Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1912-10-10
HE AND J. G. WEBER, Ex-CON-
VICTS, CAUGHT IN ACT
OF CONTEMPLATING.
WAS CAUGHT IN CABIN NEAR SEATTLE
Adams the Man Who Robbed Assay
Office at Seattle of Gold
Sent by Alaska
Miners.

Seattle.-George Edward Adams,
the paroled Iooter of the Seattle as
say office, and John G.. Weber, a TO
year-old ex-convict, said to have a rec .
ord as a c~ounterfeiter, were arrested
Sunday in a lonely cabin three miles
northeast of Kent by secret service
operatives. Both men were brought
to the city Jail, where they are held
pending the filing of a formal COM
plain, which the detectives say will
charge conspiring to engage in coun-
terfeiting.
Adams, who while cashier at the as
say office distracted 100000 from
the gold dust deposited by Alaska and
Yukon miners, was paroled from Nc
Neil penitentiary May 6, after he had
served five and one-half years of a 10
year sentence for his crime. Adams
was considered a model prisoner and
upon his release obtained employment
as bookkeeper for a large automobile
company in Seattle n was believed
to be leading an exemplary life.
Released On August 9.
Weber was released from the same
prison August 9, where he had served
the major part of an eight-year SEN
tence imposed for counterfeiting. AS
soon as Weber was released Secret
Service Agent Thomas B. Foster as
signed a detective to watch Weber,
believing he would return to his for
mer practice.
Weber was found living in the cab
in near Kent, where he posed as an
herb doctor and assayer. The opera
tive kept close tab On Weber and
was amazed to find that he was in
frequent communication with Adams.
Foster and his detective went to the
cabin today and overheard Weber
and Adams in consultation. Bursting
into the building the secret service
men arrested Adams and Weber and
confiscated some implements said to
be part of a counterfeiter's equipment.
Prepare Counterfeiting Plant.
According to Mr.. Foster, Adams vir-
tually confessed that he and Weber
were preparing to engage in counter
feiting. Adams became acquainted
with Weber at the Mcneil Island
prison and when Weber was released
he went at once to Adams, according
to the story the latter is said to have
told Foster, and asked assistance in
starting a counterfeiting plant. Ad-
ans at first objected, but Weber ex-
planned that he was too old to engage
in any other occupation and induced
Adams to finance the scheme.
Adamc oriad whi1a fo1kipo fn EOofar
but Weber took his arrest philosoph-
ically, expressing regret only because
he had got Adams into trouble.
Wife Secures Property.
Soon after Adams was sent to pris-
on for footing the assay office his
wife obtained a divorce and secured
possession of such property as re-
manned in Adams name. Adams had
not squandered the gold he had alb
stracted from the miners pokes, but
had invested in Seattle real estate,
and after the claims of those miners
who could prove they had beer vic
timized had been paid much property
remained for his wife. When Adams
was released from the penitentiary
many believed he was wealthy, but
his friends asserted that he was penni-
less.
The recommendation for Adams pa
role was signed by Judge Cornelius H.
Hanford, who had sentenced him, and
by nan influential citizens of Seat
tie.
Record Dates to Eighties.
Webber's criminal record, Mr.. Fos-
ter said, dates back to the sos, when
Weber had charge of a smelter in
Utah. He was convicted of counter
feiting at Bellevue, Idaho, in 1897, and
was tried on a similar charge at Butte,
Mont, in 1901, but was acquitted. He
was traced to Moorhead, Mimi, and
back to Seattle, where he was arrest
ed and convicted of counterfeiting in
1906.