The sun., 1897-05-25
COLDER BASER METALS.
sToRY OF THE GOVERNMENTS Ex-
pERIMENTS IN THE BLACK ART.

PERInENTS IN THE BLACK ART
,..r.tnry Gnge sets Three Ausayers at Work 70
test a Process or Transmutinr Gold and
silver from the Bnso Metals That Mr..
ur,co says VIII Revoiutionise tho world.
WARRINGTON, May PA strange story in
,vhieb the black art of modimvallsm, applied by
r,ndcrn methods, and the threatened upsetting
=, nrescnt financial conditions are tho leading
features came out to-day through tho submis-
aim of an official report to the Secretary of tho
treasury by r. E. Preston, the Director Of the
Mint The report tells Of an investigation by
threc Government officials into q process for
n,oducine or creating silver and gold from the
hose metals, n secret that the nlchemists have
h.en trying to solve for centuries. Behind this
formal document, however, Is q tale that In
oredulity, wonder, and mysterious interest ap-
nronches Conan Doyles story Tho Doings OF
Raf,os Haw." DR.. Doyle's hero built palace
and vratified every whim with the gold he trans
Inuted from lead by his secret process. Tho
American Raffles Haw with whom this story
bns TO deal did not progress that far, but he has
sucocedcd in creating great deal OF excitement
among men OF high financial standing, mystify-
inc sciontiflc men, and causing uneasincss and
amazement In the Treasury Department
The man who has succeeded In attracting 80
much attention in q limited portion Of the scion
tifo and financial world is Edward c. Brice.
His present residence ia Chicago. Tho records
of the Patent Office show that on May 4, 1896.
he filed an application for patent for process
,or creating gold and silver. claiming that he
could produce these from base metals such as
lead. tin, and antimony. A patent was twice
refused ON tho ground that no practical applica-
tlon of the process had been shown, but Brice
continued to press his claim, and the Patent
of,cc officials promised to give him a chance to
show what could be done by his method. Tho
laboratory of the Patent Office was too
small. however, to conduct the experiments, and
last month the Secretary of tho Interior, under
whose jurisdiction the Patent Office comes
asked Secretary Gage for permission to mako
them in the moro complete and spacious labora-
tory of the Mint Bureau. When Mr.. Pres
ton. tho Director of the Mint, received the re-
quest of the Secretary Of the Interior, with
directions from Secretary Gage to have a thor
ouRh scientific test made Of the process, he did
not put any stock in Brice's claim. Alchemy,
sometimes called the black art, is looked on
askance by assayers of precious ores. as far as
1t concerns tho transmutation Of gold and sill
yer from base metals. but like Sir Humphry
Davy and other men of science. they are not
willing to say that this trahsmutation is i'm
possible.
Director Preston looked into the matter,
sounded Brice and on May 8 appointed q COM
mission of three of the best assayers in the Gov
ernment service to carry out Secretary Cages
Instructions. They are Andrew Mason, Super
intendent of the Assay Office in New York; D.
X. Tuttle melter and refner in the Philadel-
phis Mint, and Cabell Whitehead, assayer OF
the Mint Bureau in Washington. The commits
sion met at the Mint Bureau on May s, and
after making many experiments Of their own
devising, at Brice's suggestion submitted to
Director Preston last Saturday the report which
was handed to Mr.. Gage to-day.
While the experiments were taking place In
the Mint Bureau here the Treasury Department
began to make an inquiry about Brice and his
record. He spoke of himself very freely and
showed the greatest willingness to give all the
information needed, but his secret he kept tc
himself furnishing to the assayers only the
formula by which results might be obtained
Secretary Gage had heard Of Brice's alleged dis
covery some time prior to the investigation by
the assayers through Chicago man who stood
high in financial circles, and asked him to look
into the claim made by Brice that he was trans.
muting gold and silver from base metals on q
commercial basis.
Brice had succeeded in interesting several
men of financial standing in Chicago in his
scheme Some Of them must have put money
into it, and all were impressed with the state
ments and the frank manner in which he sought
to prove them. One Of these inanciers was ]. ].
Mitchell. President of the Illinois Trust and
Savings Company. He went to look at the plant
Brice had established in Chicago, and after see
Ing the secret formula applied and gold pro-
duced went away mystifed. He cou Id not be
leve that the enigma Of centuries had been
solved at last. and yet he was not willing to
think Brice fraud. Other men who looked
into the thing camo away with the same i'm
preston. According to the estimate of the
Chicago friend who made the inquiry for Mr..
Gage, the plant established by Brice cost about
5000, and while 1t was being operated on q
small scale the man who had set people Of good
common sense wondering claimed that he was
able to produce 81 800 in gold and silver from
lead every week. He also said that he had been
receiving weekly checks from a smelling COM
pany for the metal he had transmitted. MIR.
Cages friend did not know what to mako Of it,
and said 80 in his report to the Secretary.
II will say that these men have either gotten
something that Is invaluable to the Govern
ment-any Government, In factor they are rank
frauds" he wrote.
Several business men whom Mr.. Cages friend
Aho" "ero mucn lnttreSpeo, DuC Nc Qlu not 1nd1-
cate whether they had put money into the ven-
ture. They were men. he said. who would not
be easily deceived, and added "The whole
thing seems too wonderful for belief. and yet 1t
sets everybody who looks into it thinking" "
Another friend Of Mr.. Gage visited the plant
and saw the experiments. He is one of the
foremost fnanciers in the Windy City and Is
known by reputation all over the United States.
To him Brice said:
I'VE do not want capital; we make our capital
here What we need is Government protection,
either in the way of purchase or special legisla.
ton. Tho Government alone can intrust the
secret to experts. Our experts would go some-
where to remote place and make all the gold
they wanted as fast as We educated them"
This unselfsh idea of turning over such an
Gldorado to the Government was amplifed later
on Raffies Haw mado his gold as fast as he
needed 1t and spent 1t on himself and his friends
brice was willing to part with his great secret
Tor comparatively small consideration. He
could overthrow the financial systems of the
whole world; he could make and end wars; he
could cause q nation to be prosperous or he
could ruin 1t; he could do what he pleased; he
was the people. But Brice sought to do moth