THE JUGERSFONTEIN ROBBERY

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 189, 12 August 1939, Page 8 (Supplement)

THE JUGERSFONTEIN ROBBERY

J\ Jll' v" ! loft my home in I n 1/I.inri anr] sailed for South • \fin i op a \Xhite Strir liner. She -I'l-'l i n. I n rrpool .triri whs m the Auslr ili id si'rvirp, hut called •ii ( ,-tpf! wn Im disembark South A'iH .1 I [ >rIS'W I I <«. ' - 11 ' '*|■' •' i iiig mt ii iin _ 1 ! 1 1 ■ • li<*t - .i rnl 1,1 ■ .• 11 11ni• - ~i t.li« I .i: : I w n lln 1 • " ' 1 -I I 1i..l ~ i■. 1 ' 1 I' " ' "I ' 11• do. k. r .. .1 !■ V I 1.1 ■\ ~: ' I \\ i ■ I!,. .. " X '' ' ' ' 'I " 11. |' •K I'' i ' I " • '• \"u .in ii ' By - - John Brandon "N"." I replied. My til if. I li.nl 1 1 '' r '"' " v |•••"in i' .1 lit I |i- .mil 'I .'I H.' U.|, 111.Mill HI \ || j.,. - cirlv hi I,lit whereas I win .1 lIIJ ll ■ Ill' •I <- lII'. II |\ |'|.|.| || i,_r||. •I"'l • "Ii I'liill. II" u.i ■ I.iii lv l „„h| looking' •n'l -IN.ill .1.11 k. r...'k|,.- N li.ilf. 'I" -"'I ■■ \ . 111 - im inr uas \\',i |t i,n. • I.irk W.iltnn, ii in I we I ;| iu i* fast 1 '"•■•'i-l- "'I the 111 ilny nun i-ii.|i \ovagc i n the ('m i'n. VI v life hail been I'nirly liniinlriiin. I In* 1 "•-"■ll ) 11 1111 ill.hi'. I i l*i * in .in iii l.i ii. I hii_ r I m/i.ri"flirt uring 1,.w 11. hut. hi* li.nl I ' lull of dancer iiihl advent iiri-. Horn in (ho back 1111 ,< •k 1 of \ list rn I in. 1,,. had J volunteered mill \«•<! in tho Moor War, in tlw I'mniiiiu Ii ini i nut oils (initio*. which ' K 11 r-h■ • 11 oi- hud designated " I'll,. |-; w .* ~f his Army." In t ho latter purt of tho , w-.i.r t.ho lonj;ivvn.il ( ~| ,uoeess of tho "ri' i-li firms wan in .i i .-a t imimkihv .hi • ibut.iMo to this roilnul tn1,1,. li.iml with tho leopard -kin puggaree round , their broad foil hat*. ( Walton had onli.stoi| when seventeen, giving his aye its inoro. Ho hn<l boon paid oil' from *ei vice, with a free Iriii to Krigl.ind. and thou liikl gone to tho I .S.A. t.o work, and was now going hack , to South Afrion. Ho innl rtliollt £.i(IO nn,l u a*, goiliir on I tri'k with one of tho early cinomato- 1 i)i (>h projectors, with an agency ho hold i Ironi oiio of tho Kioni-li oompnnios. Ho was going all over South Africa and — ___

