Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1896-03-11
TIL JONES CASE.
WAS MELT "a FIXED TO COVER
THE BOGUS MELT?
A Shortage in 1893 Outside of
the Eodie Bullion.

the Mint trial, Tom Corners was
placed on the stand. He gave a de-
scription OF the workings of the Re
fnery while he was foreman under
Jones. Likens was recalled and
also described the workings Of the
room where gold was refined. Andrew
Mason the Z. S. Inspector then took
the stand and gave a technical de-
s~cription of the methods of refining
gold. His testimony did not differ
materially from what he gave at 'ht
Heney trial. He said among other
things hat tie bullion vault ga
splendid opportunities for a mar to 90
in and do about as he pleased ammo
Tested.
Recess until l 80.
AFTER RECEss
Inspector Mason continued to tes-
tifv regarding the workings of the
refinery. In seventeen years witness
had turned over mOle o than he
was charged With. Although he had
a surllus Of about $500 900 which he
turned over to the Government. UI-
der such circumstances he as Meter
& Refiner could have appropriated
that amount and still not have beea
called on to make good. as it was
within the legal limit of waste al
lowed, The Meter & Refner has 20
right to take any Of this gold. but i
required to turn I'VE all that he can.
Witness explained from the map the
workings Of the refinery.
Witness produced some chemical
apparatus and made some expert
ments for the jury, showing the per-
cipitation of silver in nitrate Of silver
by the addition Of table salt. w
would not expect to find 4 000
ounces in the slum t&' in Nv"
ordinary operations OF e Mint.
Witness was asked if the mtlts sent to
the refinery in '95 v'"n spurious.
WoOdburn objected, and HID that t.
EXPERT testimony must be founded on
facts and he was not competent to
answer that question "a he had never
sen the melts. The objection was
Overrulnd. Witness replied that either
the gold Improperly disappeared on
the way to the refinery or was not in
the bar sent IN.
The shortage was from bullion
turned ovar TO Jones by his prede-
cessOr. Between Dec. 3rd 81 and Jan.
5 "a. 10 1872 ounces went to the refn-
erv and only 1925 came back, a loss
of over l.50O ounces The loss ought
not 70 have been over so n which
wOuId he recovered in the slums.
Snch a loss c0uIi only be accounted
for by the improper disappearance of
the metal
The spurious melt ought to have
contained gold 4S2 fine. but in reality
it only contained 193 fine. a loss of
about $4,000. Was ordered by the
investigate the shortage. Have no
personal or political interest in the
matter whatever, except to do my
duty. Witness described how he had
cleaned the fines, the tanks and root
and found only a trifling amount.
Had always been ready to clear the
defendant if he could find anyone else
guilty. Took charge of the gold in
the vault and assayed it until he
found the spurious melt. Witness
then gave the jury a detailed account
Of his search after the facts in the
case. The books showed that he was
scraping in every direction as July
approached to get ready for the set
Element. The witness could swear
positively that there was a deficiency
of 1000 ounces or about $4,000. A
large part occurred in 1898 and June
'94, prior to the time Mr.. Harris be-
came Meter & Refiner.
The operation Of making the spur
ious bar could only have been
done bv the Meter and Refiner or
: his assistant. If the Meter left it to
, his assistant then he was the one who
did the work. Other melts beside the
Bodie melt were bogus. Was not able
, to trace them as the leaves of the
hook had been torn out.
: The book showed a shortage indie
pendent of the bogus bar.
MELT NO. IA.
Witness had traced melt number IA
This is the melt the prosecution
claims was used to cover up the max
ing of the bogus melt.
The records purport to show tina
, settlement melt No. IA of 1898 wa,
first assayed June IA, '94 and after
wards melted On June "a.