RICHES ARE FOUND PACKED IN VAULT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18959, 4 January 1930, Page 11

RICHES ARE FOUND PACKED IN VAULT.

Trunks full of jewels and antique treasures and a bank deposit of over £50,000 are features of a remarkable romance, in which a London woman is the heiress (says an English paper.) The riches were the property of the late Sir John M'Leayy Brown, who had a long and distinguished career in the Chinese Customs Service. From 1898 to 1906 Sir John was Chief of Customs and Controller of Finance under the old Korean Government. but when Japan finally annexed the peninsula after the RussoJapanese war. he left the Far Last and returned to London. He was not permitted to take his treasures with him. however. They were deposited at the old guards’ quarters near the great Seidaimon Gate of ancient Seoul, the capital of Korea, The money was in a Seoul bank. On his return to London Sir John, then an elderly man. tried to recover bis property, but during the protracted negotiations between London and Seoul many unforeseen difficulties arose, and as time slipped by Sir John’s hope of successfully recovering the treasures and money became more and more remote. Then it was reported that all trace of the valuables had disappeared. Now a dramatic turn of fortune's wheel has again brought the treasures to light, and the question of their ownership has been satisfactorily settled. While engaged repairing the old guards’ building, Japanese officials came upon the property, packed, labelled and hidden away in an underground vault. They investigated the matter, with the result that the genuineness of Sir John’s claim to the property has at last been admitted. Sir John died some two years ago. and it is understood that the right to the treasures and bank deposit will now be handed over to his niece