TALES OF ADVENTURE

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 307, 27 December 1924, Page 24

TALES OF ADVENTURE

This story may be said to open when Sir George L'ook'lin, while closeted with j Mr. Shipley, the senior partner of , Mci>r=. Shipley and .Meredith, his London solicitors, happened to remark casually in the coui-m; of conversation that he had acquired an interest in a gold mine. The subject was not pursued, but the lawyer's remembrance of the statement acted as a passport, so to speak,; to the curious scries of events which ' followed. Shortly afterwards Sir George retired from the enterprises in which lie was interested, made a will leaving everything to his brother, and went to live at Bournemouth, where one day lie was found dead, from natural causes, in his | bedroom. His will was duly proved, and Mr. Harold Cooklin, the brother, came into Qiis inheritance. one afternoon some ,time later he walked into the lawyer's ' office with the following letter, ad- '■'< dressed to his dead brother. Sir (ieorgo, ! ?which had come into his hands; — East Bound, ! Sept. 30, 11)23. j • "Dear Sir, —Thomas is quite ill. He j intended to come out of the mines to , 'attend to the mutter 1 am about to! 'set before you, but he has been ordered,' ,'i£.he would live, to remain in the altitude and dry atmosphere of Idaho for • the present, he. leeis that you must' ■want to hear from him, as it is now a. '. long time since you last heard from ' Jone another, and so he requested mc: Jto act for him aud to write you fully •at earliest moment. 1 left the mines "two days ago, and am writing en route 'to Canada, and shall mail at best point t along the line to ensure transmission by i ; first mail steamer. "We are still in Robbins mining district of Idaho, where we have discovered ; and located the richest gold quartz veins ! I have ever seen. Thomas has declared you in with him, share and share alike. ■ Owing his success to you and your financial support, you are fairly entitled ■ 'to share equally with him in the pro- . fits, according to promise. "His richest mine, named in your honour "The C'ooklin," will alone make : you both immense fortunes. We have j expended out best energies on it, and • have already uncovered in simple • development work—such a≤ driving tun- ' nels, sinking shafts, and stripping the vein—enough very rich ore to keep a , ' five-stamp mill running day and night \ I for years. We store our richest rock • in crosscuts and drifts underground to - crush with an arrastra of our own con- j « etruction. Low grade ore is thrown i on to a dump, to be handled by more • modern machinery. J "To give you an idea of the quality of our ore, would say tha,t we have often knocked out of our richest rock, I in a single day, with an ordinary hand ' hammer, from 30 to 40 ounces gold, I valued at £4 per ounce. I have in my r possession over two hundred pounds I avoirdupois weight of pure gold, which { I am instructed to deliver to you in I New York Citj r , N.Y. You are to take { gold to England to sell it, keeping onej half of the proceeds; and depositing the t remainder in bank to Thomas' credit, i 1 have arranged for shipping of gold ' under your care, so that you will have Jdo bother on that score. I intended ; meeting you in Quebec, but found a± j the last moment that -there is an em- • bargo against shipping gold coin or buli lion out of Canada until 1924. ! "If the vein we are working does not ! dip within a few feet, it will run into j the adjoining property. In case this • happens we, shall buy the property in ! order to control mother lode. j "We have managed thus far to keep j knowledge of our strike to ourselves, ' which will enable us to buy at a low • figure should we need the property, and ' also enable us' to secure titles to as j many claims as the law will permit. I I havo put off recording claims, at I Thomas' request, until after he has heard from you. "He thinks your idea of incorporating 1 your joint interests a good one, and he ,' will gladly join with you in any feasible J proposition. He deems it advisable for ; you to send a trustworthy person back I j with mc to .look after your interests, • as he intends to come out late next \ season, and wants to leave mines in \ care of someone known to you. CaiiJ tion the person you elect to return j with mc to keep our matters strictly. • confidential until after we have re- '£ corded as many claims as wanted. "We have taken every precaution to "" keep knowledge of our strike to our- :.. selves, for were it to become known or even suspected prospectors would . swarm about us to stake out claims—a ." catastrophe to be carefully avoided. I J am directed not to send gold to you \\ or to place same in bond, as such a ■' course would subject