The morning call., 1893-08-22
PRESS VANDALISM
Trinity's Cornerstone Box
Broken Open.
ALL OF THE COINS DISAPPEAR
Righteous Indignation of the Congre-
CATION at the Acts of Bar
barity and Spoliation.

"l call 1t an act of vandalism to cut open
our private property" said Major Hooper,
senior warden of Trinity Church, yester-
day.
All of the vestrymen present at the
vestry meeting in the morning shared the
majors opinions. They expressed them
equally freely too. as they gaZed at the
long-sought copper box which had been
rescued from under the cornerstone of old
Trinity. The box which lay before them
was not the sort of thing they had ex-
pected to see.
In the first place the vestrymen were de-
prived of the pleasure OF opening it with
due ceremony. Still worse. the box, as 1t
was shown yesterday at the meeting. had
already been hacked open with chisel
and all the current coins which were
known to have been contained. In the
casket were conspicuous by their absence.
Not dime. not even a nickel, could the
most dilgens searching among the papers
reveal. The 5O-cent piece of the year 1866,
which the Chronicle mentioned in it's vain
attem pt TO obtain a SCOOP" had disap-
peared with the rest Of the coin.
Tie yestrymen sadly examined the
box. one by one. and the air was thick
with BURGLARY. vandalism, down
right thieyrry."
THE contractor, as an honest man.
should have sent the box to me, as senior
warden" said Major Hooper to a CALL
reporter And it would have given the
vestrymen great pleasure to send for the
representatives Of the press and let full
account OF the opening be published"
The history of the box since it was dis
covered has been fully traced up. The
vestry, however, ordered Yesterday that
inv Inc oh ha bald fcfa
by the police, to bring the culprits to JUS
Ice.
1t was laborer who discovered the box
last Friday. by accidentally proddilg it
with hs pick. The object was at once
given over to Contractor James E. Whit
tier, who took it to the Chronicle office.
There the box was broken open with a
chIsel and the contents nverhaued. Who
gave the contractor authority TO take the
property of Trinity Church to newspaper
offlce and what right the parer had TO
break into 1t are questions that the vestry
Is exceedingly anxious To lave answered.
From the newspaper offire the box was
carried to c. V. S. Gibbs. a gentleman
who took prominent part in the cere-
mony of laying the cornerstone of old
Trinity.
''I only care to be quoted in what I
know, and the following is the his
tory Of my connection with the box" said
Major Hooper to CALL reporter yester-
dav.
Mr.. Gibbs called at my hotel on Friday
and, learning that was not in, left the
box 10 be delivered to me. | did not get
home until in the evening. The package
was securely packed, and | locked il in
my safe. where it remained until this
morning. At the vestry-meeting we
opened it and found that the bronze top
had been torn off with some sharp in stru-
ment"
Had all the contents been removed ?"
asked the reporter.
The papers were intact" was the
reply. Every document that we ex-
pected to fuG was there. but not a single
coin remained in the box. We had every
reason to presume that money would be-
there. IL is usual on such occasions 10
derosit coins in the box, besides the
records of Trinity Church distinctly state
that all the current coins of the day'
were placed there.
Decidedly we intend to punish the
offenders. do not intend to state who
they are until l know by personal investi-
CATION. One thing. however. l will say,
and that is that it was the contractors
duty to give the box to its owners, and not
to any one else. As the senior warden of
Trinity Churcl. it should have come to me-
NO. Mr. Gibbs i not one OF our vestry-
men, but as far as l can remember he was
The only man living who had anything TO
do with the ceremony of facing the box
under the cornerstone of old Trinity
Church."
1t is not only the vestrymen who are in
dignant that their cherished relic should
have been broken open and pilfered The
whole con gregatOn of Trinity Church feel
very deeply the wrong that has been done
them. They were looking forward to the
link connecting the pact with the present
being opened IN their presence, and they
feel that the people who have committed
the deed OF vandalism deserve punish
ment.