The post. [volume] (Middleburg, Snyder County, Pa.) 1864-1883, 1872-07-18
A Gigantic Theft,

ting from Cape Town, South Africa,
says:
| The steamer William Miller leaves
in few hours, and I grasp the op-
portunity to send pou particulars Of
the greatest postal robbery ever known
at this shank end cfthe world. Whilst
| attn writing this ;hcro arc q number
OF diamond dealers conversinr franz
tically outside Of my window 10 tho
mos; evident state of funk, for they
havO no information as to who are
the uulucky birds whj have diamonds
in the post due hero on Tuesday. In
TACT no one knows very much about
it. The thief or thieves wero toJ
careful for that They have Just
walked of with about 100000 iu
diamonds and paper currency, and leit
the vir;aous TO imagine how it was
done.
In my last, por Bulh, | gave a brief
sketch of Dc Beers, New Bush, which
a year ago was described as the rich!
ost spot on all the earth. The amount
Of diamonds which have been taken
out OF that kopj1 would furnish q do.
zen or two OF crowns 10 all the crown.
Cd heads of the world. Ii was In,
most profitable rush ever made, ux.
cept this last one. This 100000
rush was about tho easiest way of
making money that can well be i'm.
aglned. Tho postolilco at Do Beers is
a stately building, as largc ~ n SEN
try-box, constructed Of such costly
materials as old Pine wood, and OF
the magnificent design of ships
cook-housc. 1t looms up majcslically
ia comparison with tho famous Pig.
and-W histlc opposite, where cap
tain in Her Mnjesty's Lanccrs is bar
man, and late captain In Her Males.
ty's foot line is waiter IL will, there.
fore, be seen that its situation is ele-
CANT, and its neighborhood aris,ocra;-
ic. On Thursday, the 9th of May,
Ascension day, the Post for Cape
Town was an exceeding valuable one.
1t is difficult to tell how valuable. 1t
is certain that ii contained six pounds
weight of diamonds. and the valuo of
this, with money orders; bauk notes
and other currency, is roughly est,-
mated from .eS0,000 to elO0,O0O.
The mails were made up and heaped
by a window only fastened by a bolt
without the security of shutters or
rods. Tho postmaster was absent
from his Office for ten minutes. As no
says il was all done ia ten minutes.
the surmise, therefore, is that no
was not in the building. Perhaps ho
had gone on II visit to his arstocratio
friends over the way. At any rate,
during the ten minutes pane of glass
was taken ont of the window. tho
bolt drawn back, the window opened.
and the bag walked OF with. That
terrible fire in Chicago did not dash
faster over that city, rousing oil the
energy and feelings Of distress of tho
inhabitants, than did the news ofthe
robbery ut the Bush. Nearly all vera
directly or Indirectly Interested, and
an amateur detective force, hun.
dreds strong, was ut once organized
aud commenced searching for tho
thief The detectives searched aud
tsearchcd the post was detained for
esome hours but all in vain Not tho
slightest clue had tho robbir left be.
hind him and 1t is questionable
whether, after tho long start he hal,
he will ever be found out. II ho eau
only manage to get clear Of letters,
hayin, the diam )nds iu his pockets,
he will be all right.
There is Of course, great oonsterna-
tion in the couutry. We have boen
long suspeciing that our mails, as un-
protected as they are, whilst passing
over some wild tract OF country, would
have been robbed for tho sake Of the
diamonds which are known to ba sent
in large numbers by post. Tho post
cart is dismal box like arrangement
on two wheels, aud is generally drawn
by two animals who evidently over do
Banting. The driver, a uottontot.,
who at night Is just 50 drunk that 10
is a marvel that he keeps his seat, and
Turing the day ia sonanibulislic froui
the nights debauch, IL is passing
strange that some inventive genius
has not taken the rise out of the dri-
yer aud the diamonds out of tho mails
before this. But the 100000 haul
will no doubt develop some Of the
scientific capabilities of light fingered
agents, and some OF the blessings OF
civilization will dawn on this benight-
ed laud. The government is beiug
pretty considerably blasphemcd on
account of its handsome postal struo-
ture at Do Beers, aud il the thief is
not captured, | conjecture that ths
postmaster stands a very favorable op-
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