The daily Alaskan., 1913-01-16
A BIC GOLD BRICK
The Trap That Iernegan Edited
 With Salt Sea Water.
SCHEME OF A CLEVER ROGUE,

The Smooth swindlsr and His Accom-
 pliee Showed How Easily They Could
 Extract Gold From the oesan-Flsso-
 ed Their Dupss and Then Deeampsd.
 Various inventors have been working for years on the theory that there is plenty of gold in sea water if only some process of extraction could be 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. Jernegan, who posed as a clergy man. and c. E. Fisher, once a floor walker in a New York department store and before that a diver, got to. gether in the fall of 1896 aud for a whole year carefully considered the problem of extracting gold from salt water. It 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 artisticaly Jernegan, to whom was left the matter of publicity, per mitted some vague rumors to leak out "A leading clergyman had marvel ous money making device. The world was soon to be stunned by fact that would make the poSsessor Of the orig inaI secret so rich that all the multi. milionaireS would be p8upers 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 hall dismantled wharf. and at the sea end of this the two erected a cheap frame shanty about s by 10 in size, with a square hole cut through the floor and looking directly down into about fifteen feet of water An electric wire from a small battery was run along the pill. ing of the wharf and attached to a mysterious box, with heavy Iron clamps and holes an through to per init of free passage of the water back and forth
 Finally the great secret was divulged. These two men had discovered a way of taking all the gold they wanted from the salt water at a cost so triding that it was ridiculous to mention it. Two wealthy persons, one Provi dence jeweler and the other a New York florist, were approached by ter negan with what seemed to be such 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 scientih, friends they cared to bring along.
 The idea, as outlined by Jernegan, was to send current Into a pan of mercury held within the box, the recep taCle then being sent 10 the bottom of the sea and drawn up after several hours. when it 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 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 Jernegan announced that 1t was time to draw the box up again. This was dore, 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 Sl4 was found mixed with the quick silver all were stunned by the discov cry and realized at once the vast pos. abilities in more extensive operations, the original experiment having been practically made with a toy apparatus
 The story spread like wilddre and the modest JeUnegan 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 ol 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 chemists, substituted a vial of his own that had been strongly impregnated with gold.
 Both before and since the Jenegan fraud many attempts have been made to extract gold from salt water, some of them frar dulent, 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, com mercial application is practically i'm possible.-New York Press.