THE ROMANCE OF GOLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19802, 29 May 1926, Page 17

THE ROMANCE OF GOLD.

MIXER’S HUGE FORTUNE. COLLIER’S SON’S CLAM. B NEARLY £400,000 AT STAKE. A claim to a fortune of nearly £400.000, stated to have been left by hie father, who vent to Klondyke two years before the gold rush of nearly 30 years ago, has been made by John Joseph Dawson, aged 49, a ratoer, living in the little mining village at Wath-on-Dearne, in England. „ ~ When the News of the . “U?" spondent knocked on the door of humble little cottage In which Mr Dawson lives he was greeted by Mrs Honeyman, a. buxom, motherly-looking Person, «^ e ®“ ln te t 0 Dawson, who cordially Invited him In. Mr Davrson, who had Just returned from his work at the Manvcrs Main Colliery, told the story of his claim. . , »],. Mr Thomas Dawson, father ol tne claimant, proceeded to America 32 years ago when the son was 17. About 15 Tears later Mr Dawson, Jun., not having heard from his father since ho left England, put a notice In the “ missing relatives of a newspaper, asking his father to communicate with him. In far-away Alaska Mr Thomas Dawson, who, after Tears of fruit less prospecting in the Great Silence of the frozen north, had struck a v ® ln ,°* gold up in the Yukon, and had become mayor of Dawson City, picked up a copy of the paper, and the paragraph inserted by his son caught his eye. A SIX-FOOT GOLD REEF. Mr J. J. Dawson received an envelope bearing the post-mark of Dawson City, and inside was the following letter:- ’ “ Pinkerton Villa, Dawson City. Dear Son —Glad to have heard of you after all these years. Please remember me to all relations and friends. Well, lad, I have made my pile at last, and all my property, to the value of some 3,000,000 dohars (£000,000), will be left te you at my death. Please do not communicate, as 1 am always at the mine. I have struck real virgin gold at as t—a six-foot seam. Well, good-bye, lad till you hear from me again.—James Gale (secretary), for Mr Thomas Dawson, Mavor of Dawson City." , . It was not until the end of last year that Mr J. J- Dawson wrote to the man he claims as father, and his letter was returned by the postal authorities because he had failed to put the State on the envelope when directing the letter.’ He again write, and about the middle of February he received the following letter’: — " Dear Sir, —Your letter of recent date addressed to Mr Thomas Dawson has been received by me. Sir Thomas Dawson, who has lived 'in this country for a number of years, was adjudged insane in the year 1923, and died on September 28, 1925, at an asylum in British Columbia. He has left an estate, of which one-third was paid to his widow, but there remains something over 1 000,000 dollars (£380,000), most of which is in the hands of the Receiver-general, to be raid to the next-of-kin. I would suggest that you let me have full details which would assist in identifying mother and brother and sisters. If any, the part of the country to which Mr Dawson went when he left England, and any other details which would assist in identifying yourself as his FO n.—Yours truly. C. E. M’Leod, Public Administrator, Dawson, Yukon Territory.” A HOUSE AND A MOTOR CAR. The news of the vast fortune which Mr J. J. Dawson may inherit has caused a great stir, not only in his own home, but all over Wat’a. Mr 'Dawson has made application to Somerset House for a copy of his birth certificate, and this, along with all other available evidence as to his right to claim the fortune, will -be sent to Dawson City. The details of his birth and the story of his life will attempt to prove that when he was a boy he was brought up with the family of Thomas Dawson’s brother In Roman terrace. He was led to regard the brother as his father, but inside the family It was generally known that he was in reality the son of Thomas Dawson. The facts relating to his birth were not revealed to Mr Dawson until he was well past manhood. Latterly, he has been living with his cousin, Mrs Honeyman, whose maiden name was Dawson, and her husband. In reply to a question as to what he would do w ith the money if he gets it, Mr Dawson answered that, after providing for his sister's future, ho will purchase a house, a motor car. and get married. He heartily concurred when the visitor remarked that mining for gold was evidently a more profitable occupation than digging for “ black diamonds."