The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1904-10-01
ASKS ARREST
OF {. v. CARYL
j. w. Slade Claims He Is One
of the, Many Victims of a
Cooperative Colony Plan
SCIENCE Is THE BAIT
Protector of Scheme Says
That He Is Able to Draw
Electricity From the Air

Electricity From the Air
]. W. Slade, 444 Jones street, who
claims to be a victim of a proposition
to build a town near Denver on the
cooperative principle, called upon
Captain Martin yesterday and asked
for the arrest of Charles w. Caryl, the
originator of the scheme, on charge
of obtaining money by false pretenses.
Slade was referred to Bond and War
rant Clerk Fitzpatrick, but as Slade
hesitated to put up the funds to bring
Caryl back from Los Angeles and for
other reasons the warrant was not
issued
According to Slade, Caryl had a
large following in this city and in
duced many persons to part with their
coin. He was not a smooth talker, but
on the contrary seemed a man with
many ideas which he found difficulty
in expressing. His strong point was
his pretended knowledge of an agency
which he designated as "vril' or cleo
tricity extracted from the air.
OCleHllSIS, OdTyI SdlU, ndQ ulSCONCIGQ
a method of Harvesting the vagrant
electricity without the use Of expensive
machinery and wonders could be
worked with 1t. He held the secret,
but was under solemn pledge that the
discovery. was to be made use of only
for the benefit of mankind and that
capitalists generally might not profit
by it. In his cooperative colony mills
would be operated, the land plowed
crops harvested and ali things done by
the power of 'vril." The "vril' and its
wonder-working powers recall forcibly
to mind Bulwer-Lytton's book, THE
Coming Race" wherein a similar force
is used by strange people having its
habitat in the hollow center of the
earth.
MANY ATTRACTED.
The theory was attractive and many
took shares of stock in the scheme.
Slade says he is out of pocket to the
extent of $1,000 and there are many
more, including attorneys, dentists and
mechanics and a host of women, whose
contributions amounted to over $4,000.
One woman had lived on 10 cents day
for years, thereby saving $1,000, which
she put into the scheme.
Caryl came here from Denver in
May, 1903, and gave lectures in Golden
Gate Hall. S1ade says that Caryl is q
man of strong psychic power and
soon won over his hearers. His propo-'
stion was to build town on the CO.
operative plan on land that he owned
near Denver, which he claimed was
worth about 1000. A company named
the Vril Industrial System was formed
and Slade was made president Of the
executive committee.
At Caryls suggestion E. r. Rock
wood and D. B. Hall were sent at his
expense to Denver to examine into the
value of the land, and they returned
and reported that the valuation placed
on 1t by Caryl was correct. Each mem
Der was to get promissOry notes pay
able in three years from lockwood,
who was made a sort of trustee, Caryl
giving lockwood a mortgage on the
property. There were mortgages al
ready on the land to the value of $4,000
and it was agreed that these mort
cages would be paid off by subscrip-
tons from the members. In this way
$1,000 was paid off, leaving $4,000 still
unliquidated.
LEAVES THE CITY.
Caryl went to Los Angeles in No
vember, and .rumors were started that
everything was not right. Slade wrote
to Caryl, who has an office at 407 West
Twelfth street, saying that the mem
bers were beginning to suspect that
they had been deluded. He received
reply that they were not deluded but
"obsessed." That was all the salts
faction Slade could get.
Slade says he went to the ST. Louis
exposition, and on his way back he
stopped off at Denver and asked the
opinion of eight different real estate
men as to the value of the land owned
by Caryl, and the answer was about
the same in each instance, namely.
that $500 would be a fair price, or
$1,000 less than the original mortgages.
Slade declares that Caryl worked
similar scheme in Denver about eight
years ago with some old mining claims
and that the widow of the manu-
facturer of pink pills for pale people
dropped over 100000 in the scheme.
On that occasion the company was
named the New Era Union
One of the chief reasons for not issu-
ing the warrant was the fact that the
promissory notes given by lockwood
will not be due till January l. 1907, and
Caryl could put I'D a defense that they
would be met at maturity.