The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1891-02-25
VICTIMS OF BUNCO MEN.
- e.c->. s r IS TOD ~ TIE
i FOUNTAIN CITY.

FOUNTAIN CITY.
;':.a .. Ia. '.s;.s:& ~. f...:,'e Co1 Atlanta
:. .':...,, 80, ,c.lrS i'.-.a Gcn and it Is
Hoped He Will succeed. The Rascal
Was Caught.
.},r.,,I Feb. l&.-2I...:. 4. Easter
! Ing. of = i.:.s. .2n, :: (, who, with Messrs
! Kennedy and cathersbee, Of the same
town, was swiudIed out Of live thousand
dollars 10y being persuaded to buy a bar
Of giilcd copper for pure gold from
fakir, is in town tonight Oh his way to
Atlanta, where he goes in hopes of iden-
tifying a man named Mace, who was
arrested in Atlanta this morning, &C
cocding to the description furnished of
tie party who was an accompllce IN the
gold bug game.
The man in Atlanta was arrested in a
| Richmond and Danville train by Chief
Connolly. and if he is the right man the
officers will get tive hundred dollars re-
ward for the arrest.
The Chronicle this morning gives the
following details of the manner in which
the swirdle was worked:
\ few days, possibly week ago, a
mysterious parsonage, giving his name
as Bill Parker, or more formerly speak
ING, Mr.. William Parker, made himself
known to Mr. w II. Kennedy, Mr.. r. A.
Weathersbee and Mr.. j. r. Easterling,
Of Wiiliston, s.. c.
He spoke in amysterious way of big
thing which he had if he only had the
money to work it. He got these gentle
men interested, and disclosed to them
that he had somewhere in the mining
regions of the West a most valuable
gold mine 1t had been discovered by
the Indians or some half-bred hunters,
and there was millions in it. Indeed,
he had along with him a mythical Indian,
who never showed up, butwas supposed
to be lowering around somewhere in the
bushes On the outskirts of the town and
available for consultation with Mr.. Par
ker when necessary.
The best evidence, however, that there
was gold in the mine was to produce the
gold itself, and this Mr.. Parker did in a
secret interview And what a gli5tering
pr1Ze it was. 4 solid bar two feet long
and as bigas q bar of railroad iron. But
if these clever gentlemen had attended
the recent Shakespearean Symposium
in Augusta they would have learned
that "-All is not gold that glitters." But
they knew that anyhow. and even Sug-
gested as much to Mr. Bill Parker. He
was not surprised nor embarrassed by
this implied Gistrust, but courted inyes-
tigation. Taking ginllet he bored in
to the heavy yellow bar, and smiled
confidently on the shining dust which
came from the hole. take this gold
dust now and send it to any jeweller or
chemist and ascertain to your own sat
isfacticn whether or not it is the pure
stuff
This was fair enough, and the pre-
cious dust was either sent to Charleston
or submitted toa Wiliiston expert, the
reporters informant was not certain
which. But the test was entirely salts
factory, and the answer came back thai
it was 22-carat gold. MIR. Bill Parkes
was vindicated, and now nothing re,
manned but to weigh the bar and make
the calculation The weight was not
known to the gentleman who gave the
reporter the story, but the bar was worth
$6 OC0 or 81 900.
Just exactly why they were given
such a bargain is not made clear, but for
$1,000 each Mr.. Parker and his imagi
Ilary Indian partner were willing to turn
over the glittering bar of gold to Mr..
Kennedy and Mr.. Weathersbee, two
gentleman with whom he was trading.
The prize was too glittering; the profit
too certain and easy to let slip. All
that was necessary would be to send it
to the Government mint to be coined
ard a clean profit Of one or two thous-
and brand new gold dollars would be
realized. Who would not have bought
it?
Mr.. w. II. Kennedy, who is man of
means, drew draft on his factor in
Charleston for S50O0 and Mr.. Dan Hen
derson, of Aiken, took it and gave HIM
:. check on the Bank of Aiken for the
money. Armed with the $1,000 in cold
cash, Mr. Kennedy sought Mr.. Bill Par
ker and the trade was cOnsummated.
They got the precious bullion and Mr..
Parker got the cash. Having cotton the
money Mr.. Parker had no further busi
ness in Wi!liston or Aiken, or even in
Carolina, and his mythical Indian chief
vanished from the Palmetto State.
The owners Of the gold bar either
grew suspicious or else wanted to reas-
sure themselves of their splendid prize,
for they had another analysis made, and
they were Mortified to find that the Sec
ond analysis showed that their prize was
not gold at all.
1t is understood that Mr.. Schweigert's
ANALYSIS Of it showed it to be a very fair
grade Of copper, but even after the re-
porter had gotten the storyAlr. Schwelg-
ert persistently refused to have anything
to say except that it was private
matter which he was not at liberty to
talk about.
Well, there is little more to tell. The
interviews with Chief Hood were, OF
course, FOR the purpose of capturing
Mr.. B;ll Parker, and it is understood
that Mr.. J. Z. EaSteTling was busy yes
terdav sending off kilograms in every
direction, with description OF Parker,
and an offer Of $500 for his arrest.
CAUGHT IN ATLANTA.
AUGUSTA. Ga, Feb. 14.-Bill Parker,
! the Bunco man who defrauded Messrs
J. r. Easterling and r. \. Weathersbee,
of Williston, 5. c., out OF So. 900 by sell
ing them bar Of gilded copper for pure
gold has been arrested. He is the man
Who was arrested in Atlanta yesterday.
The news comes direct from Atlanta,
from Messrs Easterling and Weathers-
bee, who went to Atlanta last night to see
f! if they could identify the man, who was
arrested Oh tie Richmond and Danville
train. They wired Chief Hood, of the
augusta police force; early this morn
ing: "We have got Bill Parker Parker,
when arrested in atlanta yesterday was
searched. and lie only had $50 and a
Smith Il Wesson pistol on him. He was
first arrested on tie Air Line train by the
conductor. and when the train reached
the suburbs Of Atlanta he made an at
tempt TO jump of. It's not known here