Diamonds In u." I'-'l to trade with the natives as well i- to exhibit hi* pictures. which then "■'i,' i.ii,\ -troof onos, etc.. as no one .11 t.M* »*e .lay - li.nl thought of acting for ! Ill' jIIOU . •I" ' " k mo in lii- o.i liin. ami -111 >u, •(| l"~ 'ilin .i j-f a r.i t Us. and alr-o ijnito a. •-'•■ ill arsenal. A l/oe-Knliold spurting ill", .i big .•■ s I "It automatic, a Mauser ."•'••I i nil hundreds of rounds of •' in iii• 111 it ion. 1 to|,| him the Customs ' x "'' I not allow them in. hut ho said A,l ~ -'• : • i — t" smuggle them in, and no • • n•. 11i ho 11 ill ' '"•' "'-In i" tho warm tropic*, with ' I '' - •- , l'|- 'i ~ A i"- with tho swell of 1 1 i«-1.1111 t i.i,|,. \\ i 1111 ami tho ••'■ i/o with .si.us. wo wont to tho •ii■ -o i t oil ftorn ami as wo watched tho I'ii't-phoi osi'oiico in tho wake. ho ""loMo.l a -I range tale, and under a l""-'!! 1-" "I soorooy a- k oil me to join him m lu/arro and somewhat nofai'ionnl \ oil I 111 o. ll appears that when he wan joiirnox 1 1"' I t lioro was an rlder'h H'"' l ..n I hi,'i ii I. .i m. u| the war i rreoi n i 11,11 •I• ■ - ni moil l'otjictor. who. knowing '1 1 1 Wall on ha-l I in South A f rica iii-oil to talk tho I aal to him. Tho I i-r-ajo was rough and the old 800 l '"'caiiio violently .-oasiok. SutfoiiiiL' "il ii lie in. irrlia go and thinking ho was -"i"g I" die. ho coiiliiloil to \\'a It on tha I I"' "'i- "ll" "I the rolilioi's o| tho mail "i 'Ii" la i n out, .1 iigoi'ston toi n diamond .o I • 111 •! \ which took place on tho eve of 'ho Moor War. Ho. I'otgiotor. and hi- . "iilodorato. .lohaimos win dor Morwo, iiad t.ho stones, worth many thousand*, hut could not dispose of them owing to the Midden advent of the war. a-s thev "Co called up on Commando. Death From Exposure Von do Morwo had fallen ill as a •ivult of expo,ni o and had died, and I'-.taieter had -ot p-rm is.si,,,, from hir- • "imhih mla nt tu t.ikc t Ik* I *«>« I \ ,iih| Inn \ 1 ' Hntrli kcrk\ i d iii'iii l>\ . in ;i I'ttlo dorp oa 1 led Moomplatz in the I'll! llgO I'l'OO >t aI C. I his little dorp was then in the war « 'I ll out la rills, etc.. and wart lose i tod. With tho aid of a couple of Ma-iito luui.. I'otgielor had Imriod iii~ Ii llow rolil.or. lnit liooomiiig fearful that iic might ho killed or taken prisoner he had sent the Basutos away and had huried the tin canUter containing the diarnoiuis on tho top of tho roii'Ji coffin. He told Walton that as his «a* near and m any case he could not return to

A Churchyard South Africa, as he would never take the oath of allegiance to the British, Walton eould get the diamonds for him>olf. lie -aw I a mimh plan Imt there would be no difliculty, a* there was a "■"■d.-n . i..-- tho jriMo with ;ho full "ami- and date. I hi* was the .strange tale related to mo. which seemed so impossible and improbable to niv untravelled mind Yet the prospect it held forth of romance <s>

and adventure made me promise, after much demurring at the dishonesty, to consider joining the venture to possess the diamonds, despite the gruesomenes® and the danger. Walton was clever and cunning and although the trek was to be actually made, it was really a )lm<l to work round to Boomplatz. Well, we landed in Johannesburg. W niton went up-country to buy h?s oxen, wagon, stores, and so on. and I met my brother, who upset all inv plans with Walton by offering me a position in his small business. 1 wrote to Walton telling him of my good fortune and that my fiancee would be coming out to me, and coneequentlv

I could not join him, especially as I did not want to expose my future wife to any danger. He quite understood and cabled to a friend of his, who came from Australia. Before lie started on his trek, I wont up-country to wish him goodbye. He "rave his first picture show. It was a humorous failure. As soon as the kafiirs saw the machine they thought it was a gun and had to be pacified, but when they saw the figures running jibout, they panicked, crying "M'Tagati! M'Tagati!'' (witchcraft)", knocking" the tent down, leaving us all. a sweating, struggling mass of humanity, smothered under the tent. Laughingly we parted. In- on his lonely, hazardous trek, and myself t" the Golden City. From time to time I heard from him as he made. his slow journey with a wide detour towards Boomplatz. [ was all excitement with every mail and the delav seemed interminable; then 1 never heard for many weeks. Grave Robbers in A Thunderstorm At last L had news. TT progress had been delayed by fever and heavy rains. He had found the crave without difficulty. but no sooner hud lie started to open it than with the terrifying swiftness of i lie African tempest an appalling thunderstorm broke. 1 can imagine no more weird, macabre scene than these two figures, revealed by tl» blm flashes of lightning, digging frantically amid the torrent ial rain, to Ihe accoinpaninient of the fearful artillery of the U'rican thunder, bombarding and urovvling sullenly in the kopjes. He said he was glad of the storm because it would keep everyone indoors, and he knew that if any natives saw them they would think they were evil spirits. * | At last he found the canister—empty! . I o this day I don t really know whether ' he really found the stoned or not, because I never met him again. That the grave was opened there was j no doubt, because there was something , in the newspapers about graves being t disturbed, either by desecration or t heavy rains. Whether Potgicter recovered and told : someone else who got there first or t whether Walton got the stones and did not tell me, not from sl'cretiveness, but ( from caution - for the penalties for ] 1.D.8. were heavy—l shall never know. , I heard from him in a dcsultorv I fashion for some months from Rhodesia j and then he returned to Australia, and J the correspondence flickered out anil .<■ died. I did hear, in a round-about way, that he was now very prosperous, but my information was not reliable. J However, no clue has ever been found • and the .Jugersfoiitcin diamonds — some i of the most beautiful in the world—- \ have never been recovered by their right- , ul owners. I