The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-08-24
ANACONDA CHEMIST.
His Claim to Have Discovered a Gold
Making Process.

His Claim to Have Discovered a Col,
Making Process.
"Did you read that dispatch from Ana.
conda, Mont, the other day which was pub
lished in every morning newspaper in Chi
cago, announcing that a young chemist GU
there had discovered a method of convert
ing the baser metals into gold?" asked
we'll known Pinkerton man last night O.
the Chicago Mails club man. well what
do you think of the story? A fake? No
SIT; unless am badly mistaken the news.
paper man who sent ont that startling news
to hear a sequel to that story every
day now and when it comes
that correspondent will have another
interesting news item to chronicle.
There have been attempts to turn the
baser metals into gold ever since chemistry
has been studied. but so far as l have been
able to learn only one man in the world
hitherto has succeeded in accomplishing
that feat. 'Sheeny Az Sondhelm did it,
and the Montana job is SO much like his
work that | should attribute it to him at
once if | did not know that he happens to
be serving a penitentiery sentence in Lon
don, England. just now. Sondheim turned
a few cents worth Of copper into $4,000
worth of gold. That's why he has ceased
his further chemical experiments tempor-
arily.
The swindle itself is one of the cleverest
in the whole range of the bunko business.
Sondheim announced to his intended VIC
tim that he had invented q chemical pro-
cess by which 1T was possible to convert
copper into gold. His modus operandi he
explained thus: Into a chemical bath a
quantity of copper was placed; then a GER
tain amount of gold was added; the chemi-
cal action changed part Of the copper into
gold. 10 test the process a bit of copper
was placed in the mysterious liouid and
sondheim dropped into it p gold eagle. A
few hours having elapsed the gold in the
solution was precipitated and weighed.
The scales showed $19 worsh of pure gold,
and to cllnch matters it was sold to a neigh
boring jeweler for SIS. Then the victim
was told to make a personal experiment for
his W satisfaction. A quantity of the
emlc solution was given him and he
was told to take it home, add a little
copper and some gold. and watch every
point of the experiment very carefully to
preclude the possibility of fraud. He did
so. dropping into the bath a double eagle
and precipitatlng $35 worth of gold next
day. OF course the mysterious mixture was
a heavy solution of gold before the victim
added his gold coin; that explains the in
crease in gold when the precipitation was
made.
ct is needless to say that the u%nsophisti-
Gated goldmaker was surprised and de-
lighted. Sondheim proposed that they
should go into a big experiment together.
He frankly admitted that he doubted
whether he manufactured gold was exactly
like the native metal, but he claimed that
no leweler could distinguish the difference
and hence the spurious product could be
sold without detection. The victim in this
case was a rich man and readily consented
to furnish $4,000 in gold for the pro-
posed speculation, it being agreed that
'oheeny AIS share of the profits should be
one-half of the inctense. The cold cash
was handed over to ~Sondheim, who imme-
dlately placed it in the chemical bath and
urged that the solution ought not to be
touched within two days at least, in order
that the hemica action might be complete.
The next day Sondheim passed as the
guest of his dupe. No one but the great in
Ventor himself was permitted to enter the
room where the mysterious process was 90
ing on. At night he announced that he
would run out of town to Wis t n friend who
lived a short distance in the country and
would be back on the morrow about noon.
he hasn' returned yet, nor the $4,000 that
~alsappear,d simultaneously with him.
Both sailed for Europe on the same boat.
! wonder if 'Sheeny Al' has an imitator in
M~ontana?'