SWINDLER’S FUNERAL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23688, 21 December 1938, Page 11

SWINDLER’S FUNERAL

BURIED IN SILVER COFFIN ONLY A DOZEN MOURNERS NEW YORK, Dec. 19. (Received Dec. 20, at 6.30 p.m.) Even in death as fantastic as he was in life, Musica Coster was buried in a solid silver coffin, banked by thousands of dollars’ worth of exotic flowers. The mourners, however. numbered a scant dozen, the chief of whom were his three indicted brothers and their descendants and his wife. A. continuous stream of revelations of Coster’s activities is backed up by Government experts’ investigations. They almost surpass belief. An official of the McKesson and Robbins firm frankly admitted that Coster was the largest withdrawer of alcohol before and after prohibition and his gun-running activities exceeded those of A 1 Capone. The witness said “big shots” in Wall street and the underworld were involved with Coster in an illegal alcohol business, the ramifications of which are expected to. disclose a wide net of prominent people all making fabulous profits therefrom. The arms-running business appears to be even more serious, officials declaring that it involved widespread violations of the neutrality laws and is likely to incriminate many other individuals. Coster obtained control of an arsenal owned by the United States Government' in Canada during the war, from which he arranged to deliver 2,000,000 Enfields to a British port for the account of an alleged British petroleum company. Canadian authorities are also now investigating the alleged sale by Coster of five aeroplanes to Turkey,, intended ultimately for Spain.