Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-03

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.xsNAH Eem zzz zeHm 1Mh-AcAH -
ing the employ of the firm under investiga-
ton had been the copying of letters
Where is the Office of Burt & Miller?' l
asked
I'm an upstairs room at 9Th and Chestnut
streets" he said
What was the general nature OF the let
tiers you copied?'
They were mostly letters about the sale
of surveyors land scrip
with whom was this correspondence car
ried on?''
with hundreds of people in the west
do you know both Burt and Miller?
mo, l know only Miller. who hired me
two weeks ago. l never saw Burt that L
know of"
Where Is Miller now?"
Il don't know. He left town few days
ago saying he would return in about
week. and for me to hold any mail that
came for the firm"
Where did he say he was going?'
Into the country; he didn't say to what
point"
Has the firm any employees besides you?"
NO: I'm the whole office force. Miller
does the more important business himself"
Have you handled any of the scrip the
firm sold?
mo. they do that themselves"
With Greenslade. who, believed, had told
the truth. as far as he had gone. at least,
I went TO the office of Burt & Miller. the
headquarters of which / had sought for
two days. AS place of business 1t was a
sorry looking affair. 1t contained an old
table and two chairs. On the table was a
considerable quantity of the firms letter
heads. naming Burt as lawyer and his
partner as a government surveyor. Rum
maging through drawers l found letters
from various points In the west and north
west-which had been orders for surveyors
scrip and certificates of deposit on United
States subtreasuries amounting to $3S, 800
These orders were of comparatively recent
date. and according to Greenslade's belief
had been filled. l calculated that IL orders
to this large total had been received in so
short a time the aggregate of money in
volved in the firms operat tons since 1t be-
gan was larger than | first had estimated
Greenslade was taken back to the federal
building and kept in acknowledgements in an
office, on the theory that he might have
more information than he had vouchsa fed
papers taken from the Burt & Miller office
and from this examination arrived at this
conclusion: That the firm was the business
alias of a group of men who had been SELL
ing counterfeit or forged scrip Of three
United States subtreasuries-those at New
Orleans, La; Santa Fe, n. NJ, and Wash
ington, d. c.
Miller had decamped, probably on the
strength of informa ton from Sioux Falls
and his whereabouts were a mystery. Burt
was not known, and never had been seen by
any one working with the government
held the view almost from the first that
these two characters were purely fictitious
and invented to screen the personalities OF
the real conspirators, whoever they might
be- To their identity there was one prom
lslns lead-the forwarding order given by
Miller at the express office. The address
given. 1t will be recalled. was John D.
Cameron, Sioux Falls, Dakota" From At
torney Winsor of that city we had learned
that John ID. Cameron was an attorney and
a N hrn Env ir, bat ito
cradle prominence In the community. /,
was scarcely reasonable to suppose that
Miller. In st. Louis, would order packages
containing currency in large amounts for
Warded TO any man with whom he was not
on the most confidential terms both per
sonally and in business way With the
facts so far related in my possession 7 went
before federal Judge and swore out a war
tait IL. LOT me arrest or Cameron, and this
warrant was sent by Attorney Bliss to DEN
uty United States Marshal Weed of the pa
kota district to serve. The swindle seemad
10 be or magnitude to justify stringent
aCtion on the part of the federal authori-
ties also, and general order was issued
from the land office to the effect that M
scrip would be received by the government.
IN payment for lands pending the Outcome
OF the investiga ton
Among the letters confiscatad 9, 81.
on the Burt & Miller office were fva -,
| considered significant Three or tban,
were addressed to the firm by John d can.
- ,lUh ana TWO or them by William D. Rus
sell OF fankton. Oak. All five of the Let
ters were written in such a vein az q
correspondent would assume in writing n
the nfm on business. They mentioned pros-
pectiFe deals in scrip, but not In such a
way as to indicate that the writers Irara
other than outsiders having no connactior
with the hrm except the desire to make
money by the sale of the scriD William, n
HuSseh up to this time had not been heard
of In connection with the conspiracy ana
Z, letters No
dlcate that he had any guilty KNOWLEDGE n,
the true character of the business Roth
his letters and Camerons contained in
qulries concerning the scrip and II was init
mated that the answers were 10 he sboHr
TO clients of the writer's who were contem.
plating investment.
BY this time the evidence Of Cameron
completely was considered sufficiently stropo
by Attorney Bliss to Justify the arrest ot
The Sioux Falls man on the warrant thai
mad been sworn out previously and in.
formation TO that effect was forwarded II
Deputy Weed who took Cameron into cuc
tody. Three days later Deputy Weed mad,
another arrest in Sioux Falls which proved
one OF the most valuable from the eovern.
ment side in the entire case-that of Pau
A. Habervoold. a Norwegian who had beer
acting as a collector and real estate agent
In Sioux Falls In small way. During tn,
early part of April, the time when tho
operations OF the Burt & Miller syndicat
were most extensive Naberyoold had heer
this intimacy led to his arrest. He wa:
taken TO st. Louis. The questioning tc
which he was subjected threw a stronl
light on several heretofore obscure point:
in the conspiracy.
Where did you first meet John d
Cameron he was asked.
Did you hear Cameron or Russell men
ton the name OF anyone else In connection
with the scheme they were working on?''
During the day, while we were in Cam
eron's office. he dropped the remark thai
Carpenter would be there that night. ant
il cdentally said that Carpenter was In tn,
scheme"
Who is Carpenter"
HE is a friend of Cameron and Russell
and lives at Beloit. Iowa. He has been II
Sioux Falls often and / have met him."
Did you ever talk with him about ths
scheme?"
He asked me once to go to different
towns he named and offer the scrip for sale
but / did not pay much attention to the
suggestion and did not CO.
William ID. Russell was lawyer and rea
estate dealer living in Yankton- His stand