The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1894-08-18
HIS JIG is UP.
Geo. Stoere. Confidence man,
Has boon Jailed.
He Has Successfully Impersonated
J.R.Wood and His Two Brothers
for More than Ten Years.

=
Tribune, "A fellow named George Stecre, a |
Canadian, has been travelling around the |
country impcrsonating John II. Wood. !
Iron Mountain, and his brothers, Joseph |
and Alex During this time he has sue
ceeded in swindling friends OF the three
brothers out OF nearly 10000 Among
the persons swindled were Mr.. stock
bridge, OF Kalamazoo, at one time CON
nected with the Ludington mine; Mr..
Spoor, the Mcnomnee lumberman; Will
liam Chisholm, Of Cleveland; Angus
Smith, al Milwaukee. and many other
wcllknown men.
Steere was arrested in Chicago last
week, while cndcavoring TO swindle +. a.
Elliot. The Chicago Times tells Of his
manner OF operating in the following
article
Franklin III. Head, the millionaire, has
the keenest appreciation Tor the clever
ness exhibited 10y George Stecre in induc
ing capitalists 60 invest their money IN
mining and timber lands which promise
the maximum Of cash invested. The fact
that these valuable tracts OF land are
located in the middle Of the Pacific ocean
cuts no figure with Stecre, and the eager
investor never discovers the Tact until he
has been successfully separated from his
money
The account 81 Stccrc's transactionsin
Chicago and lis arrest in Eaglewood
Tuesday night FOR swindling IA. Elliott,
an old miner, out OF $500 WAS published
exclusively in the Times Wednesday
morning and stamps the Canadian as
-. sttsI lIlan IL
Rwiudlers i'm the country. The success oil
Stcere. i'm the six or seven wears he has
been operating rests entirely upon the
met that the mnn is m expert mining
and civil engineer, knows the country
and people where the tract ui land lies
that he wants the victim To buy, and
that he invariably dresses and talks like
n mine prospector or woodsman. His
makeup is perfect, the bronze lace
partially hidden by heavy beard, the
rough hands, the 'storo' clothes. the
bearing OF man wholly out oi his ele-
mcnt. and the air OF honesty make
font ensemble thcinvcstor cannot resist.
IL six wears and over since Mr.. Head
first made the acquaintance oil Stecrc, or
Wood, ms lac was known 10 the capital
inf vet the memory Of that acquaintance
Is still n vivid green All these years It
has been n source OF congratulatlon To
Mr.. Head that Wood, or Steore did not
nsk for more than $3.50, Tor hc could
have got IL for the asking.
"A man cnmo into my Office six or
seven years ago. said Mr.. liend Nester-
day, land SAID his name was Wood and
that he was the superintendent OF one ol
the Supcrior iron mines. While talking
Inc sat ON the edge 81 the chair, whirlcd
his hat in his hands and looked uncom-
Portable, Sort OF out oil place aud he
knew IT,
"Hc was bronzed 10y exposure TO the
elements-in fact, looked just what be
reprcsentcd himself Co be. Wood, or
whatever hIs name is said that lac had
come TO see N. Il. Fairbank about nm
iron mine he had discovered, but TINT
Fairbanks was not in town. lie tnlked
ensilv and with that quiet confidence a
mnn has when lac knows the details OF his
scheme. Near Marquette WIS n section
al land owned by two brothers and a
sister who lived NJ Worcester, Mass.
There was timber on IL and II Ind been
nrospccted for mineral iutilcly. On thie
tract was a lake Of about five live acres
which dried up in the summer.
wood said that he had always been
convinced that there was ore ON theland
and had looked for il. That summer hC
had been prospecting on the bed OF tho
lake and had found u big spot there
where theron cropped ont OF thcground
lie was afraid that the people woule
witch him. so he worked at night unit
he had sunk Il prospect hole ten icetdeop
lie uruduced samples Oi the ore and ie
sults az assays, which were quite rich.
DWood never appeared eager ~ IN
chat lie irnnkly said that IL might onl,
Le q hugh bowlder which was DRIFT liz
had no means OF telling The PROPOSE
tim he offered was fair and money wa
mot mentioned lie asked whether, pro
Vided Fairbanks and ] went into tn
denl after We had gotten back an.
money we might put in, we were willin
Ia give him third interest ~ the pror
er,v lie said that the eastern owner
know nothing about the mineral AM
Tint the tract could he bought Tor abou
81 an acre. IL was sale investment, 10
The timber was easily worth that. The
Wood left.
81 'phoncd J.C Morse, president 81 th
Illinoig Steel company" said Mr.. llent
and asked il he knew Wood and whethe
hIs word about mineral lands and mine
was worth much. Morse said good n
gold there wasn't n better-posted ma
and more honest one IN the Superb
district.
the difficulty in keeping the water out {
fho mines. The lake meant pumping
lie said that ~ Drainage ditch woul
settle thnt. Would authorize him
90 east and close the dcal2 II cverythir
nroyed all right the owners could sen
the deed ON 10 national bank and su
render it on payment on payment
$4,000. IL might take q couple OF hui
dred Go give color TINT We meant bus
ness. | said yes, for 5000 was merely
flyer. and II there was no iron there wa
the timber.
about n week nftcrward had lett
from Wood, written from MassachuSctl
The spelling was lame and the Wflth
mat what you'd expect from that sort
n man. He had seen a brother ana
sister: everything was all right Ih'
nuother letter came saying the deal ".
about closed that perhaps he mig
...iLn mo lnl. nlnnnN md To- MIrc % VIII