us to inquisitive i" meddling, and might result in exposing i ! our strike, at a loss to us of thousands !! of pounds. You can form no idea of I \\ the stir and excitement our find will I • > cause in the mining world when it be- ♦ • comes known. Therefore, in order to \\ protect ourselves against a heavy loss J: through a premature exposure, come \ ; yourself. If you cannot come, do not »i delay matters by writing, but send a ' i trusted relative in your stead, as I v ! must return to the mines as soon as , possible. Do not trust the matter to •' fin outsider —it means too much. A ■ • word uttered aboard ship might reach ■! the ear of a travelling mining engineer, '.', and upset all our plans. Cable mc • upon receipt of this when and by what .' steamer you sail, and I will meet-you •■ upon your arrival 'in New York. In ' the meantime, I shall visit my mother, who lives near Brockville, Ont., and ■; ehall anxiously await your cablegram. \ "Hoping to meet you soon, I am, ■ faithfully yours, Watson Davis. "Address cablegram: Davis, Revere ■■ House, Brockville, Ontario. "To Sir George Cooklin." Mr. Harold Cooklin himself knew nothing of the mine mentioned in this I somewhat remarkable epistle nor that ■ his brother had had any dealings with j : the men named. The solicitors how- • eyer, recalled their deceased client's I. statement that he was.interested in.a : Sγ™ £r=as ed?v 1 L^v iCt S P° ken of WM ""doubt- «. . dith the junior partner in the firm of

THE MYSTERIOUS MINE.

I By ELLIOT BAILEY. j

soliciton;, should make the journey to New York and meet the writer vi the I letter personally. A cablegram was ■therefore despatched in the.se terms: — "Sending trusted friend, Hobert Meredith, with full powers to act. Steamship ! Majestic, sailing il-tth. Meet him New York cm landing. lable conlirma tion with address New York.—C'ooklin." To this the following reply was re|C eivcd:- ■ , "Will meet upon arrival. Stay Murray Hill Hotel.--Davis." As it happened, an accident threatened to upset his arrangement, for Mr. Meredith, while on his way home i a lew days before the Majestic sailed, . was knocked down by a motor car, and so severely bruised and shaken that it did not seem likely that he would recover in time to catch the vessel. However, the latter was delayed owing to the embarkation of sixteen hundred Kiueinn immigrants, ami thus in the end ; lie was well enough to go on board. ! The voyage, though rough, was uuI eventful. l»n the quay at New York, ; Meredith was met by a broker friend ' ' of his in the city, and while talking , ' to him a well-dressed, pleasant-looking 'man of medium height walked up and asked if he were Mr. Meredith. On . receiving a reply in the allirmative, he ■ introduced himself as Watson Davis. lie j straightaway took Meredith off to the ' Murray Hill Hotel paying the taxi fare ! ; himself, and saying that he had just ; arrived from Canada, and had no address in New York. In the privacy of Meredith's bedroom the affair which j liad brought the latter from England j i was fully discussed, and Davis was I j informedof Sir George Cooklin's death, documentary evidence being produced to support the statement. Curiously; enough in view of the tone of his letter to Sir George, the latter's demise seemed to affect Davis very little, once he had learned that there was an heir to whom a sale of the property might be made. This in itself made the astute young' lawyer suspicious, but he was careful 1 to give no sign of it. If the thing : was a fraud, he decided, he would find j . it out soon enough; in the meantime he i would lie low and "play the mug"' until I he understood • exactly what kind of proposition was going to be put before ; him. I Having expressed his satisfaction that 1 there was only one heir involved, as he "did not want to have to deal with a lot of people," Davis produced a letter he said he had received from his j partner Thomas. This stated that the I vein continued to prove rich, but bad unfortunately run into the adjoining I property, as he had feared might prove , to be the case. It was now essential that an option should be obtained on . I this ground, as, otherwise, under the mining laws of the United States, the ■ whole lode could be claimed by the adjoining owner, since the apex of the vein was in his territory. The letter ! went on to say that he (Thomas) had ascertained from a man called Schneider, ; who was the local foreman and agent for the owner of the adjoining claim, • that the latter, a Mr. Saunders, was ■■ then staying at an hotel at Bridgeport, some 50 miles from New York, but that he was expected to sail for South America very shortly in order to wind up the affairs of a dead brother. He ought, therefore, to be approached without delay. This letter appeared