The San Francisco call., 1898-12-11

inventor would call next day, and the inventor departed.
 No sooner had he gone than the dealer rushed to his testing-room and put his newly acquired sapphires tc every possible test. What could it all How could he suspect a fraud when the seller had parted with them for less than a tenth of their value? No, his fortune was made.
 A few days later he visited the labor atory of his scientific visitor and had some genuine sapphires manufactured while he waited That clinched the matter. Thirty hours after he signed a deed of partnership with the scien- tist, paid over the sum of $40,000 in hard cash as first inStallment of the $250,000 which was the price of half the secret, and returned home to dream of mountains of money and sapphires as large as continents.
 Next morning the scientist left his abode with $40,0OO on his person, smil- ing grimly as he looked for the last time round his ostentatious laboratory, chuckling at the thought of how he had set a Sprat to catch a whale, that is, $100 worth of genuine sapphires for $40, ,000. And at Calais, where he set out for new worlds to conquer he met two other scientific gentlemen who had been working similar schemes simultaneous ly upon two other diamond merchants.
 The idea of manufacturing genuine precious stones and metals at cost which admits of profit being made is a notion offering such boundleSS for tunes to any one who could invent the process that even the most wary busi- ness men have been defrauded by per sons who have claimed ability to work the wonder. Probably the majority of 1I, l.,1< he fr1 connection with either the making of gold from some mineral or minerals, or of extracting gold in paying quantities from sources where it exists in the most minute quantitieS-fOr example, the oceans. But one of the most auda- cious and at the same time successful of such SwindleS was perpetrated in Austria few years since.
 A self-styled scientist stated that he had discovered a process by which an admixture of silver and copper could be turned into two-thirds its weight of the pureSt gold that could be diScov- cred, and as the process was remark ably inexpensive, and the admixture was two and a half of copper to one and a half of silver, the scheme smacked of fortunes parallel only to national debts. The marvellous scheme was put before some of the wealthiest dealers in precious stones and metals, who were previously bound under a penalty not to disclose any of the secrets of the process. This was mere fantasy, for there was no process and, consequently, it had no secrets but the detail served as dust in the eyes of the future victims
 Demonstrations of certain portions o1 the process were made privately before each Of the gentlemen who had beer generously invited to become rich by the scheme. and so cleverly were thest demonstrations made that the pseudo scientist had but little difficulty in per suading eight men of wealth to form secret and select syndicate to work hi, process With a view to improving hi inventions the scientist occupied il making further experiments all tn, time which was necessary for him t, get in his victims investments, ant then he proved how money making hi scheme was by eloping with nearly $50. poo and skipping to country where h. could enjoy in peace and seclusion tn fame and honor his wonderful discover,