The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-08-20

I realized this fully. / asked Zwart
for such information as he could give.
I first became convinced that whole
sale fraud was being committed he
replied, when, several years ago,
Robert Lindsay offered to sell me all
the patents to $40 acres each wanted
at SO apiece. ! bought none of them.
but have kept half an eye on matters
since. Recently Mrs. Salisbury of Iron
ton told me that she had been hired
by Robert Lindsay in the writing of
deeds in his Office in that CITY. As
nearly as 1 can learn Lindsay has six
or seven clerks employed in making out
deeds in his Irontou office, and / am
convinced that these deeds are not
straight"
A survey OF the situation showed me
that when Grant I'm 1869 appointed
Louis he made Carroll K. Peck chief
clerk. The relationship between Lind
say and Peck was unusual in that
Lindsay's second wife was Lindsay's
daughter, Peck, therefore being James
Lindsay's brother-in-law and son-in-
law and Robert Lindsay's brother-in-
law.
Tracing the careers of these men. I
found that in 1877 President Grant. not
only made his friend James Lindsay
registrar of the Ironton land office, but
made Carroll r. Peck receiver at the
same office. This arrangement lasted
two years.
AT the time went to Ironton 1 found
Carroll r. Peck installed as postmaster
and his brOther-in-laW. another son of
James Lindsay, a mail clerk on the
Iron Mountain railroad. This was a
combination, l feared, that would rem
der ii impossible for me to send re-
ports out of IrontOn in the usual way
and / Immediately arranged To forward
reports from another point. Suisse
~ - H..
ters We're frequently tempered with
and lost.
Robert l.. Lindsay maintained three
ofhces-one in Olive street. St. Louis
another in Market street in the same
city, and one at ITOntOn. At the latter
office he had in his employ seven or
eight persons. most of whom, 1 learned
rom cautious inquiry. were employed
steadily in making out deeds to lands
in the district. / could find no evidence
TO show that these employees had any
thing like complete conception of the
character of the work in which they
were engaged The four that did most
or this work were George Iopez. De
Burns Casteel1 Harvey Miller and Mrs.
Salisbury The latter was a widow and
had evidently CLEANED enough to con-
vince her that all was not right al
though she did not know just what the
wrong consisted in nor the extent Of
the fraud 70 which she had been an
innocent party. Casteel and Miller
We're afterward of considerable service
TO the government.
II viii be recalled that the grist Of
deeds being ground out at the Lindsay
mill in Ironton were based on patents
issued by the government many years
before and never claimed. S could not
understand, therefore, how such a game
could successfully be played With deeds
that showed their recent Manufacture
on their face. A casual examination
of instruments obtained by me showed
them 10 bear the appearance of proper
age More careful examination, how
ever showed them to lack some of the
unmistakable characteristics impressed
on such papers ky age.
J, 1t became apparent. both from exam
nation and investigation. that the
Lindsay deeds had been treated with
coffee. This treatment, many years
ago, was one of the improved methods
used by counterfeiters and forgers
when they wished 10 impart to spuri-
Gus documents the yellowness and other
indications of age. 1t consisted merely
in subiecting the paper to be aged to a
bath in coffee water of the proper
strength. In the hands of an expert
enced person the effect desired could be
obtained SO accurately that more than
a superficial examination was required