Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1899-11-25
A FINANCIAL BUBBLE
The Notorious Franklin Syndicate
of Brooklyn In the Clutches
of the Law.
Methods Of the Concern Cause a
Sensation When Exposed by
the Police.
Took in Barrels Of Money, Promis-
ing Fabulous Interest The
Promoter Missing.

New York, Nov. 25.-William F. Mill
Ter, head Of the Franklin Syndicate,
which accepted the deposits of thou
sands OF persons in Brooklyn under
promise of paying dividends of 10 per
cent week, or $50 per cent per annum,
and Cecil Leslie, his secretary, were in
dicted by the Kings county grand jury.
Bench warrants We're issued for the ar
rest of these two men, but up to late
hour last night neither had been found,
the police saying that they had disap-
peared in the afternoon. Last night the
police raided the premises occupied by
the Franklin Syndicate on Floyd street.
There was great crowd of people
around the building, and the police sur
rounded it. Inspector Brennan arrest
ed Louis Miller. brother of the head of
the syndicate and the cashier of the
concern, and took possession of $4,000
in cash. There Were forty employees en-
gagged at work in the Offices, and these
We're allowed to go. 1t was stated by
Louis Miller to the police that the Of
fees were then in the hands of ex-Sher-
if Daily, of Richmond, to whom, he
said. the concern had assigned.
The charge upon which Miller was in
dicted was that of conspiring to de-
fraud. The district attorneys office in
Brooklyn has been at work on the case
for some weeks, so prominent have be-
come Miller's operations in that time.
Chief of Detective Reynolds put Daily
off the premises. Daily had been in the
employ of Miller for some time past. OF
the $4,000 taken possession of by the
police, something more than $1,000 in
cash was found in the syndicate offices.
Louis Miller. the cashier. who WAS ar
rested, said that Miss Annie Cory, an
employe of the concern who lived in a
house adjoining the offices. 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 $4,000 con-
cealed in an old lounge In her apart
ments. The woman then declared that
she had this money in her possession
for the purpose of paying the employees
of the syndicate. The police. however.
took possession of the money and gave
MISS tIOry neT
1t is said that within the last week
Miller received deposits from hundreds
of people, aggregating daily in amount
from $4,000 TO $4,000. on Tuesday of
this week he is said to have taken in
$50, 900 and paid out $4,000. The conf
Dental Representative of the bank who
visited Miller's establishment about
this time. says he never saw so much
money scattered around loose in his
life. He said that as an absolute fact
Miller did not have facilities for taking
care of all the gold and greenbacks
which poured in upon him, and empty
barrels were brought up from the base
ment of the building in which he oper-
atcd and thousands and tens of thou
sands of dollars We're dumped into these
barrels by his employees.
one of Millers trusted employees is re-
sponsible for the statement that the
Franklin Syndicate man had taken in
over S4,0Go,o00 1t is known that when
the banks shut down on him yesterday
and refused TO accept his deposits any
longer that he Withdrew sl5000O from
the Wells Fargo Bank. 1t is asserted
that Miller deposited $1,000 with the
German consul.
Miller, who is a young man, short,
slight and insignificant in appearance,
possesses two positive characteristics.
his personal magnetism and his frozen
calmness. During the last two or three
days when his every movement had
been watched by detectives and report
ers, when crowd after crowd of eager
! depositors ilocked to his establishment.
despite newspaper exposures he never
| for a moment lost his quiet ways or be
anne rude. He spent few years with
| Heverin & Co. Wall street brokers, blu,
never achieved much of a financial
! reputation while there.
| SAYS HIS BUSINESS WAS LEGITI-
NATE.
His counsel, Col. Robert Ammon
| claims that Miller. in all of his methods
mas proceeded along lines strictly legit-
! innate.
| To show the confidence the people
| about Brooklyn had in Miller and his
| syndicate, even after Miller had been
| denounced in the most unmeasured
terms, a crowd of probably 1000 people
| gathered about the building at S
o'clock, the doors of which had been
closed at o'clock The business was
resumed few minutes before o'clock
| The wronged depositors We're formed
in line by the police reaching down
| the high stoop and fully $50 feet into
| the street. Business was carried on for
thirty minutes. During that time fifty
/ persons deposited money, and not one
| drew out. This showed the confidence
of the public in Mr.. Miller's racket al
though at that very moment the stock
was in the act of falling. Up to a late
hour last night Miller had not beer
found.