The Republican journal., 1871-02-02
THE SECRETS OF THE TREASURY VAULT!
AN INTERESTING CHAPTER.

-
crets of the United States Treasury vaults.
1t has been whispered by certain snowy-lock-
ed clerks who have been noted for centuries
for strlctest veracity, that hidden away in the
dust and darkness of a certain vault might
be found Jewels that would vie with or pos
siblv eclipse those found in the diamond cave
by "Snbad, the Sailor" Hidden away in
wooden boxes, it has been said that pearls as
large as pigeons eggs have nestled, their
WaXen beauty undisturbed by human eyes,
whilst diamonds, both great and small, have
wlnked and blinked without awaking sim
gle sign or shaft of feminine envy In this
same vault it has been known that parcel
after parcel has reposed, whilst the hands
that placed them there have crumbled into
dust, and the mystery connected with them
has been lost to this generation forever.
This particular vault is the ninth in the
treasury calendar, and it bears q resemblance
to a bottomless pit, because heretofore any
thing under the head of especial deposits"
placed therein has never been heard Of again
One gloomy afternoon the work of investi-
CATION began. The first object that saw the
light of day was a Dox as eltish as the one
dragged from the sea by the fishermen, but
instead of being made of copper and fasten-
ed with the seal of the great Solomon, it was
bound with red tape and bore the waxen seal
OF some deceased Secretary of the Treasury
| When opened it emitted an odor of dead
roses.
The first article lifted from the box was q
heavy square bottle, which contained altar Of
roses. considerable quantity of the pre-
clous fluid had made its escape, but quite
enough remained to perfume tile city, if this
shall be considered necessary after the carni-
val has passed away. There was no paper
to indicate to whom this altar of roses be-
| Ion {I,+
indian prince sent ii to Martin Van Buren;
that it had once been deposited at the Patent
Oiilcc, and afterwards sent to the Treasury.
III the year 1913. The next bottle lifted from
the paper wrappngs contained pearls. They
were remarkably fine on account OF shape
size, and purity Of color. Two of the pearls
were the largest the writer has ever seen.
They were oblong in shape, and these two
must have given color to the fancy of ''pearls
large as pigeons eggs" As there was no
way of counting these Jewels, it was Judged
there might have been one hundred and fifty
altogether. The next article was a small
vial, containing diamonds. None of these
were large, but they We're very clear and
perfect in shape. 1t seemed Us if they must
once been part Of some royal necklace
which had been stolen. As is usually the
case in calamitcs of this kind, the detectives
only recover the smaller stones There
might have been a thimbleful of diamonds
Thieves evidently had been at work with the
treasure, for the next article brought forth
was the golden lining of snuff box, but
nissinn Nox4 ,,,,,o - naI i7a,.,,t il,
had once held TOGETHER nnarl nnclIacn Tbn
silkon sfrinr and tassn, oftonhoI ~ i sho,,,na
its East India ORIGIN This i onneo,.s wo,
the article left TO show that some nrns;dnnt
or officer Of tho oovernmnn+ had bnon ',,,'N r,a'
sented with . na7rI nocl,lano II baa 1no,,
placed ON exhibition somnwbaro and tbio,.,,
made AWAY with f.. hnt in order to socurc
what was recovered hevond iii chances nr
future escape. tbe strnG and gnld f1sten;nr
were laid in This v,nlt
| The next article hrouobt forth vas o Il,
box. There was no wav TO ascertain wbeth.
ar thn bov was orio;poi1, ir+ondoI for LII,
or matches. There WAS evcrv reason 10 b,.-
lieve that the oriomal ..p,njora,s how bod
been founI Ruf on ononinr i +boro ,.,a,
discovered u sealed pancr co1toinino roms
thirteen small diamonds of the tinnsf STato,.
and four large pearls, A small niece Of no.
per in the box had written mon if in his
| interesting bit of information ..Thoso low
els had originally been presented to Martin
Van Buren, but had been stolen from \ ease
in the patent Office on the noht of Novcm-
! Der 8. 1882 The unfortunoto oan,s con,,n,,
a most useful lesson: IF NJistross Van Ruron
had worn her Jewels. instead of nlacino ,hnm
where thieves break in and stcal ave., sbn
would have set an illnstrions ovomnIo onI
the countrv would have hnnn mo ,,nnro, ,hn,
it is to-day.
The second box opened contained counter-
felt coins and dies. These had bnen dnnos;t-
ed by NJ. G. Young, ESD. and thcv had been
received from a@ents nn,plovn1 +o dotant
counterfeitcrS These bord thr I,to of NJ,v
10. 1877.
p,clann No o was ~, ;,,r,o,,, h,,,,,1o -
valuables. no less thon the snbstantiai ;nhor;'
tance Of the Smithsonian Institution Thn,n
riches consisted of bond, of tbr State of Ar
kansas. valued at s53s 600 SnvrraI davs
were occupied in the carefnl examinotion of
this national proprrtv
No. 10 was y modest looEi,c, no.l,ora
and contained b OOO and was inft tn,, 20 r.,
keepinr by some ancient sncrntorv Of ,va,.
packaoe No. II containrd $40 be;ng
notes that were stolen from Tiauten,nt Jomn2
Braunauoh in the battle of Pittshnro 1,ond-
mo. and forwarded to the treasury for nav
ment. DEPOSITED bv Treasurer of Irnitod
States. Oct, %. 1866
| One hox dnnosited in limo 1893 Lr ,,,o
nal Field medal, in case, struck at the United
States mint under resolutions of Conoress
By the side of the Field medal box were
found two boxes of Jewels. depositcd Inv II
A. Risley to the account of the Treasury one
under date of December Is. 1868 and thc