Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1894-07-05

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the men at New Orleans, h landing
of the men on the southern coast must
all sooner or later focus the search at
New Orleans. But by that time he
,woul be out of sight.
Two facts were of special import:
The officer and boats crew that had
boarded the Corinthian had been pho
~tographed by one of the passengers on
the steamship, but while this fact had
been communicated to New York, the
photographs had been carried to Eng
land. The other fact was hat the
passengers all had the impression that
the vessel and crew were Spanish and
had gone eastward.
/, Two days had not elapsed before the
two pirogues with their masts cut off
were taken in tow by a small side
wheeler and pulled up the river. They
were loaded with derricks and heavy
timber. Hendricks had inserted an
advertisement in the papers and it was
known he was purchasing material for
his improvements somewhere on the
Mississippi.
l. On the morning that the little side
wheeler went slowly up h river in
plain view of New Orleans, the United
| States cruiser Dakota picked up and
identified some of the upper works Of
the San Pedro in the gulf, and q sensa
tional story appeared In a New York
paper which stated that the conspiracy
to rob the. English steamship had been
Matched in the United States treasury
department, and that the San Pedro
had transferred her cargo In the bay
of Campeaehy and the treasure was
| now hiding at or near the Bancas di
Sisal. off Yucatan.
|. Everything now depended. on the
pirogues reaching the Wash bayou be-
tore the true cleH led to New Orleans.
It was a seven-hundred-mile journey,
and the vessels crawled along at a pace
Of only eight miles an hour. Hen
bricks himself went direct to Memphis
by rail, and after several days of intol-
cradle anxiety and constant expecta-
ton of meeting with the news that the
plumber had been tracked to the river,
he had the satisfaction of see
ing his cargo from the hotel win
dow slowly and laboriously crawling
up the stream undisturbed.
He got hoard the steamboat about
ten miles above Memphis, and, finding
Capt. Blinn aboard. he having been
similarly picked up, they congratu-
lated each other.
The vessels were run safely into the
Wash bayou at night unobserved. and
the whole energy of Hendricks and his
confederates vas then directed to the
transportation Of the specie to the
western end Of the Laran cave.
In spite Of the urgent need of haste.
this was done deliberately and method
ically, and the wild. deserted coun-
try favored the task. Mule teams
were provided; the two journeys were
made at night under guard. and In
three days after the landing there were
two million nine hundred thousand
dollars In the Laran cave.
Hendricks plans for the immediate
use Of some Of the money are In part
known. Three months before the rob-
berry Of the steamship, he had. by some
scheme, managed to borrow six thou
sand dollars, which he converted into
gold and deposited in the First ma
tional bank of Memphis to be drawn
against. He now went to the Second
national bank of Louisville, Ky, with
the certificate Of deposit and expressed
q desire to change the specie from one
bank to the other as a matter of con
yenience. It was an ordinary bushes:
transaction and created no suspicion
He then instead of drawing the si1
Thousand from Memphis, made a fresh
deposit Of six thousand in Louisville
This gave him 3 bank capital suhcien
for ordinary and immediate use in cur
rency, and the fact that he had no
withdrawn the money from n banl
to put 1t in the other either escaped
notice at the time or was not regarded
, as of any significance.
His next move was the formation o
a supposititious syndicate to purchas
. the land in Tennessee for a nationa
sanitarium. This project was exploit
ed in the Kentucky papers with grea
l cunning. A corporation of medica
, men had surveyed the land and wer
about t purchase 1t and erect a mag
, nihcent hotel. and they had made MI
L Hendricks q handsome offer for II
While all this was maturing the woma,
! whom Laport had me as Miss Frank
lin was making purchases in New Yorl
] Boston and Philadelphia and shipping
/ goods to Memphis and Frankfort. He
plan was to make small purchases a
. widely separated stores, giving gold II
8 payment and getting currency Il
change. She must have sent to Hen
r bricks during a month of operation
] several thousand dollars In bills.
g CHAPTER VIII
During that month he remained a
8 Laran, as he called the place, superir
tending the improvements that he ha
Q projected. He had purchased the Ian
and fenced it with an lmpregnabl
d steel fence for several acres aroun
n each entrance to the cave
v During his absence, Laport had gon
over the entire place with a subord
nate who appeared to be familiar wit
every part of it. They had set out wit
g which were loaded upon o couple {
= Rocky mountain burros hat Lapol
found in the place.
70 Through the alley or corridor tia
II led from the rugged space 1t the Ell
It trance, Laport noticed that the COZ
70 measures showed themselves on bot
sides. The passage opened into q va
d room almost circular and with a vaul
ed roof. It's superficial area was
1T least three acres and Laport could nt
D. resist the impression that it had bee
[e at one time an incandescent bubb
rs that had cooled without breaking. E
ID stood in the center and threw the ligl
If unto the space above. A few ~stalactit'
a cleaned family like stars. Not,
ir ing else in the cave SO impressed hi
. as this magnificent natural rotund
= Indeed the rest of the subterranes
!. passages and openings were such
= are seer in all the underground trac
of kentucky and Tennessee. Vast q
= foundations of limestone debri
. choked and narrow aueyways; bottol
= less holes; enormous stalactites al
mounds Of their fragments where thu
s had fallen, Here and there streams
p Iuafer &nNned Rluroishlv across the