The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1913-01-02
A BIG COLD BRICK
The Trap That Jernegan Baited
With Salt Sea Water.
SCHEME OF A CLEVER ROGUE.

The Smooth Swindler and His Accom-
pl,ee Showed How Easily They Could
Extract Gold From the oeean-Fleee-
ed Their Dupes and Then Deeamped.
Various Inventors have been working
for years on the theory that there is
plenty OF gold In sea water II only
some process Of extraction could he de
velOped
Some years ago the Rev. Prescott }.
Jernegan was the salt water wizard OF
the hour From the day his bubble
burst and he left for Europe nobody
seems TO know what has become OF
him Jerneean. who posed as a clergy
man. and C. +. Fisher. once floor
walker in New York department
store and before that a diver, got to.
gether In the fall Of 1896 and for n
whole year carefully considered the
problem Of extracting gold from salt
water IL Is true, their whole field ~
thought cOmpaSsCd the use OF salt wa.
ter as an accessory only, the real ma
tcrial 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 10 leak out
"A leading clergyman had a marvel
Gus money making device. The world
was soon TO be stunned 10y a fact that
would make the posscssor OF the orig
iua secret so rich that an the multi
miilionairos would be- paupers in com
parisou" When they had stirred up
public curiosity Jcrnegau 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 cheap frame
shanty about : 10y 10 I'm size, with a
square hole cut through the floor and
looking directly down into about fifteen
feet of water An electric wire from
q small battery WAS run along the pil
ing of the wharf and attached to a
mysterious box. with heavy iron
clamps and holes all through 10 per
NIT of free passage of the water hack
and forth
Finally the great secret was divuleed.
These two men had discovered way
of taking aii the gold they wanted from
the salt water az cost So triding
that il WAS ridiculous TO mention It.
Two wealthy persons. one IrOvi-
dence jevvclcr and tine other New
York florist. were approached by Jer-
negan with what seemed 10 be such
truStful aud childlike proposal that
they both embraced IL eagerly Ii was
that ail his apparatus being ready for
experiment they would come 10 the
>muty on the wharf prepared 10 90
through nights vigil and witness the
result accompanied by any scientih,
friends they cared To bring along
The idea. MS outlined 10y Jernegan.
was TO send current into a pan Of
mercury held within the box. the recep
tacle then being sent to the bottom Of
the sea and drawn up after several
hours. when IL would be found that
the mercury had absorbed gold from
the ocean.
When the night Of the experiment
came the box was prepared i'm the
shanty, two chemists. friends of 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
Jernegau announced that It 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
Sl1 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 toy apparatus
The story spread like wildhre, and
the modest Jernegan was prevailed
upon to organize a company. Stock
was sold, and after getting possession
Of thousands Of dollars the promoter
sailed away TO Europe. The success Of
the great experiment was explained
afterward Fisher, the diver, had gone
out from the shore In his diving suit.
opened the box and. taking out the
mercury that had been brought by the