to excite Dads very much, and he urged Meredith to go and see Saunders immediately. The Englishman somewhat naturally suggested that it would be better for Davis himself to do so, as he knew more about the matter, but this was countered by the plea that Saunders might recognise him and " smell a rat." A furtuer suggestion of Mr. Meredith that a local firm of attorneys should be instructed I to do the' work was met by Mr. Davis's | emphatic statement that he did not trust anybody in Xcw York, and considered it essential that Meredith should personally carry it through. He proposed to send a telegram to Saundera making 'an appointment for the next day, and to this Meredith eventually agreed. The following morning the two men met again in the hotel lounge, and after breakfast—for which Davis paid—they ■ . .went upstairs to a room on the sixth j floor where Davis had slept. Here, after taking the precaution to lock the door I and making it impossible to see through the fanlight above, Davis unfastened a | large trunk that was full of shavincrs. I From it he drew out a bar of yellow ' metal about two feet in length and | about four inches square, weighing some , ninety-five pounds, as shown by a spring | balance which he produced from a bag. This bar. he stated, was solid gold, being one of those mentioned in Thomas' original letter to Sir George Cooklin. He I I then brought out a methylated spirit! 'lamp, a drill, a small blow-pipe, and a carbon block. Placing the bar of gold on the floor, he asked Meredith to point to any' spot where he would like it drilled for testing. The lawyer suggested a point near one end. whereupon Davis drilled it to a depth of about an inch and a half. Both of i them collected the shavings from the drill, which were put on the carbon block, melted in the flame of the blowpipe, and tested. The result showed that the fragments were undoubtedly gold, and Davis handed Meredith the "melted metal, with the remark that he might as well keep it for a souvenir. While Davis was drilling the bar, Meredith noticed that his fingers were i cracked and broken like those of a 1 miner. This impression was heightened when he spilled some of the burning spirit over his hand, and fluently cursed the ensuing pain. Davis then told Meredith that he had arranged the latter's interview with Saunders for that afternoon, and they went together by train to Bridgeport, the accommodating Davis once more paying both fares. On the train they fully discussed the value of the property, parIticulars of which Davis banded to his companion on a sheet of paper. The miner waxed exceedingly enthusiastic over the prospects if they ctnild only secure the adjacent claims. "That ore." he said, "is worth three thousand dollars a ton, and I reckon we could get out a hundred tona in thirty days and sell it to the assayers. Three hundred thousand dollars wouldn't be too much to pay for the property, but I guess we can get it for from fifty to

a hundred thousand, unless that foreman fellow Schneider has been talking." It was at this point that the cautious Meredith put the first damper on his Companion's exuberance, by remarking that lie was not empowered to buy the ■ "round outright, but merely to obtain an option on it. For a moment Davis dill , not seem to relish this statement, though lie recovered himself instantly, remarkins that an option could easily be ob- ,' tamed for a hundred dollars. i Kven this small amount. However, the | canny Meredith discovered he had not | with'him. Thereupon Davis handed him j a bill of that denomination with which i to secure the option. On arriving at Saunders' hotel, the way to which Davis appeared not f know, for he asked the direction from a stranger in the street, the mining man ; stayed outside while the lawyer went j into the bureau to inquire for Mr. j Saundcrs. , Almost immediately an elderly, clean- I shaven man. who looked like an English j country gentleman, came up. "Mr. Meredith?" lie asked. "I am j Saunders. What do you want to see mc | about?" ! l-'oll'wing suggestions made by Davis, ■Meredith explained that he was acting for certain Britishers who had heard that Saunders had a property for sale known as Nitro No. 2. in the Rolibint Mining district of Idaho, and wished to know if this was true. "Quite true." was the reply. '"I've | been trying to dispose of it for s->me | little time as I want to go to South I America, where my brother has lately died and left mc certain interests to look after. Am I to understand that you are considering the purchase, of my I property X"' "That." Meredith answered, "depends on the price you are asking.'" ! "I want thirty thousand dollars," said Saunders. 