The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-05-03
He Rolled High.

the wilderness that had grown up about her since the boom"
 He Rolled High.
 l Harding established so much oonh- dence in fact, that he was able to fur nlsh his rooms in the finest style. buy the finest vehicles and horses, give his wife handsome jewelry and never pay a cent for any of it.
 People at Fort Payne. looking at NIr. Hardings sojourn retrospectiveIy, can point out a great many things that he did that were called mysterious. For instance, he would never engage in con versation with anyone except on business. 1 He never told any one where he was 1 from, nor did he ever say anything ot l his previous life. He was full of busi- ness all the time. He was never known l to be the least bit rufTled. His move ments were as dignifed and devoid ot haste as though he was an automaton. Citizens of the town, talking about him now. don't remember ever to have seen him going to his meals without a little grip in hand. This grip was his constant companion No person here ever saw what was inside of 1t. and there is much speculation now as to Its probable con- tents. One man says he believes 1t was a revolver. another that it was private pa pers, and still another that 1t was money and so the speculation goes. but the truth will probably never be known.
 A Conjecture.
 A few level-headed men here in town believe that Harding was a member ot a gang, and that he both received ana sent out money to his associates. One man says that Harding used to go down to the station in the evening sometimes and meet two or three men who would come on the train from the north, and talk with them there at the station for an hour or so until another train came along on which they could return.
 Harding never showed his handwriting When he went to the station to write tel egrams he would invariably ask the agent to write 1t. Nobody knows how a page of his manuscript would look.
 Never Had Picture Taken.
 He never had his picture taken. and it has been impossible to procure one since his disappearance. gentleman who lives here once pointed a small kodak at him just for fun and Harding covered his face with his hands just as the but ton was pressed saying he was too ugly to have his picture taken. The man now has his picture with his hands covering his face.
 He worked numerous schemes to get money, all of which seemed perfectly legitimate at the time Each one of his schemes and the way he handled them showed his thorough mastery of tie de- tails of every business proposition.
 An Example.
 One money-making scheme he worked was this. He bought the stock of the old bankrupt Fort Payne bank for forty cents on the dollar, which is more than it was worth. For this he used certifi- cates of deposit in his bank dated three and six months ahead. Part of this bankrupt stock included the Fort Payne flour mills. He began to ship in wheat from the north. and soon had the mills running night and day turning out flour. The people who shipped the wheat sent drafts on the mills to Hardings bank for collection. and he immediately sent back the information that the drafts were col- lected and that his bank held the funds and to draw on 1t at any time. In this way he held the funds as long as possi- ble. and paid for a car of wheat only when he thought he had to. He sold all