Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1905-12-08

means OF support. conceived the al.
Turing idea of soliciting funds for in
vestment. promising enormous inter.
est, and paying this interest out of the
principal intrusted to him.
From having his office "in his hat -
he took an upper room in a small
two-story house at LA Floyd street.
Brooklyn--a humble tenement, destin.
ed to be the scene of one Of the most
extraordinary exhibitions of mans
cupidity and foolishness in modern
times. At first he had tramped
around like peddler, delivering the
dividends himself and soliciting more,
but soon he hired boy. This was in
February, 1899. Business increased.
The golden flood began to appear in
an attenuated but constant rivulet.
ne hired four more employees and the
whole top floor of the house. The gold
en- rivulet became a steady stream.
from "panhandler" he rolled in
ready thousands. The future opened
into magnificent auriferous distances.
He began to call himself "The Frank
iyn Syndicate" and to advertise that
the way to wealth is as plain as the
road to the market" Then with a
mighty roar the torrent burst into a
deluge. The Floyd street quarters
were besieged by clamoring multi
tude lighting to see which of them
could give up his money first, and
there had to be special delivery for
Millers mail. He rented the whole
nouse and hired so clerks. You could
deposit your money almost anywhere,
from the parlor to the pantry, the
| clothes closet or the bath room. Fri.
| days the public stormed the house en-
masse since the money must be de-
| posted on that day to draw interest
for the following week. The crush
vas so enormous that the stoop broke
down.
Extensive Advertisina.
Mlllers advertising had become so
extensive that he had been forced to
! retain professional agent, one Ru-
colph Guenther. to supervise it, and
when the newspapers began to make
unpleasant comments, Guenther took
Miller to Ammon's office in the Ben.
nett building on Nassau street. Am.
mon accepted 800 from Miller, listen
cd to his account of the business.
since then the stock could be sold and
exchanged for the discriminating re-.
ceipts On November % Mil.
Ter packed $3O.5OO in a satchel and
went to Ammon's office.
billy. I think you'll have to make
a run for it, said Ammon "The best
thing for you is to go to Canada"
1t still remained to secure the mon
ey which Miller had deposited in the
banks, in such a way that the custom
ers could not get hold of it. Ammon
explained how that could easily be
done. The money should all be turned
over to him. and none of the creditors
would ever see it again. He did not
deem 1t necessary to suggest that nei-
Their would Miller. Accordingly the
two, the lawyer and the client, went
! to the office of Wells Fargo & COM
pany, Ammon obligingly carrying the
satchel containing $3O500. Here AM
mon deposited the contents to his own
account as well as a certificate of de-
post for 100000 and check for s1O,-
600. representing the balance of Mil
ler's loot. In addition to this he re-
ceived an order for $4,000 United
States government bonds, which were
on deposit with Wells, Fargo & com.
pany, and later through Miller's father
$4,000 in bonds of the New York Cen.
trail railroad and the United States
government. Thus Ammon secured
from his dupe the sum of $245, 500, the
enhanced market value of the securi-
ties bringing the amount up to $780,
500, besides whatever sums he had
been paid by Miller for legal services,
which could not have been Less than
$4,000 or $4,000.
The next day word came over the
telephone that Miller had been indict-
ed in Kings county for conspiracy to
Getraud, and Ammon stated that the
one thing for Miller to do was to go
away. Miller replied that he did not
want to go unless he could take his
wife and baby with him. but Ammon
assured him that ne would send them
to Canada later in the charge of his
own wife. Under this promise Miller
agreed to go, and Ammon further
promised to forward to Miller what
ever money he might need to retain
lawyers for him in Montreal. There
upon Miller exchanged hats with some
one in Ammon's Office and started for
Canada in the custody of the lawyers
representative.
How the willy colonel must have
chuckled as poor Miller trotted down
the stairs like a sheep leaving his
fleece behind him. A golden fleece in.
! deed. Did ever a lawyer have such
| d piece of luck?