The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-11-25


= mail delivery daily at Millers office
lnted to about three wagon loads
and most of the letters contained money.
Miller had faculty Of displaying a
large amount of his wealth, and the
offices on Floyd street We're piled high
with greenbacks of all denominations
and heaps of gold This seemed to lend
confidence to those who came with their
subscriptions, and it is impossible to
even estimate where ''the endless chain
would have ended. The principal of the
| endless chain as developed by Miller.
depended upon the fact that his old Gus
toners brought him additional members
and were allowed a commission Of per
cent. upon all moneys thus invested.
Those who were drawing this income of
> per cent. became walking advertise
ments for the Franklin Syndicate.
For weeks before the bursting Of this
bubble which in rate of dividends and
income guaranteed, far surpassed the
widest dreams of the South Sea Bubble
the United States Postal Department
had its trained investigators at work
to try to catch Miller and his associates
but in vain.
LIKE A MONTE CARLO DREAM.
Rev. DR. Merideth of Brooklyn, a for
mer pastor of Miller's complained to the
Brooklyn police that the man was ruin
ing half of the young men Of his con-
gregation. The police official to whom
DIR. Merdeth complained is said to have
told the reporters investigating Miller
and his operations: If You can catch
Miller you will be the smOotheSt men in
this town. ii never saw anything like
it. ] have investigated the complaint
made by Miner's former pastor for Mil
Ter had been expelled from the church
to which he belonged, and ] find that his
statement that half of the young men
and half of the young women in the con-
gregation are in the Franklin Syndicate
is true But not one can ! find who as
willing to make a complaint against the
man of his method Would you make
a complaint yourself if you were getting
the 10 per cent week for Miller GER
tainly pays it out every week according
to the promise contained in his contract"
The 10 per cent week, or $40 per
cent a year as guaranteed by Miller, did
not begin i'm reality to represent the OBJ
legations incurred by the head of tA-e
Franklin syndicate The rate of $40
per cent year is on a basis of simple
clerical work But nine-tenths of his
patrons affected by the money making
fever were in the habit of turning around
and reinvesting the 10 per cent interest
or in, other words, pyramGding their
gains. This swelled their operation
from simple interest to real compound
/ interest. One of Miller's patrons who
invested $190, immediately turned around
ana reinvested the 10 per cent allowed
fim at the end of the first week, max
ing balance of $110 to his credit The
next week he received interest on both
principal and interest, thus giving him a
balance to his credit of $121. At the
end of % weeks, or a little less than six
months. ne found himself with a credit
in the Franklin Syndicate OF $1,0zJ.
All of this from the original investment
of 500.
One of Miller's trusted employees is
responsibel for the statement that the
Franklin Syndicate man had taken i'll
over $4,UOO.000 1T is known that when
the banks shut down on him yesterday
and refused to accept his deposits any
longer, that he withdrew $150,000 in
the Wells Fargo Bank 1t is asserted
tonight that Miller deposited 100000
With the German Consul.
Miller who is a very young man.
short. slight, and insignificant in ap-
pearance, possesses two positive charac-
tcrtistics, his personal magnetism and his
frozen calmness.
Inasmuch as Miller absolutely refused
to carry accounts of more than $1,000
this customer was compelled to reinvest
in the names of other members OF His
family. At the time of Miller's arrest
he said that he had over $1,000 in the
syndicate, all from the original S100 in
vestment. This policy of re-investing in
the name of other members of the
family was carried on to a large extent
among the poorer classes in Brooklyn.
Miller claims to make his abnormal
profits through speculation in Wall
Street, though no evidence is forthcom-
ing up TO the present time to show that
he ever speculated in stocks to any ex-
tent. His clerks and employees from
time to time threw out vague hints of
inside information which Miller, they al
legged, possessed.
On Tuesday of this week, just before
charges of libel were preferred against
Miller he is said to have taken in SSG,
600 and paid out $31 600. The confden-
tial representative of ONE of the banks
who visited Miller's office about this time
sand that he never saw so much money
scattered around loose III his life. He
said it reminded ONE of tales of Monte
Cristo and Monte Carlo combined, but
that as an absolute fact Miller did not
have facilities for taking care of all the
gold and greenbacks wnIch poured in UP
on him and empty barrels Were brought
up from the basement in the building IN
which he operated and thousands and
tens Of thousands of dollars were dump
ed into these barrels by the employees and
clerks employed by Miller in his estab-
liShment
To show the confidence the people
about Brooklyn had in Mr.. Miller and
his syndicate tonight even after Mil
Ter had been denounced in the most
unmeasured terms, a crowd of probably
1000 people were gathered about the
building about s O'Clock. The doors
of the office had been closed at six
o'clock but business was resumed a few
minutes before eight. The would-be
dcnositors were formed in line by the
police. reaching down the high stoop and
fully one hundred and fifty feet into
the street Business was carried on for
thirty minutes During that time fiEy