Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1913-11-28
4 BIC COLD BRICK
The Trap That jernegan Baitet
With Salt Sea Water.
SCHEME OF A CLEVER ROGUE

The Smooth swindler and His Accom-
pliee Showed How Easily TheJ couIs
Extract Gold From the Coean-Fleeo.
ed Their Dupes and Then pscamped.
Various inventors have been workin,
for years on the theory that there i
plenty Of gold In sea water II onb
some process Of extraction could be de
veloped.
Some years ago the Rev Prescott J
Jernegan was the salt water wizard o.
the hour From the day his bubble,
burst and he left for Europe nobodj
seems to know what has become o
him. Jernegan. who posed as a clergy
man. and c. u. Fisher. once n floor
walker in a New York depnrtmen
store and before that diver, got to
gether in the fall Of 1896 and for d
whole year carefully considered th,
problem Of extracting gold from sal
water. II is true, their whole field
thought compassed the use Of salt wa
ter as an accessory only. the real ma
terial from which the gold was to b,
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 work
was soon to be stunned by fact tha
would make the possessor OF the orig
inai secret so rich that all the multi
millionaires would be paupers in com
parison." When they had stirred VI
public curiosity Jernegan and Fishel
went to New England and there set VI
some mysterious machinery.
On NarFngansett bay was an old hall
dismantled wharf. and at the sea enf
Of this the two erected a cheap fran,
shanty about by 10 IN size, with {
square hole cut through the floor ant
looking directly down into about flfteer
feet Of water. An electric wire from
a small battery was run along the Pill
ing of the wharf and attached to !,
mysterious box. with heavy iroI
clamps and holes all through to per
NIT Of free passage of the water bach
and forth
Finally the great secret was divulged
These two men had discovered a way
Of taking al the gold they wanted from
the salt water at cost so trihint
that it was ridiculous to mention II
Two wealthy persons. one a Provi
denee jeweler and the other a New
York florist. were approached by Jer
negan with what seemed to be suclI
a trustful and chlldlike proposal that
they both embraced it eagerly. II wat
that. all his apparatus being ready foiI
experiment, they would come to thtl
shanty on the wharf prepared to g,
through a nights vigil and witness tn,
result. accompanied by any scientific
friends they cared to bring along.
The idea. as outlined by Jernegan
was to send 2 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 severa
hours. when it would be found that
the mercury had absorbed gold iron
the ocean
When the night of the experiment
came the box was prepared in the
shanty. two chemists. friends Of the
capitalists. bringing their own mercury
with them. The box was lowered Il
the bottom. and then the party OF five
began their wait Soon after daylight
JerHegan 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 chemist.
announced that gold TO the value Of
S14 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 beer
practically made with a toy apparatus
The story spread like wildfire. and
the modest Iernesan was prevailed
upon to organize company. Stocl
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 tho
chemists. substituted vial of his owl
that had been strongly impregnatet
with gold.
Both before and since the Jernegar
fraud many attempts have been made
to extract gold from salt water, some
of them fraudulent, some genuine ane
based on scientific grounds that have
nom time to time appealed even tc
deep students But all so far have
failed dismally. Though traces of golc
are to be found in salt water, com
mercial application is practically i'm
noocfhla Naxxr Norl- prac1