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Show FAKE RELIC SWINDLE. TABLETS MADE, BURIED, THEN UNEARTHED. Exploiters Come to Qrlef In Digging Up "Noah's Diary" Michigan Copper Used as Batlt of Gigantic Fraud. Dotrolt, Mich. An alleged copy of Noah's diary, engraved upon a copper cop-per tablot dug up In Michigan and offered of-fered for sale to a Wisconsin collector, col-lector, has resulted In uncovering one ot the cleverest swindles ot recent years. A former secretary of state Is implicated in tho affair and with him are a university museum curator and other Michigan men. Michigan copper formed the basis ot tho enterprise, which consisted In manufacturing ancient relics out of copper, painting them green to represent rep-resent verdigris, dipping them In cor-.roslvo cor-.roslvo acid, and burying them In mounds, after which they were dug up by relic hunting expeditions under tho leadership of tho promotors. The affidavits ot prominent citizens that they had seen tho relics dug out at tho ground were sufficient to secure tholr sale to credulous collectors, no ono dreaming that tho prehistoric ago might havo been only 11 months bo-fore. bo-fore. Indian coppor implements, battlo nxoB of leaf copper, well tomporcd spearheads, and othor supposed rare and anciently corroded relics that havo been treasured In Michigan and outsldo museums are declared to bo bogus, with tho result that all collections collec-tions of tho sort aro thrown under moro or less suspicion. As a finishing touch to a gigantic owlndlo tho relic manufacturers branched off from Indian relics. They wont so far a sto dig up In tho presence pres-ence of roputablo witnesses bronze tablets Inscribed with hieroglyphics nnd symbols of tho biblical daluge and tho towor ot Bnbol. Tho fakers would havo had collectors bollevo thnt Michigan was tho scat of tho original flood, and that Noah's ark floated Bomowhoro nmong Michigan's low hills, which wero thti real Mount Ararat. Tho diary of Noah was offered to a wealthy man ot tho Hadgcr state, who asked tho advlco of a museum curator as to accepting It. This man hnd had considerable cxporlonco with fakes and warned tho rollc patron to boware. Whethor tho relic finally' was sold cannot can-not bo learned. |