The sun., 1897-05-25
iron, and some pulverized charcoal. These were
turned oyar IN tho no,,, ,,,taafno

watched their interests closely. Brice was prob
ably not aware that his record was being looked
into. 1t was ascertainod that he had been an
enlisted man in tho army in the 7Os. and had
been discharged on account OF wounds received
In the service. Tho local police records showed
that Edward g. Brico had been appointed
member Of tho police forco on July 10, 1884;
that charges of improper conduct had been
mado against him In 1887, and that before these
camo to q hearing he resigned.
Walter Hewitt, well.to-do Washington mer-
chant, well known In baseball circles, who
backed tho Washington Club somo years ago,
had known Bricc, and furnished tho Treasury
officials with some Information about him. Ho
said thnt Brice had got him to spend $4,000 in
a scheme for tho manufacture of patent brick.
About three years ago Brice broached his trans
mutation scheme to Hewitt, and they had a
number Of experiments conducted, with results
Confirmatory OF Brices Statements Can't. Cocke
became Interested in the gold and silver manu-.
featuring process about the Same time. Hewitt
was was ' suspicion I 'S on Hewitt's part that Brico
sss rss be vito gfws Il rs
promoter of alchemical secrets. told him that
her husband had been taking gold leaf used for
was three years ago, when the Brices were liy-
ing on Sixth street, between NJ and n. South
west, near the steamboat wharves.
Secret Service men were also detailed to look
to what has already been told. A prominent firm
men whose names were frequently in the news;
papers IN the camGaign Of lsss. lTnd Furnished he
] asked % them iS, to advance capital in his al.
legged discovery, but they were not Satisfied
that by his process It was possible to make II
the right to the use of his process in the District
of Columbia and Maryland. These incrednlops mere %ps
gentlemen were not so consistent as they might
have been. for. after saving that they put no
stock in the claims made by Brice. they warned
the Treasury Department TINT they w2pid man
The supplies purchased for the experiment ,r By
6eaS pure HEiss nas Tho
test of gold and
silver in the so.called chemically pure anti
mony." Other samples Wero produced from n, dif.
While seeking for pure antimony," says the the
offer OF Mr.. Brice, that he should supervise and
direct a trial Of his process upon ant1mony
nG 10 e sbond cond%et sH 0 Of
same antimony, for a comparison of results
from his own assay methods with those from his
fed one-half assay ton Of antimony lone assay
ton equals 29.l6 grams) with one.half assay
ton OF lead, showed the antimony to contain
.o6s ounces Of gold and .317 ounces OF silver per
Mr.. Brice now subjected five ounces of this
aptmony to his creative process. His yield,
after treatment, showed gold os4 ounces per
ton OF antimony, and $40 ounces Of silver per
Your committee followed up the work by
making assay of the same metal, following
R and o Or
0e comparison anp % Of this result viii show that Mr
and 26.4O per cent. OF the silver actually pros
ent in the materials. used. BY his creative
ent in the materials"
1t was Judged BY the commission that they
were not likely to obtain decisive results as
long as they worked on materials containing
apprcciablo Quantities Of silver and gold. Com.
mninute mi ute Quantities Of those metals found by
assay with those obtained aslo BY , the creative
G in
amounts obtained were at best very minute. and
ct times 50 minute, indeed that only the most
indicated any weight, although this instru-
mSpt is ssnsitTs ii ooo to the 2'o part OF
Of those unfamiliar with the limits of accuracy
In assaying. the members of the commission de-
from gold and silver They found all available
samples Of metallic antimony, according to the
and spe
task OF preparing antimony which, upon assay.
nSs y OF
taine. recommended by Gmelin, obtained sub
stance entirely free from gold and silver. Chem
ically pure lead was also obtained By experiment.
The Commissioners took two assay tons Of
their special prepared antimony and carried it
hs
tive no trace of gold or silver being visible.
The. tests convinced the commission that 1t
gold and silver. but it was decided to invite the
claimant and his friends to witness. and he to
clincd by Brice when he learned that the result
of the experiments of the commission had been
entirely negative. Ae insisted however, on the
DDS. neither of which had been subjected up to
that time. Brice said that the new methods
OF the commission made two experiments. In
tho first from two and a half assay tons Of anti
they obtained n minute bead OF metal. weigh.
ing $4,000 or q mtlogram or l-lOO0 OF Q
grain. This bead was treated with nitric @ acid
ond experiment was equally valualess to Brice's
process In the opinion of the commission.
The report OF the commission gives in detail
all the experiment, 1t conducted. and sums up as
follows; 49,, ,..,,.,
extended over some three weeks. and have In
volved an amount of painstaking labor which we
hope has not been entirely wasted. we have seen
not the slightest evidence OF any creation or
transmutation. On tho contrary. the claimant
failed in every instance to recover the entire
in the materials. The claimant seems to have
devised n variety of irrational and wasteful
methods for recovering q portion OF the silver
and gold known to metallurgists as being present
in many commercial metals. such as antimony
and lead"
Naturally. Brce is not satisfied with the result
of the Commissioners work. He has not seen
the report yet, but he knows 1t Is unfavorable to
him flo claims that as the supplies for conduct
ing the experiments were purchased from tho
best dealers in the country, and regarded as
chemically pure, the gold obtained was created
by his process. Brice also claims that he IL pro-
ducing gold and silver on a commercial scale at
the works in Chicago and that he is making It
pay. He says he has produced thousands OF dol
lars and that ho has invested $25, 900.
A letter from w. ii. Singleton, Brice's attor-
ney, was received at the Treasury Department
to-day. He requested to see the report. but no
final action was taken. and he says he will enter
protest against the findings of tho commission
II they are unfavorable.
CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY THEFTS.