ANNOUNCES END OF
MILLION DOLLAR
“BAKER” SWINDLE
(Continued From Page One) ,
the mythical estate. Other groups
solicited “enrollments” at ten or
twenty dollars each, in addition
to “memberships” with monthly
dues.
Inspectors assigned to this work
thought it very unusal that an
ap,th£ntic wiU to such valuable
property should remain unpro
bated for almost one hundred
years. Through court proceedings
the alleged will was obtained. In
spectors caused the paper and the
writing thereon to be analyzed
by a chemical engineer and
handwriting expert. It was dis
covered that the paper on which
the will was written was not
manufactured until about 1890,
over fifty years after its date.
The paper had been artificially
aged. The signatures of the wit
nesses to the will had been forg
ed, it was discovered. The inform
ation thus obtained by the inspec
tors proved beyond a doubt that
the promoters were attempting to
pass off a forged and spurious in
strument to the thousands of per
sons, who believed and were led
to believe they were heirs to a
vast estate.
As the will in question and rep
rt-sentations of the promoters
called for property throughout
Pennsylvania as part of the al
leged inheritance, it became nec
essary for the inspectors to trace
in and out of the name of “Ba
ker” or “Becker” and various
companes in which they were in
terested every piece of real es
tate in the sixty-seven counties
of Pennsylvania from 1682 to the
present time. Over four hundred
days were consumed in this work.
The search disclosed that none
of the property called for in the
alleged will was owned by a
Jacob Baker or any other Baker
at the time it was purported to
have been executed. It was fur
ther ascertained that there is no
vast unsettled and undistributed
Baker or Becker estate anywhere
in the State of Pennsylvania.
Another false claim of- the pro
moters of this swindle was that
Jacob Baker or some other Ba
ker had executed a 99-year lease
to one Martin Yalas on property
upon which most of the buildings
in Philadelphia now stand.
Another method by which mon
ey was obtained from victims of
the swindle was in the compila
tion and sale to them of so-called
genealogical charts. Needless to
■ay, these traced the ancestors of
the victims back to the Baker or
Becker of whom they were sup
posed to be an heir. Charges for
these charts ranged from one to
fifty dollars or whatever the tra
ffic would bear.
Many of the swindlers organ
ized into “Associations,” “Lea
gues,” etc. Memberships were;
sold to victims in every state of i
the Union, ranging from one to
twenty dollars. This amount,
however, was not the limit of loss
of any particular individual.
When the promoters fouind one
willing, able and ready to pay,
special attention was given him.
Through false and alluring prom
ises he was frequently enticed to
part with his cash. The investi
gation revealed several persons
whose contributions amounted to
from one thousand to seven thou
sand dollars apiece.
The inspectors found that the
promoters had represented that
various banks and trust compan- j
ies in Philadelphia were holding
millions of dollars for “Baker
heirs,” which sums were suppos
ed to represent rentals and
other collections resulting from
the alleged 99-year leases exe
cuted by the Baker ancestors
years ago. It was discovered by ;
the inspectors that not a single]
penny was held by any of the
financial institutions mentiorr'dj
in the literature of the premet-!
ers.
During the trials of the pro-:
moters of this swindle, inspectors
produced thousands of letters con
taining false representations and
promises mailed by them to their
victims. It was claimed that Ja
cob Baker was a colonel or cap
tain in the Revolutionary War
and that in return fo-r his mili
tary services he was given val
uable land grants. Inspectors pro
dueed proof from the War and
Navy Depatments that there nev
er was a Jacob Baker from Penn
sylvania who served as a com
missioned officer in the Army or
Navy during the Revolution.
Frthermore, no land grants were
made by the United States gov
ernment to any Captain, Colonel
or other Baker in Pennsylvania
on account of such alleged ser
vice.
Other promoters represented
that the Treasury Department
was holding vast sums for dis
tribution among the supposed
heirs. The inspectors proved that
there were no such funds in the
Treasury. It was also claimed by
promoters of the racket that mil
lions of dollars were available
tor distribution to the purported
he^rs of Baker as a result of the
French Spoliations in idemnit
ies. This was proven to be false
in every particular.
Duing the investigation, in
spectors unearthed evidence to
show that a total of forty-four
different organizations at one
time or another engaged in the
operation of this gigantic swin
dle. Most of them after conduct
ing their scheme for a compara
tively brief period would fold up
when the pressure from their vic
tims became too great. Some of
the members, however, would in
spire the creations of new organ
izations. They, in turn, would
disappear after defrauding those
victims it could entice into their
clutches.
These spurious practices contin
ued for many years. Finally re
lief was requested from the Post
Office Department. It was then
the matter was put in the hands
of the inspectors ol the Depart
ment who exploded the myth and
secured evidence resulting in the
conviction of twenty-four out of
twenty-five swindlers who were
brought to trial.
There is no Baker state and
.here never had been such an es
tate that could possibly -be the
subject of such schemes. Some
thing that started as a rumor
grew into a gigantic fraud. Thou
sands of people were deceived in
to contributing their time and
money for years without any re
turn or possibility of reward.
BILLS WANTED
Anyone having bills against
the Northwestern Alaska Fair,
are requested to immediately pre
Sent same to
A. POLET, Secretary.
Old papers for sale at the
Nome Daily Nugget Office at 25<
a bundle.
UNICAMERAL LEGISLATURE
IS OPPOSED
The Ketchikan igloo of the Pio
neers of Alaska, Aug. 13 adopt
ed a resolution protesting the pro
postd adoption of a unicameral
legislative system for Alaska.
Under a bill introduced by Del
egate Dimond, the people of Al
aska would have the right at the
next general election to vote on
Whether they want a one-house or
.two-hous-e legislature. Once that
were determined, congress could
act or not, as it saw fit.
The Pioneer resolution follows:
“Whereas, there is now pend
ing before the congress of the
United States a bill providing for
a referendum by the voters of
Alaska on the question of whe
ther or not Alaska shall adopt the
.unicameral legislative system and
abolish one house of its present
legislature, and
"Whereas, the unicameral legis
lative sytem in a new and com
paratively untried experiment
that is contrary to the long estab
lished system of government in
troduced into the United States
by the pioneers who colonized
America and established this re
public, and,
"Whereas, the adoption of the
unicameral legislative system in
Alaska would necessitate reap
portionment of the membership
as between the various divisions
of the Territory, thus leading to
confusion and ill feeling in those
parts of Alaska where the pop
ulation has not increased as rap
idly as in other sections.
Now therefore, be it resolved,
that the Pioneers of Alaska, igloo
number 16. Ketchikan, Alaska, in
the interest of harmony, and good
government and to avoid the cre
! ation of ill feeling and section
alism in this Territory, oppose
(the passage of said bill and re
quest the congress of the United
States not to enact the same.
"And. be it further resolved,
that copies of this resolution be
dispatched to the several igloos
throughout the Territory with a
request for similar action.”
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