The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-08-31
BIG MINE ROBB|Nc DEAL.
The Amount Involved Said to Be
100000.
TWO MEN UNDER ARREST
Assayer Mayer OF Butte and Fred Boyd
OF Philipsburg Accused of Sys-
tematically Stealing From
the Bimetallic.

The biggest mine robbing deal of local
record has been unearthed, and in con-
nection with it, two well-known citi-
Eens, one of Butte and another of Phil
ipsburg, are under arrest. 1t is said the
amount involved in the robbery is in
the neighborhood of 100000, though
what the real amount is is not definite
ly known. The victim of the robbery is
the Bimetallic company of Philips
burg, and the property stolen consists
of concentrates, amalgam and bullion
The stolen product is supposed to have
all been brought to Butte and refined
at an assayers shop in Park street.
On Saturday last, Max Mayer, the
well-known assayer, doing business in
West Park street, was arrested by De-
Fective Murphy and taken before Jus
Sice Harrington on a charge of receiv-
ing stolen property, knowing it to have
been stolen. He was at once released
upon furnishing 81, 900 bond. AS pub
licaticn of the arrest would have
warned another party to the case, whom
the officers desired to catch, at their re-
quest the matter was kept quiet. Tues
day evening Detective Murphy got his
man, and yesterday the whole story
came out. The second party arrested
is John Boyd, a brother of the mayor
of Philipsburg.
For some fourteen months past the
officers have suspected that Assayer
Mayer was receiving shipments of
crude metal, which was believed to
have been stolen, and during all that
Hime efforts have been made to run the
case down, but the most diligent efforts
of the officers resulted in nothing till
few days ago. 1t had always been sup
posed that the metal was coming from
the Anaconda shelters, until a definite
clew was obtained as to the party who
was bringing it in. 1t was not long
then till the mystery was cleared up.
The superstition that 1t was the Ana
conda smelters that were being robbed
arose from the fact that the metal al
ways came to Anaconda and from there
no Butte. Last Saturday morning De-
tective Murphy. who has had the case
in charge, was notified that a shipment
had been brought in the night before
During the day he called on Assayer
Mayer and found him melting down
lot of bullion. Detective Murphy placed
Mayer under arrest and took charge OF
about $4,000 worth of the metal
Mayer professed to have purchased
the metal innocently. and gave the
name of Fred Boyle as the person from
whom he bought it. This, together with
another phase of the case, led to the
detection of Boyd, and disclosed the
real victims.
Some months ago a shipment of metal
was en- route to Butte 1t was being
brought by wagon by one of the con-
Spirators who is said to have since died.
He went back and reported that he was
held up near Rocker and never reached
Butte withEthe plumber. Still another
of the gang, for 1t appears there were
several implicated, took no stock in the
Z alleged hold-up, and demanded $500 as
his share of the proceeds. The ones
/, he accused refused to give up, and he
I'm ade so much fuss about it that the
matter reached the ears of the officers
of the Binetallic company.
{ Boyd was employed as Waterman at
xthe Bimetallic works and it appears
Hthat the party talked so much that his
Fname reached the officers of the COM
Z pany as being connected with the mat
ter. He was called up, but protested
his innocence, and his employers gave
II him a lay-off for few days to see if
II he could find out anything, for at this
time the officers did not know the COM
pany was being Systematically robbed,
though they suspected a leakage, and
having confidence in Boyd. decided to
give him a chance to clear himself and
ascertain who was doing the work-if
the company was being robbed. Boyd
spent some days ostensibly working on
& the case and at length reported that he
could get no evidence of a steal going
& on, and went back to work.
Notwithstanding Boyd's report the
' company still had reason to suspect its
metal values were disappearing, and
when Mayer was arrested and it be-
came pretty certain the metal did not
come from the Anaconda smelters, the
conviction grew that it must come