy manner in which certificates
can be overissued by the officer in charge
has set many stockholders to thinking what
are the best methods of protecting their in
terests and their officers. In corporations
with large capital and great sctivity in the
shares, Il is almost impossible for officers
OF the corporation to keep q close
watch upon the issue of GER
tifcates to see that for every certificate
issued an equal number of shares have been
surrendered for cancellation. Officials have
to sign certificates in blank, leaving them
to be filled up by others, upon whom prob
ably there is no check. and who, if they
should abuse the confidence reposed in
them, are not financially responsible for
such breach of trust.
COMPLETING A CERTIFICATE.
''This is where Registrar proves useful.
Before the certificates are complete it re-
quires the signature of one Of the officers
of the trust company on it to make 1t q COM