The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-28
FAKE LETTERS ON cUBAS WAR
A CHICAGO PRESS CONCERN SEEMS
TO HAVE BEEN HUMBUGGED.

The Mystery Surrounding the As
sauIt on Frank Anderfcr at Gaines-
willie Seems 20 BE UnrnveIIinE It.
seIf-Anderfer's Alleged ASsailnnt
Not Discovered Tet-HIs own Brain
the Source From which lie Faxed
His Cuban Stories.
Gainesville Fla. June 27.-As stated in
a special dispatch to the Morning News
of this morning. four pistol shots. fired in
rapid succession in the direction OF the
depot at 10 o'clock last night drew a large
crowd toward that place, and on the va
cant lot near the Park house Frank An
derfer was found lying in the road in an
unconscious condition. In his right hand
he held revolver. tightly grasped. four
chambers of which had been discharged.
No signs of a wound could be found any
where on Anderfer, and IL was thought
he had been sandbagged.
Anderfer. as stated last night, is the
man who has been receiving the letters
from Maj. Ham in Cuba. and a great
many claim that these letters are at the
bottom OF the affair. IL is stated by An
derfer's friends that he has been shad-
owed by unknown parties for the past two
or three weeks, and they believe that
these parties are agents of the Spanish
government.
Every four or FIVE days Anderfer has
received "A letter purporting to have come
from the insursent camp and always tell
ing of insurgent successes. Several papers
in the large cities have used the letters
and the Chicago Associated Press has been
a regular customer 1t was apparent that
the letters were fakes. Although they did
not come through the postOfilce, about
every five days Anderfer would announce
the receipt Of a letter from Mai. T. p.
Ham, who was alleged to be an. officer in
Gomez army, operating in the interior
of Cuba.
Tonight Anderfer regained conscious
ness and told in substance the following
story: He left his boarding house about
$50 o'clock, saying he was going to get
letter from Cuba. lie says he had Sc
cured this letter and was returning home
across a vacant lot when negro and a
white man came suddenly up behind. The
negro grabbed him by his coat collar and
placing his knee against his back, jerked
him down, and was in the act of cutting
his throat but the white man stopped him,
saying he could do the work without
leaving any signs and at the same time
scratched him across the hand with some
small instrument. leaving a slight scratch
following this with a blow upon the head
with a sand bag He claims that when
assaulted he had in his possess
sion letter from parties in
Cuba containing important news When
found he had no such letter, and says
that the only object of his assailants was
to secure the letter. Doctors say there Is
no doubt that the man was assaulted, but
the question is where had Anderfer been
at that hour and in that neighborhood TO
get letter. No one can answer and
H. Ill.
are fake.
The afternoon Ledger of this date sums
up the case. editorially, as follows: 1T |
now begins to appear to the heretics that |
the Major Ham letters, alleged to have |
been written from CuDa TO one II. f. |
Anderfer of this city, constitute a very |
ingenius fake, devised by Anderfer. either |
for advertising himself or for making |
money out of the newspapers. |
How these letters manage to l
escape Saanish espionage, If |
they are authentic, and reach their |
destination here promptly and with great |
regularity in five days after they are |
dated is as mysterious as the conduct
of Anderfer when he was found here
Tuesday night, lying unconscious in a |
vacant lot and grasping a revolver from
which four shots had just been fired
The curious would like 10 see one of the |
original letters, which are alleged to have
the postmark and have it explained why
the letters are not received through the
Gainesville postoffice."
Warrants were issued for Anderfer and
three of his companions tonight, chars-
ing them with robbing the safe in the
depot here a few nights ago, but the men
were discharged for lack of evidence.
The supposiuon is that Anderfer fixed
up the assault story and played being in
a trance in order to make the gulibie
Chicago Associated Press continue to de-
pend on him for its Cuban news, which
was done to order at Gainesville, hun
dreds of miles from the seat of war But
his scheme failed miserably and resulted
in exposing the fake which he has been
working on the Chicago concern.
Anderfer came here about seven months
ago with a party of tramps and never
seemed to have any funds till the Cuban
revolution began and the Chicago Asso-
ciated Press began TO contribute to his
support by purchasing its Cuban news
from him. The city editor of a Gaines
VILE paper aided Anderfer in disposing of
the letters, and this editor told the Flor
ida agent of the Southern Associated
Press some weeks ago that the Cuban ley
ters were fakes, but that the Chicago
Associated Press wanted them, and so
they were prepared.