1 This wn* a big drop compared with Davis" estimate, and Meredith replied that he thought the price would lie agreeable to his principals. The latter, however, he added, did not desire an immediate purchase, but merely an opi tion. j "Thnt's a pity." said Saunders thought- . full}'. "I should' have been pleased to give them an option, but I'm a afraid it's impossible, as I've already promised i another man who is leasing property in •the neighbourhood that, if I do not sell, , ■I will grant him a lease of mine. It must j be a sale outright or nothing." fie then produced a document from I his wallet which purported to be a deed of the property. Meredith checked this with the particulars furnished by Davis, and then reiterated his state- i ment that he was empowered to arrange , an option, and nothing more. j "Well, supposing we leave it like this," ; 'Saunders suggested. "J will give yr.it until j next Wednesday at the latest"—(it was 1 then Saturday)—"to cable your people j :as to whether they will buy at once. If I 'not. the whole thing falls through." I Meredith demurred somewhat, explain- I ing that he could not possibly hear before Tuesday, as several people had to be consulted, and it would lie difficult to raise funds in such a short time. To j this Saunders retorted that, if neees- | sary, securities could be deposited with a bank to cover the purchase. "I suppose," lie added as an afterthought, "that you would not care to put up the money personally, Mr. Meredith, and enter into a contract to pur- ; chase?" But Meredith shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm not worth the money," he said, regretfully. It was finally agreed that Saunders would accept twenty thousand dollars for an immediate sale, and that Meredith was to wire to his principals to know if they would give this sum. Saunders promised to ring Meredith up on the Monday morning and arrange for the completion of the matter on the Wednesday, providing that in the meantime the necessary authority had been received from England. The interview then terminated, and the lawyer returned to the street, where Davis was waiting for him, and informed him of the conversation with Saunders. This time Davis made no attempt to conceal his chagrin, saying that it was vital that Saunders' property should be optioned or bought immediately. "Good heavens!" he exclaimed. "To think that we risk losing everything for a paltry twenty-five thousand dollars!" "But Burely," Meredith suggested, "we can easily raise that sum over here? Any bank would advance it on the security of the gold in your room?" "I tell you I don't trust anybody in New York." said Davis angrily. "And 'anyway, Thomas gave mc definite instructions that I was to toll no one about the gold except yourself." "Well, as to that," replied the solicitor. 'I have a friend in New York an Englishman who is to lie trusted who knows the manager of a bank. I am sure he would lend us the money on the gold, after having it assayed, and he would certainly not disclose anything to anyone I j should then be in a position to wire I home to my people and ask them to send out the money to redeem the <* o ld " Davis looked thoughtful at this, but though admitting it was a good idea, said I he would prefer to try and get the money l from other sources which were known to 'him. He had been a ship-chandler in I Canada before going into the gold-minin" business, he added, and had a wealthy I friend there who he was -ure had the money available and would be prepared to assist. Once more, however, he asked if it was certain that Meredith's prin- ! cipals could not be induced to advance I the money. The lawyer was emphatic on this point, saying "that he was sure they would not trust his discretion. Meredith spent the week-end with friends at Port Chester, a suburb of New York, after arranging that Davis was to ring him up if he succeeded in getting the money. He heard nothing more", , however, until returning to the Murray Hill Hotel on the Monday morning, he I found the following letter awaiting him there from Davis: — New York, N.Y., November 4, 1923. My dear Mr. Meredith, After leaving you Friday I wired Mr. Thomas advising him of Sir George's ! death, etc., etc. He evidently answered I in short order, for after you left mc last evening I called at the address I gave him and found a telegraphic day-letter awaiting mc. He proposes to deliver the I goods Ln person in England, as there are certain matters between him and Kir George which he wishes to place before the heir. He is en route to New York now. and ough to arrive here in time to take Berengaria. He requested mc to leave immediately and meet him in Pittsburg on Monday to deliver to him cheques for storage of goods, so that he would be able to pick them up without delay upon arrival in \ew York. He wants mc to get home as soon as possible to look after things while he is away. He is not worried about adjoining property, fo in case Mr. S. calls you up on Moilday, say to him that you are unable to meet his demands in the time allowed you. I think that you will be quite safe in taking passage on Berengaria if you care for a delightful compagnou de" voyage,

