New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-07-31

sions and the money of Mr.. Jernegan IN d ioCaI
bank that he's been attached gives '"' ~
pany about $4,000
THE GOLD FROM SEAwATEE SCHEME
THE REV MR.. JERNEGAN SAID HEAVENLY
VISION REVEALED IT-How OTHERS HAVE
TRIED TO PRODUCE GOLD.
=, was sage Wall Street mar who. when
asked how he managed TO make money remarheo,
"Don't Won know my dear sir, that there Is a fool
horn every minute?" The history OF schemes Tor
creating wealth out OF nothing, on paper anu III
ducing credulous persons to take STOCK IN e"'ei
prises which are upon radically wrong sSleh'lnc
principle has been the same In all ages OF the
world The fotation of shares in enterprises TOT
which great financial claims are made has peef
conducted upon the same lines from the days OF
John Law and the Mississippi Bubble In the carry
part of the eighteenth century, to those OF Ernest
Terah Hooley. in these latter days OF the h'hT-
tenth century.
Bu, of all forms Of human credulity. none has.
oerbaps exercised a wider influence or one more
far-reaching than that pertaining 10 the production
of gold No passion has seized more strongly
upon the race than gold-seeking Besides search
Ing for II in mines. there have been innumeraole
laboratory experiments for the transmutation OF
base metals into gold. The alchemists OF the
Middle Ages many OF whom believed for a time
that they had discovered the great secret have not
been without their modern imitators The most
recent expermenter in this direction was a MI
Brioe of Chicago, who claimed 10 have trans
muted anthony into GOLD, and sought 10 get
patent for his process. The matter was referred
bv the head OF the Patent Office 10 the Treasury
Department. and three of the most expert men IN
the various assay Office Of the Government IN
ouired into his method. They were unable to ind
for a fact that any gold had been created. but
they did find that the little gold which IS always
nresent I'm anthony ores had been extracted by an
extensive process that would not produce results
commensurate to the cost.
The experiments of DR. Emmens. at his labora-
tory on Staten Island. where he says he has trans
muted silver into gold by his "argentaurum
process. have been fully detailed In The Tribune
He stlll continues send samples Of gold TO the
Assay Office. In Wal-st Put ne largest produc,
from the Electrolytic Salts Company whose WORKS,
where it was alleged soId was secured from s sea
pended in consequence Of the unexplained de-
parture of the general manager me Kev prescoof f
money invested in Government bonds
AN ALLEGED REVELATION FROM HEAVEN.
Mr.. Jernegan. who is a graduate Of Brown Uni
versity and of the Newton Theological Seminary
was the pastor few years of the First Baptist
Church at Middetown. Conn. His health broke
down In his ministry. for which he received no
regular salary as ne believed the Lord would pro-
vide for him. and he went TO Florida. While re-
hurning from the South he asserts. a heavenly
vision 70 him. revealing a secret process for
early familiarity with the his father was
a whaling captain and amassed a fortune from his
trips. The son believed he would get new fortune
from the deep. The first man interested by him
In the enterprise Of the leading men in
his church. a JeweIer. VINO knew something III
practical way of gold
The scientific fact of the presence of trace OF
gold in sea water has been known for a number Of
years. DR.. Henry Wurtz. of this city. made many
experiments few years ago and has shown by
published articles that the presence OF precious
metals in the could only be ascertained by
the most careful and delicate tests and that all
efforts secure the precipitation Of them had been
futile. The commonly accepted proportion OF the
gold in water has been vd.ue Of four cents to
ton of But the recent experiments Of DR..
John r. Don. OF OtaGo. NewZealand. who has
gone into the subject more thoroughly than any
other chemist shows that the proportion is consid
erably less. not more than three-fourths OF cent
to ton
The Rev Mr. Jernegan did not claim to secure
an amount IN excess o. what Dr. Don says the
laboratory tests show. After interesting num-
Der of persons In his scheme. upon the plausible
presentation of certain experiments along Long
Island Sound. he formed company. and esta6-
lished ii factory the shores Ol PasSdmaquOddy
Bay. where the tides rise higher than anywhere
else In this country. The plan followed was 10
nse deph of twenty feet in addition to- its normal
level. and allow the salt water to pass over the
troytc action upon il by which IT was asserted
the gold deposited on thin plates or
metal suspended in the water. called "accumu-
lators"
PLATES WITH CRYSTALS OF GOLD.
These plates. with adherent crystals OF gold.
were produced by the promoter and he had small
brick of gold sent every week TO the Boston office
Of the company. and quantities at varying periods
sent for assay TO the Assay Office in this city.
The scheme by which company was formed and
a large amount OF stock sold. of the proceeds of
which the proportion OF Is per cent went into the
hands Of the Rev. Mr.. Jernegan himself. has al
ready been told in The Tribune. So plausible were
his professions that besides the large sales Of stock
10 small investors in the cities where the directors
Of the company lived. and other parts OF New
England a number Of wealthy men in Springfield
secured a concession from the original company
and formed a second one 10 operate on the same
system. The assertion was made by the promoter
that cubic mile Of water contains S@Oo"j
In gold ard that all the oceans of The world would
produce not less than 75GO0CDOO0 of the prec-
ious metal What the effect upon the finances Of
the world would be e this entire product was real
zed was no. SCI lorSh IN paospeereS oI n6er the
title Of six Thousand Tons OF Cod" has how;
proportion of this amount put into circulation
The story tells how the discovery Of fabulous
nous supplies to a business man He invested
largely and soon found that he was dsorganizng
the only Of the country, but
also Of the world. Perceiving the peril Of adding
with praiseworthy heroism ne carried the great
bulk OF his possessions out to sea, and sank them
irrecoyerably.
There will DC need OF heroic measures with
the gold from sea water by the Jernegan process.
lis pockets have been filed from confding stock
holders. instead o. from an addition 70 the gold
OF the receipts abroad. Under the peculiar terms
of the Arrangement he made with his company. It is
doubtful whether he be forced 20 refund IT, in
deed he can be brought back from abroad.
A scientific authority said yesterday IN regard to
this matter: THE plausible claims of the pro-
rnoter Of this enterprise ike those OF all
projectors OF similar schemes. a secret process
was depended upon for the production Of the
q he he