Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-03-29
MILLIONS IN GOLD
IN MUD BARRELS,
CLAIMS COUCH
New Hampshire Man Says Dis
coyery Will Give Him Un-
told Wealth.

Untold wealth is his il the gold eX-
tracing process said to have been dis
covered by Charles Albert Couch, d
prospector of Lebanon, n. H., works
the way he says it will. In a dlngy
cellar at : New Jersey Railroad avenue
are nineteen barrels filled with what
looks suspiciously like mud, but con-
tanning, according to Couch, millions
Of dollars worth of gold.
Cotcl, is said to have made his first
discovery in Lebanon, y. H., some
time ago, and the news of the dlscoV-
cry of gold in that State led to a min
iature Klondike rush. Country people
from all New Hampshire and neigh
boring States rushed to the new Ell
dorado and it was quickly decided to
ship the gold-bearing mud away to
this city.
Last Wednesday Chief Corbitt's tele-
phone buzzed and a voice said; This
is c. Albert Couch, at the Hotel AL
bert, New York. l want my head
quarters detective, Bobby" Chief Cor
bitt turned the phone over to Sergeant
Connell, his secretary, and Couch told
him that he was the only real Million
aire III the world, and that, though he
at that time had but 20 cents in real
money, yet he had Rockefeller and
Morgan hanging on and crying tor
help.
Sergeants Mcconnell n Harris, o.
the chiefs office, made an investigation
and uncovered as pretty a mining
plant as one would wish to see. Couch
-. IA IT. NJ, "a aaYz.fanf ant,1n no ninT1
a former prize fighter named kid
Hughes, to whom it is said he pays S20
a lay-some days.
Couch hired a lot of boys to go out
ana buy jars of jelly, which he would
empty of their contents and fill with
this collaborating mud, each of which,
SO he alleged, was worth hundreds OF
dollars. Still, Couch is not a stingy
man, and if you visit him he is likely
to give you a jar or so. Besides the
prize fighter, Hughes, Couch has two
men constantly on guard, watching
over the precious barrels and tables
laden with specimens, each of which
he knows by name. one he calls the
Trinity, another has a like name, and.
his guardians say, if mi of them js
moved from its place on the table dur
ing the night Couch knows it in a min
ute and insists that they be left alone
Jars containing acids with which
Couch e this wealthy mud, line the
walls of the room where the precious
ore is stored. In the ear is a washer
such as is used in Western mining
camps to wash gold. 1t is a shock to
see how COUGHS attendants handle the
wealth Of Midas. One will take a
spoonful and with a careless motioR
throw it in the air. Couch doesn't seem
to care, they say, because, as he says,
he has lots of it.
In a smaller room. used as an office,
are tables bearing specimens and in
struments for the detection of even
minute portions of gold. Everything
has been done by Couch that mining
men have ever done, and if he a find
gold, the makers of gold-finding instru-
mepts will lose a good customer. Couch
is said to be backed by Ernest TONNES,
of Springfield, Mass TONNES admitted
to the detectives that he had put $1,000
in the scheme. He said that he had
known Couch for years, and that he had
been in many schemes with him, all of
which had panned out well, 1t seems,
however, that TONNES is becoming more
or less suspicious and the presence of a
Springfield lawyer in the city leads the
police to believe that something nay
happen hat will bring Couch into the
courts.
According to his own story, as told
to Robert f. Kellett and Charles Duer-
Ter, his two headquarters men," as he
Tn lie thaua CoI1nh has hn1 an intprpSt-
ing career. AS a prospector he is said
to be known throughout the West and
Northwest and he admits himself hav-
ing taken part in one of the famous
duels Of the last half century. This
%sanguinary combat took place in West
Virginia, and his opponent was a man
named Bob Anderson. Though shot
through the head, Couch, according to
the legend, succeeded in putting his
opponent off this terrestrial sphere. So
famous did the fight become, that,
Couch say local West Virginia his
torians have devoted a special chap
ter to it in their histories. j..
Couch himself was not present in the
office today, but was there last night
and promised to be In Newark early to-
day. Up to noon, however, he had not
put in an appearance, His "headquar-
tiers men, however, were on guard
and said that they expected Couch any
minute.
There is no doubt that the "ore'
comes from Lebanon, n. H., as the ex-
press tags are still IN the barrels
They are addressed to Charles A
Couch, care of Balbach Smelling and
Refining Company, of this city. One
of the guards stated today that the
"ore' had been submitted to Balbacf
and that It had been declared worth
less.