THE PHILOPHOSER'S STONE.

STRANGE CHARGE OF FRAUD, , At tho Marlborough'atr«o6 Polioo Court, J Edward Pinter, 66, a merohnnt, of Dover etreot, Picc&diiiy, wos charged with attomptI ing to obfnin tho sum of £40,000 , from Edwin William Streotor, joy oiler, of f New Bon«l Street, by moans of a trick. Tho I solicitors' tablo presented tbo nppearnnco of a L bench m a laboratory during tho hoaring of r the case, it being covered with bottles of j chemicals, crucibles— one of whioh containod , a mass of fur.cd gold— a email oxy-hydrogon B f urnaoo, with its fittings, and a bottle of mystoj riouo powder, which forms the basis of the ohurgo. — Mr fltreetor said that on April 25 he received a letter from Oount Kearney, and on tho following Monday that gentleman oallori upon him, and having introduced himself, told him something which lod to his going with on assistant to Storoy'e Hotel, Oovor atrofft. There he saw Pinter. Tbo Count, who came m a short time, introduced Pinter ns tho f»ontloman of whom ho had spolten, nnd who Vfas to perform the experiment whioh bad boon tho subject of his lettor and thoir previous conversation. They all wont up to a bodrootn, 0 wlioro Pinter laid out tho tools produced, and [t explained that ho could mako one eovoreiijn 0 into threo by a diseovoi'y of his own. — Mr '„ Hunnay : How do you moan ? Ho could not makogold more valuable than it ia? -Witncse; Ho Biiid ho oould ; m fact, that ho had die(j covered Philosopher's Stono. — Mi" Hannny : That- is what occurred to me ; but it is ratbsi

late to appebv m tho nineteenth century. Proaeoutor (continuing) said after he had g the apparatus out hcjaet|to work. TakiDf sovereign from a bottle of some acid, m whii he said it had been soaking for 18 days, 1 put it into a crucible with tho usual flux at a quantity of black powder, and proeoedi with the operation of molting. At tho end an hour the crucible was taken off the fu naoe. On thia being done a nuggot weighir 15 pennyweights, throe timoa the weight of sovereign, was found m tho bottom. Tb nugget was given to witness, who sent it fi assay to Messrs Johnson and Matthey, wl reported that it oame out between 21 and i carat. Not satisfied with this he had it incite again, and sent baok m his foreman's nam The result of the second assay was even betti than before.— Mr ilannay : What proposal di the prisoner make to you? — Mr Streeter That I should find 40,000 sovereigns for hii to treat m a Bimilar manner to those m th experiment. He woo to take a large housi m whioh ho whb to live and put up his m menee cisterns. The acid, bo said, was 8 strong that nobody oould live m the sam room m which it was exposed, and that eve a horse would bo killed by it, After soakin m the acid for 18 days tho 40,000 soy3reign were to be melted down with hiamysteriou powder, and to come out a mass of goli worth £100,000, An appointment was mad lowing Monday at the prosecutor's worksho] m Tysoe street, Olcrkenwell, m tho presenc of Count Kearney, tho witness, and several o his assistants. In the meantime the Buthor ities of Scotland-yard were communical.ei with, and whilo the experiment was beinj performed the second timo Inspector Swanson and Frost wero col coaled on thi premises. The same proceeß was gom through at Tysoe-street, with the except ioi that instead of one sovereign being ueec 20 sovereigns wore put iuto the cruel bio. Count Kearney drove up to tho witnoss'i premises m a brougham, and said, " I think 1 shall got the Duke of Edinburgh to put aomi money m thiß," the prosecutor replying "You had batter not." A pioce of atone wai here handed to tho mßgiati ate, nnd the pro secutor stated fiat the prieonor told him it woi a piece of tho Philosopher's Stone, (Laugh tor.) — The prisoner (to the magistrate) : Oar tho law of England make me provo that ] can make gold? —Mr Hannay : No. — The prisoner : Then I don't propose to tell mj secret. — Prosecutor eaic), iv cross oxaminatiot] by tho acou6ed, ho did not believe m the genuineness of tha experiments !>s saT. He had said that the accused wua either a swindler or a madman« A friend of tho witnsdi was present m Amorioa when a man (whom ho believed to be the nc cused) defrauded a person out of £18.000, Mr Avory said information had reached the Treasury ohowing the previouß history of tbe accused. He (Mr Avory) was thus enablod to state that tho trick whioh tho prisoner had beoo playing was of the Bimpleel. possible kind. One of the essential conditiong of the experiment was that the golden sovereigns should remain m the acid for 18 days. Having placed them them thoro the prisoner then produced such a horrib'o stench with hia materials that all present were glad to rush away from it. Naturally after a timo they wenfc back to ascertain the result, when they found that not only the sovereigns had gone but the prisoner al;o. Tho triok bad been performed m this and other countries, and that morning Pinter had baen identified as having, when m Liverpool, seven or eight years ago, suceefldod m getting hold of 500 sovereigns, ansl then ho ereatcd such a horrible stench that the paoplo who were watching the experiment rushed away. Ultimately they broke open tbe place, but only to fiad tbat neither the prisoner nor tha money wero thore. — Mr Hannay observed that he was disappointed the Philosopher's Stone had not been found. — Henry William Buun, assistant to Mr Streoter, said he was present when the second experiment was performed. Pinter handed him twenty sovereigns, whioh he gave them to understand had been soaking m the acid for 18 days, and the samo ingredionts ao before, with the addition of 53 m sil?or and a little lead to hasten the moltinc After the crucible had been put upon the fim suoh an abominable smoll arose that they all had to leave the room, Pinter, however, re-enter-ing afc intervals to bbo how tho melting was progressing. — Mr Avory : Did Count Kearney make any stipulation to you on behalf of the prisoner ? —Mr Bunn : Yes ; on April 2Gth he stipulated that whoever agreed to associate with Pinter m the gold-making should give it up after making 20 million pounds worth, which he thought would tako about 18 months. (Laughter ) Mr Avovy : What is your opinion of the experiment ? — Witness : I oame to the conclusion that gold must have been added m some form or other to account for tbe extra weight. — Did prisoner toll how it was ho was able to go into the room at the second experiment whilo you were not ? — He explained several times that he whs more used to tho emell thdD wo were, — Prisoner wasromandod.