The Leader, enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1915-1921, 1920-08-13
PONZI SERVED TERM
IN ATLANTA PEN
Record Keeper of Federal Penitentia-
ny Tells of Career of Boston's FL
nancial Wizard in Georgia and Ala
bama.

ATLANTA, Aug. IL. - While he
wore the gray garb of federal felon
in Atlanta's United States penitenti-
airy, Charles Ponzi, the Boston finan-
cial wizard, who has startled the world
with his financial scheme, worked fol
nearly two years on system of fl
nance that would place his name in
history along with John Law, the OBJ
scure Scotchman, who gave the Mis-
sissippi Bubble to Louis XIV.
This has just been revealed by A.
Z. Aderhold, record keeper at the
federal penitentiary, after he had posi-
lively identified picture of Ponzi
printed in Boston paper as the
smooth, brilliant, affable convict who
had been his clerk and assistant back
in 1o11-1912.
Ponzl was convicted in Federal
Court of New York on a charge OF
violatin the United States immigration
laws through plan of his to smuggle
undesirable immigrants over the Caz
madam border into this country. He
was sentenced to serve two years.
we have never had better or
more useful prisoner" said Mr.. Ader-
hold. He was a tremendous help to
us in the prison offices. l never knew
him. to make an error. [ don't think
he was ever out of balance I don't
think he has ever wanted to break the
law, but he has an obsession for plan
ming weird financial cups. He loves
these things so we'll that he tran
crosses the law just for the sake of
putting them over"
Then Mr.. Aderhold told of another
attribute of Ponzi Like John Law,
he is far from lacking in personal
courage. In fact, in the little mining
town of Blocton, Ala, not far from
Birmingham, Ponzi is regarded as a
man of sublime and unselfish courage
as the simple people of the mining
camps there have ever known.
Mr.. Aderhold produced a clipping
from an Alabama paper that Ponzi
sent him after his release from prison.
The paper tells of his deed 1t all
happened in October, 1912, just a few
months after he had been given his
freedom.
At the time Ponzi was in Blocton
organizing water and power com,
pany, where Miss Pearl Gosset, a
nurse in mine hospital, was badly
burned by an explosion of kerosene
stove, doctors declaring it was neces-
sary to graft a large amount of skin
over the burns, and Ponzi volunteered
On October 4 Ponzi was placed on
an operating table, and no less than
seventy-two square inches of skin were
removed from his thighs. Ponzi was
out OF the hospital two weeks later,
busy organizing his company. Two
more weeks elapsed, according to the
official record, when he was again ap-
preached and told more skin would be
necessary.
Go as far as you like" he replied.
and on November the fifth fifty more
square inches of skin were taken from
him and this time from his back. There
was no offer or hope of reward He
was prompted to do it by nothing
more than a desire to help humanity,
The records show he had a previous
prison record before corning to AT,
!anta. His dossier shows that prev
lous to coming to Atlantas.he had serv.
ed three-year term in Montreal. Ca
NADIA, under the name Of Charles Ponzi
Blanchl, on account of being an or
AMER OF some corporation that was
not countnaced by the Canadian blue
Sky laws.