New-York tribune., 1911-12-23
GET YEAR IN JAIL EACH
Burr Brothers, F. H. TObey and
E. w. Preston Are Sentenced.
CLEANED UP $5,000,000
Former Shoe, Clerks Used Mails
& to Sell Fraudulent Oil and
Mining Securities.

shelton c. Burr. president; Eugene II.
Burr. secretary ana treasurer; Frank II.
Tobcy. vice-presidcnt. and Edwin w. Pres
ton. oil field manage, OF Burr Brothers, In
corporatcd. were sentenced Yesterday to one
year each in the peniuertiary on Blackwell S
island after pleading guilty before Judge
Holt. in the United STAKES Circuit Court to
an iViictment charging them with con-
spiracv 10 use the mails in a scheme TO
dofraud.
OF the six hundred cases Of a similar kind
investigated or under investigation by the
postal authorities the case of Burr Broth
ers has been declared hr postofiice inspec-
tors to be one Of the most gigantic frauds
perpetrated through tine misuse Of the mails.
Hundreds of thousands of men and women
throughout the country have been induced
10 invest in stocks Of scores Of corpora
tions" whose value was absolutely fictitious
in almost every instance. In their short
career as bankers and brokers' lasting
little more than four years, the Burr Broth
ers managed to draw from the pockets OF
the credulous more than 5000 o00. of which
the lions share went into their own pockets.
II is believed that they netted at least
81 900. 600 for themselves and their closest
associates during their triumphant cam
pagn upon the pockets Of the unwary.
The indictment on which the four men
were sentenced dealt only with one phase
of their stock sellin0 career OTHER indict-
ments. covering a long list Of companies
promoted by them. were 10 he sought. but in
view Of the fact that the trial Of the case
would have consumed months Henry \.
Wise. United states Attorney, agreed to
drop further charges before the grand jury
# the defendants pleaded guilty to the in
dictment already found against them.
Ernest f. Baldwin. counsel for the Burr
brothers, made a long plea for leniency,
asking for especial consideration for his
clients because they were married men.
married with Mortgage on Him."
4 neg TO call the courts attention to the
fact that Shelton Burr did not marry until
after his arrest" replied Mr. Wise. "and his
wife took him with the mortgage on him, so
to speak"
After a presentation ofsthe history Of the
case by II. y. Arnold, Assistant United
States Attorney. Judge Holt called Shelton
Burr TO the bar and said:
In your case the sentence Of the court
IS one year and one day in the national
cemetery At Atlanta
Judge Holt had meant 10 say peniten-
tiary and this slip of his tongune caused
some amusement in the courtroom. Mr..
Wise called the judges attention TO the
mistake. and Judge Holt then announced
the sentence TO be one years imprison-
nert on BlackweT's Island for all the de-
PENDANTS He gave them the choice ot
going 20 Atlanta, with the possibility or
being paroled after four months, but they
chose Bleckwel's Island. because parole
from Atlanta seemed TOO uncertain, and a
commutatiou of the sentence after ten
months for good behavior has been al
most "A rule on Blackwelrs Island.
In describing the case Mr.. Arnold said
the Burr brothers came TO New York in
1906 from Los Angeles where they had
started on the road to quick wealth by
omtuna their former occupation as clerks
IN shoe store and engaging in the brok-
erase business.
From Harlem to I'D Street
From the small office Of Burr Brothers
I'm Harlem they started their campaign for
easy money. and their business grew until
it demanded sumptuous offices in the Flat
iron Building and a force Of thirty-hve
stenoeraphers To- attend TO their CORE
spondence Under the name of Burr Broth
ers they promoted nine companies, as the
New Amsterdam Securities seven, and
finally, as Burr Brothers, Incorporated
seven more OF all the twenty-thrce OF
more companies promoted by them. not one
ever paid dividend. Mr. Arnold said.
As Burr Brothers, Incorporated, they
launched six oil companies, of which they
themselves and Tobey and Preston were
officers and directors. From August 1905
until November %. 1910, when the firm
WAS raided, Burr Brothers sold stock in
these six oil companies for $4,000, Of
which more than 75 per cent went into
their own pockets. These companies were