TREASURE TROVE

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 141, 16 June 1936, Page 3

TREASURE TROVE

ON A TRANSVAAL FARM MAIL ROBBERY RECALLED • The finding of a large number of gold and silver coins on the farm Goedverwachting, in the Carolina district, recalls a daring robbery of a Royal Mail coach at Lake Chrissie towards the end of 1912, for it is believed by the police that the money found buried on the farm is part of that taken from the mail coach, says the "Cape Times/ Messrs. G. J. Grobler and wGrobler, the owners of the farm, recently reported that they had interviewed one of their native employees who had confirmed the finding of * large number of gold and silver coins buried in a ploughed field on the farm. These coins, it was said, had all been removed by five natives on the farm. The owners of the farm- handed to the police thirty-eight sovereigns of the Kruger regime and sixteen Victoria and Edward half-crowns. These had been voluntarily given up by one of the five natives in question. From, the evidence in'the mail coach case in 1912, it would appear that, after the planned robbery, the boxes containing the specie had been removed and hidden. It is believed, however, that all the specie has not been recovered for the original amount was £3000, which; was contained in two boxes. It is thought, therefore, that a portion of this is still buried in the vicinity of the place where some huts stood at the time of the robbery. The total amount recovered by the police at Carolina is £421, The gold amounts to £44, the old silver to £5 10s, notes to £171, and current silver to £200. TRACED. These amounts have been traced through deposits made by certain persons who, on being interviewed, said that they had exchanged gold and silver coins received from natives for notes and current silver coins. One person admitted having received 170 sovereigns from a native in March ,of this year. A native last month tendered £80 to a bank at Lake Chrissie and exchanged it in gold. The story of how the money came to be unearthed is briefly as follows:— Towards the end of last year, during ploughing operations on the Goedverwachting, natives found two sovereigns. At the end of February, or early, _ in March, two native youths traversing l the field found four sovereigns, which they handed over to their parents. Three natives accompanied the youths to the spot where the coins were found and a further search was made by ail five of them. One of the youths located the spot and, after digging, came upon the money which they all seized immediately. . , The amount found is not known, but it is said to be so large that the finders were unable to count it through lack of education. During investigations the circumstances of' the mail coach robbery in 1912 were recalled. One of the natives who took part in the robbery had resided with his father-in-law approximately 250 yards from the spot where the money was unearthed, and this is what led the investigators to conclude that the. find was probably part of the proceeds of the, case in question. SENT TO GAOL. This native, Koos Olifant, was sen; I tenced in September, 1914, to 2J years imprisonment with hard labour by Mr. Justice (afterwards Sir Arthur) Mason. On his release from gaol Koos Olifant returned to Goerverwachting, where lie began to search for the money, which, it is said, his father-in-law had removed from its original hiding place and reburied on thefarm. Olifant was unlucky, however, for his father-in-law had become blind during his (Olifant's) imprisonment, and he died before Olifant's release. This would account for, the latter s fruitless search for the money. The specie stolen from the man. coach was sent from the National Bank of S.A. in Mbabane in October, 1912. It was packed in two boxes, one containing £400 in silver made up in National Bank bags of £59 each, the other containing £2500 in gold and £100 in silver. The boxes were consigned to the National Bank: of South Africa in Johannesburg, via Breyten. It was sent by coach to Breyten and was intended to have reached Johannesburg by rail from there. The coach was robbed at Lake Chrissie. Koos Olifant, and others alleged to have been concerned, had made an elaborate p'lan for robbing the coach. He and another, the driver of the coach (who was originally one of the accused but afterwards gave evidence against Olifant), on arriving at Lake Chrissie, removed the' boxes and took them to a spot alongside the road, where they buried them. The driver of the coach was then handcuffed and a handkerchief was tied over his eyes. As had been arranged by those concerned, the driver remained quiet for several hours before giving the alarm, Koos Olifant "discovering" him. On Olifant's release from gaol, he is known to have searched the farm and dug several holes without, however, locating the money. He gave up the search and subsequently left the district.