Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-19
EXPERTS EXPOSE
SECRET PROCESS
SNARE LAID FOR J. A. Conner
REVEALS ALLEGED FRAUD
OBTAINING MONEY UNDER FALSE
PRETENsEs is CHARGED
Prominent Assayers Prepare Pulp
Containing No Gold, and Secret
Process Outfit Returns Assay
of $50 a Ton

u. A. Conner, one Of the most no
torious secret process men in this
part Of the world, who operates at
Santa Monica under the name OF the
Conner Refining company and VINO
formerly shared his dupes as the Big
Four Hylro- o-Metallurglcal company OF
the same place has at last been thor
oughly exposed in manner which ad-
mits of no possibility OF mistake says
the Los Angeles Mining Rev.ew.
The trap, which was laid for nm
with every care has been proved suf-
flcient to convict him of gross fraud
and Il now becomes the duty of the
district attorney to sift the evidence
which we present with this issue ana
ascertain If there be any law by which
an alleged metalliurgist or assayer may
be properly punished for obtaining
money under false pretences.
Either the evidence here presented
is unworthy of credence and those
whose names are appended to the al
fidavits have been guilty of paying, or
Conner has been guilty Of obtaining
money under false pretences.
Misleads Patrons
John Herman, a well known local
assayer, convinced that Conner was IN
dulging in unprofessional conduct and
misleading those who sought his ad-
vice, called 10 his aid three men.
namely, w. NJ. II. Woodward. Joseph
Hansen and r. J.. Strang. The lat
ter procured from #. W. Braun, the
local dealer in chemical supplies. a
specially prepared pulp composed az
chemicals entirely free from gold, to-
gether with n sample Of chrysocolla orc
from the Live Oak mine, ella county,
Ariz., contain ng approximately 20 per
cent copper and no gold, as attesfed
Iii
Element for 900 tons shipped TO smelt-
ers.
"The pulp prepared by the F. w.
Braun company was divided into five
equal parts by the employees of said
r. w. Braun and one portion of il
handed to Messrs. Strang, Woodward
and Hansen. The latter presented the
sample to Conner for his determina-
tion Of gold values and, upon payment
OF the sum of Sc demanded by Conner
We're given an alleged assay certificate
Durporting to prove that the pulp con-
tained gold to the extent Of S56 ton,
figuring gold at $20 an ounce.
Returns Unused Part
"The unused portion Of the sample
was returned by Conner to two of the
men mentioned above and has been
deposited by them with the Mining
Review. Determination by reputable
assayers shows that the sample has
not been 'salted' or tampered with
and fails to show the slightest trace Of
gold This proves conclusively that
the determ nation was issued by
Conner without any effort being first
made to arrive at true valuation and
in evident attempt to mlslead those
who paid him for his services. In the
case OF the chrysoColia ore. Conner also
purported TO find high gold values, and.
upon payment Of the fee demanded,
issued q certificate showing an al
legged value OF S41 a ton.
while there may, Of course, be a
lingering poss biiJv though lao prob
ability that the copper ore might con-
tain sold values unsettled for by th"
shelters, there can he 40 possibility of
mistake in the pulp prepared by T. W.
Braun, one of the leading assay sup
p!y firms in the world. The work of
the laws authorities has been made
as easy as possible, three Cf the sam
pies Of pulp having been placed un-
der seal.
Aubury Exposes Conner
Last January Conner was exposed
by L. L. AubuTy, the state mineIalo-
gist, I'm a letter showing that Conner
had extracted fees from poor in
mate of the Soldiers Home at Saw
telle by supplying him with alleged as
say certificates purporting TO show
high values in worthless rock. Sc al
Turing was the vista of wealth opened
up to the old soldier by these assays
that he believed lie had sufficient ore.
of a value OF 500 ton, to keep a 100
stamp mill busy for fifty years.
Sometime in March, Conner ap-
peared in Justice Selph's court in the
preliminary examination Of Fred W.
Nash, charged with fraud IN connec-
tion With the operations OF the Cold
Bullfrog Mining company, and at that
time identified alleged assay certificates
Durportng to show that lie had found
fabulous values in rock which had
been proved absolutely worthless by
all reputable assayers. Al that time
he was asked 10 give some details of
his process to the justice, but declined
upon the plea that it had not yet been
patented and that he feared he would
lose the benefits of a work Of rese1 1rch