The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-02
COSTLY HACKENSACK GOLD.
IT VAS IN BRICKS VALUED At 3d.
o IN JERSEY CITY.

gers by Its Resolution In Guarding IT.
why Ono American Believes tho Gold
Brick business stlIi Thrives IereRbout.
"Somo months ago" said a New Yorker, the
police OF this city captured a gang Of gold brick
operators In u Jersey City hotel. These mon had
about twenty gold bricks in their rooms, and
were nl ready to palm them off on q foreigner,
who had boon lured TO this country by plausi-
bic letters, written in the regular sawdust
fashion. Tho arrest of tho swindlors revealed a
state OF affairs that was enough to take ones
breath away. 1t showed that their operations
extended all over the civilized world, and that
by ono russo and another they had in
duced more than 100 persons to como
from Europe to New York, and had then scnt
them away loaded with the bricks. The most
successful rusc, 1t afterward developed. was TO
write TO tho heir Of some estate that his bene-
factor had at one tlmc invested a lot of money
in American gold mines, and that these mines
were beginning to pay, and that it would BIO adj
visable for tho heir to como to this country to
look after his interests. This invariably brought
o victim on. and after that the swindlc was easy.
After this sensational capture the police of
New York announced that the gold-brick swindle
was dead. At various times since then l have
road interviews with police officials in which
this assertion was repeated. Now, 1t may be so.
but l should like to give a little experience Of
mine TO show that 1t is not.
"A month ago l was called to London hur-
riedly. l took a German steamer from Hotokcn.
Going over on the ferry from this city l noticed
n young man-an Englishman and n stranger, I
was sure. He attracted my attention because
Of the Jealous way in which he guarded a small
valise which he carried on his lap. lie never
took his hands Off it for a moment. and his eyes
shifted constantly from one end of the cabin to
the other. 1t was easy to see that ho had some
thing of value in the valise and that ho was
very much afraid that somebody might find
1t out. 1 don't remember to have ever
seen a man so nervous before. Well, i
got Off the ferryboat, walked to the pier and
got on the steamer. l forgot all about the young
Englishman for the time being, but l was dcs-
tined to know more Of him before long. i had
just got the things in my stateroom in order
when somebody entered the stateroom across
tho hall and shut the door with a bang. My
door was open and l looked up. The man in the
other stateroom opened his door a bit and peekod
out. ! got one glance at his face. He was the
young EnSlishman. He saw that he had been
caught in the act Of spying at me and again
slammed his door shut. heard the key turn in
the lock, the bolt slide, and tho chain go up. /
was a little surprised and very curious, but it
was none OF my business, so l got out my pipe
and went up on deck.
MY subsequent experiences with the young
man were many. He didn't come in to meals ut
all, and the steward told me that he never al.
lowed him to come inside of his room. He or
dered what he wanted, and the steward passed
it in through the door. which was never opened
further than the chain would allow. l couldn't
make up my mind whether the man was sick or
crazy, but l felt that it was my duty to find out.
So on the morning of the third day out / went to
his door and knocked. He opened ii on the chain
and demanded to know what l wanted. His APP
pearance SO startled me that l couldn't answer
for n moment l don't think l ever saw a man
SO haggard and worn. His eyes were sunken
and there were great circles under them. His
skin was drawn and pale. and his lips were yell
low. He was in his shirt sleeves. and although
he tried to hide it. / saw that he had a revolver
~ thought you might be ill., said, when
had recovered enough to speak. Can l do any
".Nothing but let me alone was tho ungra-
cious reply. and he slammed the door in my face;
kicked myself for bothering with the fellow.
That evening The though sc the the, s, t." ard knocked at at
found the Englishman in front of his door.
81 want to apologize for my rudenG,ss to-day
not slept n wink since we left port; You will
forgive me, I am sure and he shut the door be-
fore l could say whether l did or not.
"Of course, such a state Of affairs could not
90 on very long without somebody knowing OF
II. spoke 10 scNcfal people ABOUT my strange
n~eighbor, and. OF course: the steward talked.
The result was that n little mystery was got up
around the man, and one night the men In the
smoking room didn't do much else but talk
about it,. A couple of young, fellows who had
drunk a bit too much declared that they would
break up the Englishman's solitude, and started
down stairs TO do it. Remembering the rcvol-
Yer, l warned them not TO. They went just the
me afterward how the Englishmnn had chased
them up the hall with his revolver. Several
others who undertook to strike an acquaintance
with the man Wprp rahntfpn and finally npnnlp
"When We got to Southampton everybody
with his satchel held tightly under his arm, went
aboard the tender, and. when we reached, the
was waiting, Jumped into Il iirst-class coach.
throwing n coin to the porter, and ordering him
not to LOT anybody else in. IthreW my belong;
cigar. felt curiosity about the English,
had pulled the shade OF his COACH down,
and there was no sign Of life from pm
coach l heard a hiss and, turning around, saw
that he had opened his door and was reckoning
to m asted | M wsn 4 Oyer WoS anG to a PiSe T 10 Ionds SnrP wiiS
him. | would have refused, but my, curiosity
was strong and / was anxious to see what would
develop during the two-hour trip.
well, for n half an hour he beat around tho
bush. asking me II the passengers on the steamer
manding to know what / thought OF his conduct.
whcreuDOn he turned ana SAID.
".I'm not crazy, but In this bag is n fortune,
and i would guard 1t with my life. | was willing
to be alone on the steamer. but here | want com
pany. It's safer. l asked you in for two reasons.
In the first place, your face is honest; IN the sec
ond, | have two revolvcrs and would kill you in
an instant If | found | had been mistaken
HE stopped here and seemed to be having n
struggle with himself. Then he hauled out IA
revolver, laid il ut tho, seat beside him. and,
tossing the satchcl and u key over to me, said:
"'Open the bag and take, out what you find.
l am going to trust you with my secret
~ picked up the bag, and It seemed to weigh
forty pounds or more. WAS crazy with curioS-
ity, and my fingers trcmblcd as | put the key in
the lock. A moment later the bag was opened,
and from inside / took out two packages dono
up In cotton batting and II small box. Until |
opened the package not u suspicion of the truth
dawned Oh me. But when | saw two shiny vol.
low bricks ana found the box full OF nlings !
saw the whole thing, in "A second. ] would have
laughed outright. but the situation was too
serious. The young mans eyes ycIro popping
out of his head; his fingers strokcd The revolver
In a way ] did not like. felt then that i would
not like TO be the man who told this young fol-
luw tho truth.
"'Wcll, what do you thlnkf he asked.
"'Thcrc isn't anything 10 say, l answered.
Your caution IL TO he commended.