and I shall tell Mr. Thomas to be on the lookout fur you. He will have only nn hour or two to make his arrangements, but that does not signify, as sailings are light. Sorry not to have seen you again. Imt hope to renew our acquaintance in the . near future. Very truly yours, (Sd.) Watson Davis. Mr. Robert Meredith, J Murray Hill Hotel, New York, X.Y., During the week-end Meredith had been doing some deep thinking, and putting I two and two together, had come to the conclusion that the whole thing was a -plant." Saumlers' determination to ! bring off a rush sale of his property to 'men who rs yet had not even >ecn it bore its own con.»t ruction, as also <lid I Davis' failure to rai.-e the twenty live 'thousand dollars, which lie had himself asserted was hut a fraction of the. true lvalue of the land. His last lei tor did 'nothing to modify Meredith's opinion. J About ten o'clock that morning the I solicitor was rung up at the hotel by a 'man who described him-clf as Mr. 'Sounders' secretaiy. and wished to know if ln< I Meredith I was goinir •" with the business . liiih had bren di-ni-ed with Mr. Sauiulcrs on Sntnrdny. Mcredi-h replied: "Xnj" he had been unable to • get instructions from his clients, ami wan ! sailing for Knj'laml on the Berengaria ' next day. I Immediately after (he secretary rang off, Meredith called the exchange, and asked if the call had bee.i a local or a long-distance one- Uridgeport being a long-distance call. He was informed that j they were uncer'ain whence it came, ! but that it was urdoubtedh a local call. Having now no further doubt that the whole thing was a fraud. Mereditli talked things over with his stockbroker friend. Though they both felt certain that an audacious swindle had been attempted, they decided that it was not worth doing anything further in the matter, as the "plant"" had failed and Meredith had already taken his berth in the Berengaria. The lawyer, however, now positive that he had been dealing with ' accomplished crook's, and grimly aware that in connection with several hundred recent murders in New York only one miscreant had been brought to justice, was careful to remain in his friend's ! company until he went on board the • liner. Needless to say "Thomas" was not to be found on the ship. j And there, but for a curious circumstance which appropriately rounded off the affair, the matter might have ended, leaving Meredith lirmly convinced that he had been the victim of a clever i attempt at fraud, but with no actual 1 proof that such was the case. However, ias it happened, the cablegram which he i dispatched to London announcing his return was, for some unknown reason, !not delivered. His wife, anxious at the absence of news, and fearing that something had happened to him in New I York, communicated with Scotland Yard. The result was that while placidly playing bridge one night in mid-Atlantic, I Meredith was approached by the captain, I who drew him aside and somewhat pointedly asked him what he had been. doing, as Scotland Yard had just wirelessed regarding his whereabouts. j "Scotland Yard!" exclaimed the; astonished solicitor. "What ever for?' , j "Your wife ia asking for news of you." i Needless to say, Mrs. Meredith's fears were quickly allayed, and on his arrival in London "her husband duly reported himself at the Yard, where he related the whole story of his adventures. After he had given" a minute description of "Davis"' and "Saunders," the official whom he interviewed produced a book of portraits. "Are these the men?" he asked, pointing to two photographs. i Meredith recognised them at once. I They were "K. A. Sloane" and "John . B. Green," both noted American crooks specialising in this particular class of j crime. There had, of course, been no j property and no gold-mine; the whole thing was a swindle from beginning to end, designed to cheat a supposedly j wealthy and unsuspicious Brtisher out j of his money. I Scotland Yard, of course, could do' nothing in this particular instance, as the aHair had taken place in the jurisdiction of the New York police, but it is interesting to note that both men > have since been arrested on other charges, and arc now paying the penalty of their \ misdeeds. It transpired later that the mine casually mentioned by Sir George Cooklin to Mr. Shipley before his death was quite a bona fide affair in South Africa, and of course had nothing whatever to do with the mythical American bonanza.