HIDING THE TREASURE

Northern Advocate, 27 January 1922, Page 7

HIDING THE TREASURE

Two nights later these proceedings were repeated at the same spot. The hose was found to be full. There was still the scupper-pipe. Its bottom was blocked up by the man who made the keys. The balance of the second box of 5000 sovereigns clinked into it in a golden stream. By r this time the Sonoma was within three days' steam of San Francisco. The three again held a consultation round the tobacco smoke. The Norseman with the foreign accent announced that three more boxes wo aid bo taken out that night—one by jeacli man and "planted" among the ban.iuas taken aboard at Honolulu. This was done, the intention being to lower the boxes overboard and recover them l»y by means of trailer rope and a rowing boat ostensibly out for an evening's fishing. The leader laughted at the idea of securing 15,000 gold fish. Arrived in San Francisco, the ship tied up, and was invaded as usual by | Customs, port, and shipping officials, and officers of the United States Treasury Department, who were told by Captain Trash that they could have the .Australian gold straight away. They v ent to the specie tank with the pur?or and the chief officer, who used the key:--. Two of three padlocks opened easily, but the third, a replica, only after considerable trouble. The boxes were counted, and five found to be missing. Everybody was instantly detained. Twenty detectives were aboard in a very short time. Orders were given to search every inch of the ship. Not a tiace of the gold was to be found, Vtt the search was maintained. Two days after, a start was made to discharge the bananas, carried on deck aft. The men unloaded some, and went ashore for their mid-day meal. Only the stevedore remained at the job, pacing up and down. A fair complexioned / 'member of the crew came along, bade the stevedore "Good day!" in a heavy and went in behind the bananas. Ths stevedore heard a heavy splash, thought it was a man overboard, but seeing nothing unusual continued pacing lip and down. VENT PIPE GIVES WRONG NOH<: For six days the relentless search continued. Everybody joined. As many theories as missing sovereign were can vassed; everybody was upset, and everybody was coming to the conclusion that the gold was not on the ship. Then Mr Carl Knudsen first assistant engineer who knew every pipe and bit of machinery and plate in the Sonoma *3 structure with his trained and acute perception, tapped a vent pipe which gave forth the wrong note. He unscrewed the rounded top, and found the 20-foot length of 2i-inch canvas hoao, tied at the top, Standing ereet inside and filled with over 6000 sovereign:'. After this sensational discovery, tapping with hamemrs became a craze, and a sailor found the 4000 sovereign i in (he scupper pipe. Hearing of these discoveries, the man witli the heavy Teuton accent lost no time in decamping as related. The stevedore heard that a man had decamped, and asked a ship's officer, "What sort of a guy was he?*" His photograph was produced. Memories of the splash astern were instantly revived in the stevedore's mind. The ship's crew dragged the bottom of the bay and recovered the three boxes tied together, each containing 5000 ficshminted Australian sovereigns, with seals intact and trailer rope attached.