The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-12-01
HE MULTIPLIED WEALTH
A New Y rk Man Offered $50 Per Cent
AGAR for Money. >

New York, November 3O-Willam F.
Miller, head of the Franklin syndicate,
which had accepted the deposits of thous-
ands of persons in Brooklyn under promise
of paying dividends of 10 per cent. a week.
or 500 per cent. year, and Cecil Leslie, his
secretary, were indicted by the Kings coun-
ty grand jury today.
Bench warrants were issued for the ar
rest of these two men. but up to late hour
tonight neither had been found, the police
saying that they had disappeared in the af-
ternoon of the 24th. Tonight the police
raided the premises occupied by the Frank
lin syndicate on Floyd street. There was a
great crowd of people around the building
and the police surrounded it. Inspector
Brennan arrested Louis Miller, brother of
the head of the syndicate, and the cashier
of the concern, and took possession of $l5-
600 in cash.
There were forty employees engaged at
work in the iffices, and these were allowed
to go. 1t was said by Louis Miller to The
police that the offices were then in the
hands of ex4Sheriff Daily, of Richmond,
to whom, he said, the concern had as
signed.
4ne charge upon which Miller was indicted
was that of conspirlng to defraud. The
district attorneys office in Brooklyn has
been at work on the case for some weeks,
so prominent have become Miler's opera
lions in that time.
Miller had been engaged for the past two
years or so in Offering his inducements to
the people to invest their money for him
to make use of, but it has been only with
in the last month That by extensive ad-
vertising in one way or another he has
managed to attract to his Office hundreds of
people daily, who gathered in a long line
or fought with each other for the oppor-
tunity to hand out their savings.
Even when the place was raided tonight
by the police, a number of those around
the Offices were waiting to deposit money
with the Franklin syndicate
When the police entered the office they
were informed that at Clock tonight the
concern had made an assignment in the
borough of Manhattan to James Daily, ex-
sheriff of Richmond. Chief of Detectives
Reynolds said that the police were the as
signees now. and put Daily off the premises.
OF the $4,000 taken possession of by the
police, something more than $1,000 in cash
was found in the syndicate Offices. From
the record which the police had made of
today's deposits it was evident that por-
ton of the money had been removed from
the Offices, and Louis Miller, the cashier,
who was arrested, was called upon to make
an explanation
He at first refused. but on being threat
ened by the police, said that Miss Annie
Cory, an eInploye OF the concern who lived
in a house adjoining the office, had been
given the possession of a large sum of
money in the morning by the head of the
firm The police went to the adjoining
house, where they placed Miss Cory under
arrest, and after an extended search they
found nearly $1,000 concealed in an old
lounge in her apartments.
The woman then declared that she had
this money in her possession for the pur-
pose of paying the employees of the syndi-
cate. The police, however took possession
of the money and gave Miss Cory her lib
erty.
William F. Miller began the Franklin syn
dictate in a very small way, locating his Of
fees among the poorer classes in the Dor
ough of Brooklyn and making one feature
of his business the acceptance of very small
sums of money and the alleged investment
of them for the poor people.
He said that by inside tips on the stock