The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-02-17

| WHOSe waters cOulu De ulliiHcu IOA ~
draulio washing, the future develop
lment of the district was almost beyond
the power of man to compute. His as
isertlons were supported by such men as
William c. Ralston, Thomas Bell, Mil
ton S. Latham, Albert Gansl, General
David D. Cotton, William r. Babcock,
Thomas Fl, Selby, Louis Sloss, William
M. Lent, Maurice Dore, A. Harpendng,
General Dodge and S. L. M. Barlow and
George 3. Mcclellan, of New York, all
Of whom were directly interested in the
San Francisco and New York Mining
and Commercial company, which had
been incorporated to develop the dia-
mond fields, and all of whom had sin
cere faith in the discovery. Fifteen
thousand shares of stock were issued, at
a par value of forty dollars, and in less
than twenty-four hours all had been
subscribed for, and people were crying
for more. Ralston accepted the office of
| treasurer on the condition that all the
stock should remain in his hands until
the presence Of the precious stones
should be verified by the highest author
ity, and this fact saved many of San
| Francisco's first citizens from hopeless
ruin. Clarence King was called upon
to make a searching examination Of the
| field, and simultaneously J. f. Berry. a
well-known mining expert and operator
| of San Francisco undertook personal
| inspection of the ground on his own ac
count. Berry, who was somewhat of a
connoisseur In gems, at once pronounced
the diamonds to be gems from the Cape
of Good Hope, with a few Rio Janeiro
| clones nd inc off ri oil NC
port, offered a few days later, confirmed
the growing apprehension that the
whole scheme was a swindle, perpetra-
ted by Arnold and Slack, the alleged
original discoveries, who had all this
time kept quietly and wisely in the
background. The swindlers fled to parts
| unknown.
Afterward j. B. Cooper of San Fran
cisco, made a full confession Of the
whole swindle, duplicating himself,
Slack and Arnold. and relating the man
ner in which Rubery, Roberts, ,Harpen-
| ding and General Dodge had been VIC
timzed, Arnold, acting for the trio,
had bought fifty pounds of spinelle ru-
bies, garnets, sapphires and other stones
from the Indians at Fort Defiance, Ari-
IONA, and, with forty-one thousand dol
lars worth Of rough diamonds and 9TH
err precious stones previously purchased
in London, had carefully selected the
Colorado field with view to it's favora-
BILE geological conditions, and spent sew
eral days in sailing the tract after
most plausible and scientific plan.
Then they decoyed Louis Janln Mr..
Harpendng and General Dodge to the
fields, artfully demonstrated the pres
ence of the gems. surveyed the ground,
elected General Dodge recorder of the
Golcorda district and the most pictur-
esque swindle of the century was artis-
tically launched.
Foremost in the ranks of the worlds
swindlers probably stands Alfred Pa
raj. a native of Alsace, handsome, pol
ished, well educated, noted for his keen
intelligence and ready wit, as well as
his manly qualities. He was remarka-
bly, proficient in chemistry, taking a gen.
uine delight in the study in his youth,
and following his early education with
series of chemical experiments in his
own laboratory. After he left school he
Sc out upon his travels, and, having eX-
hausted the funds allowed him by his
father in profiigate expenditure, he
found himself stranded in Glasgow.
This incident may be said to have
launched the clever young fellow upon
the career he afterward pursued to his
eventual disgrace and downfall. He
engaged the most elegant suite of rooms
in the most fashionable hotel, visited a
firm of wealthy manufacturers and an
nounced himself as the discoverer of a
new and cheap dye for calico printing.
Plunging into the laboratory of the es-
tablishment, the brilliant young fellow
actually succeeded in supporting his as
sertions and was rewarded with four
thousand pounds in gold for the right to
the use of his new coloring process.
This sum was soon dissipated in new ex-
travagances, and, again reduced to sore
straits, he compounded a new color and
sold the secret of the dye to his uncle a
rich manufacturer in Paris, for fifty
thousand francs
Paraf, still a large shareholder, next
came to San Francisco to dispose of the
right to manufacture oleomargarine in
this state, and to superintend the erec-
ton of works. During his absence the
old company in New York collapsed and
a new one was founded from which Pa
raj was excluded. Paraf then disap- |
peared from San Francisco where his |
career had been marked by the same |
lavish style of living, and was next |
heard from in Santiago, Chilli He was |
accompanied by his pretended servant, |
Francisco Rogel, who afterward turned |
out to be a skilled chemist, and aided [
and abetted by this clever accomplish he |
launched upon the unsuspecting Chill |
ians the most fragrant swindle known In |
history. Presenting himself to the high
est officials and social leaders of the
South American republic, ingratiating
himself with them by means of his ac-
manners and brilliant intel
lect, he confded to them the wonderful
that he was the discoverer
of process by which the dreams of the
ancient alchemists could be realized, |
and the base metals be transmitted into
gold. A series Of experiments, which
Paraf knew so well how to conduct, per-
suaded them of the truth of his claims, |
and they zealously embarked upon the
great enterprise. Smelling works were
built and preliminary experiments re-
suited in a yield of eighteen thousand
dollars worth of gold from a single ton