The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1874-09-16
WEDNESDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 49, 1874

In Charleston next Gay Il
was taken by Col. E. to Mr..
T, and introduced to that
gentleman, to whom he told the
story Of the shark, and presented
the box and its contents. Mr..
q eyed him sharply, and ask
ed him if the whole story had
! been told him. Col. - vouchcd
for his kinsman, and the eX secreta-
ry opened the box, glanced at the
cipher dispatch, and turned very
pale. "IIave either Of YOU read
this?' he asked. No." said Il,
Il intended TO make out the cipher,
but have not yet had time" Mr..
E answered nothing, but tax
inv the drafts out Of the box, ap-
piled 4 lighted match to the re-
manning papers, and watched them
burn to ashes with a sigh of salts
faction. "Perilous secrets, young
man." said he, "ard happy am l
to dispose Of them thus. Not
only regulations, but lives would
have been sacrificed had those
matters become public. Now, as
to those ccrtifcates-they are
very probably worth nothing
but. you havo done me q real SER
vice in this matter, and more be.
/ side me, and if you can get any
! thing out them-and tits worth
trying-you are perfectly welcome
! to it all. The money belongs to
nobody strictly speaking-for |
do not consider that the late Con-
federacy had any heirs-and, if
you can get hold oft, do So"
"What money is it, or was it ?"
! asked Col. E.
"Im going to tell you," an
swcrcd T, "and it is remark
able instance Of the hard fortune
Of war that seemed to pursue the
. Confcderacy throughout. You re.
collect the sterling cotton loan we
made during the last year Of the
war-the loan by which our En-
glish brethren were made so sick?
That money was raised to pay for
. ironcIads, you know. The gun
boats were built-the Stonewa!l
was one Of them-but not deliver
ed. Diplomacy kept US from 60
ing to sea with the English-built
ones, and it was thought the same
reason kept the French-built
steamers from going to sea, but
that is not exactly the fact. We
would have succeeded in getting
them out il they had been fully
paid for. We made what we
thought were ample arrangements
for completing the payments, but
they failed through our persistent
bad luck. For instance, take the
case of these very certificates. 1t
was necessary for US to use all
sorts Of precautions in buying this
sort of goods to protect the par
ties we dealt with, for we knew
the Yankees would throw every
mothers son Of them into court.
Hence the money was deposited
! in various banks in the names OF
private persons; but so that IL
could not be drawn unless the GER
titicates were endorsed in par
ticular way. This is a deposit,
you sec, of Gunter's money paya
bic to Brown on certain terms
in other words, it is Confederate
draft sent out by express messen-
ger and payable when endorsed
by the agent to whom sent. The
agent must endorse it in partlcu
lar way, and would not do so unIes:
the messenger brought certain
credentials. This system OF checks
and balances was necessary for oul
financial security; but in this case
and in several others like it, was
fatal to oar plans.
"The messenger to whom this
particular box was entrusted
young Ricaud, | remember the
very morning l sent him-waS
instructed to 60 to Wilmington
cross to Bermuda in the blockade
runner Fannie, sail thence to-
London, report to an agent there
and then from him get further
orders. Ricaud, instead of going
on the Fannie, took another
steamer, the Gannet, for Nassau
The Gannct was captured, Rlcaud':
dispatch.box went to iced the
sharks, and Ricaud himself tt
rusticatc at Johnson's 1sland.-
Meantime we, who knew Of thu
Fannie's safe voyage, were con
graduating ourselves that ou:
agent was on the road to Bordeaux
!. and VIC did not discover the trut!
+ until it was too late to provide
, remedy. This sort Of thing hap
, pcncd several times, and Gu
. French gunboats never got to sea
"Then these Bordalese still hav
-, oo;,I ;HoI =