BOERS' BURIED TREASURE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8249, 23 February 1905, Page 2

BOERS' BURIED TREASURE.

FUTILE SEARCH ANP TJLTIv MATE RECOVERY. News was received at Krugersdorp recently of the discovery in the bushI veldt beyond Louis Triehardt's Drift I and the .Speionken ef the famous | buried treasure which was secretly re- | moved from the Pretoria mint just before Lord Roberts's forces entered the capital, and which formed the romantic issue in the tragedy culminating in the execution of ex-Policeman Swartz.. The treasure, which consists of bar gold and coin approximately amounts to 60,000 ounces, and is valued at a quarter of a million sterling. | The story of its burial and reoovery is sensational in the extreme. It is a history of blood and crime, no less than six, men having lost their lives in the burial and the subsequent search for the gold, which has lasted since the declaration of peace. Of the original party which was despatched to hide _ the gold, not a single soul is alive today, It appears that some twenty-four hours before the occupation of Pretoria bv the Imperial forces, orders were received at the mint from the late President Kruger and Mr Reitz, the then State Secretary, to remove the greater portion of the gold, which was extracted from the Robinson, Rose Deep, Ferreira and other mines,, to a secluded spot in the bushveldt, beyond Pieteraburg. It was known by the old Transvaal officials that a „ waggon,, with four mules, accompanied by six specially selected burghers, left Pretoria at widnight with the gold, and vanished into the veldt. The ex-policeipan, Swartz, and the man whom he murdered, and for which he suffered the last penalty, were among the party. After burying the gold, four of the wardens of the treasure rejoined the commandos; but a luckless fate seemed to have pursued them, and they were all killed shortly afterward. For some time the search appeared to have died out, and it was only through second or third hand knowledge that a Krugersdorp syndicate of six, including ex-Generals Kemp and Celliera, ex-Police Lieutenant Van Zyl, W. D. Smith and S. J. Kemp, cousin of the ex-General, found out that there was State treasure buried in the bushveldt. The party made repeated exploring trips into the low country in the bad j season to escape observation, and most of them were stricken with malarial fever. Each member took a different direction, with the understanding that if any found the treasure it was tp be split up into equal proportions. Only one member, however, found the burial place, and he was ex-General Celliera. The site was between two peculiar trees. A red flag, as a sign, was stuck up on one of the trees, with a carcase of a mule in between, one of the ribs of the mule being embedded in ground where the gold w r as buried. On returning to Pietersburg ex-General Colliers was prostrated with malarial fever in the hospital, and whilo he was hovering between life and death he divulged part of his secret to the pther members pf the syndicate, who, however, after repoated searchings, failed to find the spot. Some differences of opinion followed, and ultimately the syndicate broke up, deciding severally to go their own way. The Government authorities, getting wind of the whole affair, approached an ex-State official residing at Krhgersdorp, and he supplied them with certain information and a pl* n of the supposed site. While the Government was" acting on this information, & J. Kenip, cousin of the ex-General, had revived a systematic search, with the rpsult of the discovery.