Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-11-08
GOLD IN THE OCEAN GAME
How Salt Water 10 Used to Extract
the Yellow Metal from q Guiiible

Public.
Various inventors have been work.
ing for years On the theory that there
Is plenty Of gold in sea water II only
some process Of extraction could be
developed.
A few years ago Rev. Prescott J.
Jernegan was the saltwater wizard OF
the hour. From the day his bubble burst
and he left for Europe nobody seems
to know what has become Of him. Jer-
negan, who posed as Baptist clergy
man, and C. p. Fisher, once a floor
walker In New York department
store and before that diver got to-
gether in the fal Of 1896 and for a
whole year carefully considered the
problem Of extracting gold from salt
water, 1t Is true their whole field of
thought compassed the use Of salt wa
ter as an accessory only, the real ma
terial from which the gold was to be
extracted being the American people.
Very artistically Jernegan to whom
was left the matter Of publicity, per-
mitted some vague rumors to leak out
"A leading clergyman had marvel:
Gus money making device. The world
was soon to be stunned by fact that
would max the possessor Of the orig
inal secret so rich that all the multi
millionaires would be paupers In COM
parison." When they had stirred up
public curiosity Jernegan and Fisher
went to New England and there set
up some mysterious machinery.
On Narragansett Bay was an old,
half -dismantled wharf, and at the sea
end Of this the two erected a cheap
frame shanty about by 10 in size,
with a square hole cut through the
floor and looking directly down into
about IL feet Of water. An electric
wire from q small battery was run
along the piling of the wharf and at
tached to a mysterious box, with
heavy iron clamps and holes all
through to permit Of free passage Of
the water back and forth.
Finally the great secret was divulg-
ed-these two men had discovered a
way Of taking all the gold they wanted
from the salt water at cost so trifiing
that 1t was ridiculous to mention 1t.
Two wealthy persons, one a Provi-
dence jeweler and the other a New
York florist, were approached by Jer-
negan with what seemed to be such a
trustful and childlike proposal that
they both embraced 1t eagerly. It was
that all his apparatus being ready for
experiment, they would come to the
shanty on the wharf prepared to go
through a nights vigil and witness the
result, accompanied by any scientific
friends they cared to bring along.
The idea, as outlined by Jernegan,
was to send a current into pan Of
mercury held within the box, the re-
ceptacle then being sent to the bottom
Of the sea and drawn up after several
hours, when 1t would be found that the
mercury had absorbed gold from the
ocean.
When the night Of the experiment
came the box was prepared in the
capitalists, bringing their own mercury
with them. The box was lowered to
the bottom and then the party Of five
began their wait. Soon after daylight
Jernegan announced that 1t was time
to draw the box up again. This was
done, and the whole party eagerly set
to work to find out whether any gold
had been received. When the chemists
announced that gold to the value Of
$14 was found mixed with the quick
silver all were stunned by the discov-
cry and realized at once the vast pos
sibilities in more extensive operations,
the original experiment having been
practically made with a toy appara-
tus.
The story spread like wildfire and the
modest Jernegan was prevailed upon
to organize a company. Stock was sold,
and, after getting possession Of thou
sands Of dollars, the promoter sailed
away to Europe. The success Of the
great experiment was explained after
ward Fisher, the diver, had gone out
from the shore in his suit, opened the
and based on scientific grounds, that
had been brought by the chemists,
substituted a vial of his own that had
been strongly impregnated with gold.
Both before and since the Jernegan
fraud and many attempts have been
made to extract gold from salt water,
some Of them fraudulent, some genuine
and based on scientific grounds that
have from time to time appealed even
to deep students. But all so far have
failed dismally. Though traces Of gold
are to be found In salt water, CONNER
cial application is practically impossi-
ble.-New York Press.
How tho Other Half lives.-Russia's 3