Evening journal., 1897-04-06
DUpES LOST MILLIONS.
The Collapse of q Notable Firm
of Bankers and Brokers.
THERE ARE NO ASSETS IN SIGHT

lous Persons Invested Their savings In
Hope of Making Big Profits
New York, April 6.-The Herald this
morning has the following: The sheriff
is in possession Of the offices of the r.
S. Dean company, at 80 Broadway. The
men, who said they were bankers and
brokers, under that title could not be
found yesterday. nor could any assets
be discovered, although the amounts |
the concern obtained from small invest
ors by cunning advertisements are said /
TO aggregate millions of dollars.
There is revealed a most gigantic and |
farreaching combination of bankers !
and brokers or bucket shop operators
whose network covers almost the en-
tire country and which has reduced to
fine art the trick Of obtaining money
from small investors to be used in al
legged speculations. 1t was Deputy
Sheriff Henry Lepskey who yesterday
took possession of the e. S. Dean COM
pany upon an attachment obtained by
Theodore y. Thompson, who brought
action TO recover 81 .9O5.42 from the con-
Germ. He found little to seize
There were some articles of inferior
and literature Of a character TO invite
investors Yet the concern was incorpo-
rated under the laws of New Jersey
with a nominal capital Of S1,OOO,0O Of
which $4,000 was alleged to have been
paid in. What losses the cOnfiding
lambs" throughout the country viii
sustain are variously estimated, some
persons familiar with the receipts of the
Dean company placing them as high as
$1,000 OOO
Thus has eliminated one of the most
phenomenal demonstrations Of the guilt
bility of small capitalists within the last
decade. Working upon theories similar
to those which sent Ferdinand Ward
and his aiders and abetters to Sing
Sing. these men chose TO find their vic
Tins among persons who had but little
and apparently took their unfortunate
victims all
Thompson Not Found.
An attachment for 81 800 was grant
ed late Saturday AFTERNOON in favor of
Theodore b. Thompson, whose Identity
is not clear, after very careful search.
His name does not appear in the city
directory. and the deputy sheriff knows
nothing of him. His attachment was
obtained on assigned claims for money
deposited i'm the company last Septeri-
ber by Frederick f., Joseph w c. and
Emma i. Seavey. These persons are
also unknown. These facts gave rise to
query as TO whether the attachment
might not have been obtained at the
instigaton of the Dean people for the
purpose of winding up their operations
in a dramatic way. which would serve
as notice to all their clients that It
would be useless to make personal IN
vestigations.
Nothing was known Of this attach
ment until late Monday morning. when
a messenger from one of the big city
banks called at the Dean company's
Offices with two drafts which the COM
pany had sent To its victims in pay
ment Of so called dividends and which
were made payable at the company''
office When the messenger presented
his drafts he was confronted with q
deputy sheriff and the announcement
that the Il. S. Dean company was in th'
hands of the sheriff
The number of callers with drafts
which were dishonored multiplied, and
soon the officials Of the postoffice de-
partment appeared and inspected the
mail. But they, too. found that thu
firm" had disappeared and that thei
official action was unnecessary.
Investigations of the system and th
resources which the methods Of tn
closed concern developed brought L
light the most remarkable system Of OBJ
tanning money that has been in practic
i'm this city. even in the days Of the oil
green goods operators.
Means Ruin TO Many.
The manipulation of names and tn
combination of so called companies in
sort of network Of schemes are almos
of the nature of a romance. But the mil
lions which have been extracted by tn
manipulations of these men bring tn
romance into a concrete form which wi
result in the ruin Of many hundreds Z
unsuspecting investors.
Z. s. Dean. the nominal head OF IN
concern. is a woman and at one tim
IL is supposed employed in Smith
McNeilrs restaurant, near Washingto
market. When any inquiry was mao
at the office. 80 Broadway, for NJ
Dean. the statement was made that
was the most active partner and one
the largest stockholders. He" how
ever. was always out. =. S. Dean
now said to be in Rochester.
NIyron /. Bernard and Ed +. Fa
rand. a member of the New York Pro,
uce Exchange. are said to have bee
in close relations with the compan
Sam Kellar. at the offices Of the con
pany. is said TO be a stockholder, al
his present whereabouts are unknow
Tie is the head Of an apparently simili
concern in Lords Court building % al
o. William street. Kellar was former
broker in Sheffield, Ala. where
failed and never satisfied his creditors
lie has an Indianapolis office and r
Gently has been calling margins fro
tbo TndiararoEs branch Kellar seem
10 he the most active man in the De;
company's office and apparently exc
cised general supervision. His own G
ice was managed by Arthur Gosll
who was indicted last fall for opera
Ing IN mining stock known as "Bedfo
consolidated" J. r. Willard {
we're the complainants
The incorporation papers on file
the clerks office in Hudson county
7 show that the company was incc
narrated Tor Sl.00O0O0 with $4,000 pa