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CHAFFEE SWINDEER HAD SPENT N. DAK. MONEY MADE IN JAMESTOWN Jamestown Alert: Frank Lenz, who was assistant to Receiver Johnson in the Lloyd's bank, recalls further interesting details in connection with the gold brick swindle perpretrated by Harper on the Lloyd's bank about two years before it closed its doors. He states this swindle was known to a few individuals but it took the receiver of the bank quite a while to run down the consideration for the $10,000 note left by O. H. Holt among the assets of the bank. which was the money paid out for the gold brick. They finally learned that Harper had been located, after the swindle, in Minneapolis, and admitted to Mr. Lloyd that he was the man who did the job. but, owing to the fact that to arrest him and cause publicity to the transaction at that time would have probably caused a run on the bank, no action was taken to bring him to justice. The "gold brick" was thrown in the Jim river from the Sixth street bridge, but no one has ever found it as far as is known. The disclosure of the swindle of the Lloyd's bank was not made public until February. 1894, long after the bank had failed. The same Harper is evidently doing business as seen in the Chaffee incident. It is said that another well known North Dakotan afterwards admitted that he had narrowly escaped being a victim of this same old man Harper. How many other victims have been caught by him, who have never squealed, is npt known-possibly there are several such.
