The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1896-12-02
ROBBING THE MINIS.
DIRECTOR PRESTON CHATS
ABOUT SOME BIG THIEVES.
Fortune in Gold Dust and Nuggets
--Trustcd Employees Who Did Not
Resist Temptation-Some
Curious Stories.

- 5000, 600, 600, and
II has 50,0C0,0 900 standard silver dol
lars In single vault. The San Fran.
cisco mint has. am told, more than
$50, 900, 900 worth OF precious metal
stored away, and in the vaults OF the
mint at New Orleans there are now
something like $40, 10000 worth of
gold and silver. During my stay in
our Philadelphia treasure house l was
shown the different methods by which
Uncle Sam guards his hoard Every
atom of gold and silver is watched,
and, although the mint has handled
more than billion and u half dollars
worth of bullion since il was founded,
only small part has been lost Still
the temptation to theft is great, and
every now and then the Treasury De.
partment finds shortage in some of
the mints or in the Government
assay Offices in different parts OF the
West. The true details of such thefts
seldom pet into the newspapers. They
are filed away in the records OF the
Treasury Department and in the minds
OF tho detectives aud officials who have
aided in exposing the crimes. During
the past week have heard the stories
of u number of such robberies, and,
in my study of them, have had &c.
cess to the records OF the treasury, in
connection with r. 4. Preston, the
director of the mint. Mr.. Preston
has charge of all the mints in the
United States.
He is the chief watch dog" OF Uncle
Sans treasures of gold and silver, and
he knows more about the mint, per-
haps, than any other man connected
with the Government. He has been
in the employ of the United States
Treasury for the past forty years, aud
he is to-day one OF its most efficient
officers. You remember how, about
two years ago, Henry @. Cochran, the
weigh clerk at the Philadelphia mint,
stole bars to the value OF Sl13, 900
from the gold vault, stealing it bar by
bar from stack of sixteen million
dollars worth OF gold bullion, which
was there stored away. Mr.. Preston
was one Of the officials who superin.
tended the putting away of that bul-
lion, and he was acting director OF the
mint at the time that Cochran's theft
was discovered. The first steal in the
Philadelphia mint occurred forty three
years ago, just before Mr.. Preston en-
tered the Government service, and,
curiously enough, this theft was de.
tected by Cochran, who was an under
clerk of the robber, and who by ex-
posing his superior got the place of
weigh clerk, which he held for forty
years, and in which he was at the time
his own great robbery occurred. Dur
ing the investigation at Philadelphia
the thief, Cochran, told Mr.. Preston
the story, and Mr.. Preston repeated it
to me to-day.
at was away back in 1853" said the
director of the mint, "when a vast
amount of gold was coming from Cali
fornia that the first big robbery oc'
CURED. The culprit wss James q.
Negus, and he was the weigh clerk OF
the mint. There was at this time no
assay Office at New York. and all of the
gold dust and nuggets were sent 10y
the banks Of the different cities tc
Philadelphia to be reduced to bullion.
Negus had the handling of this treas
ure. and he for long time carried on
systematic stealing from the differ
ent deposits sent in. 1t was his bust
ness to take charge of them. weigh
them and put them into the vault until
they could be melted. BY taking 6
nugget or pinch pf dust from each
deposit he was able to steal thousands
of dollars, and he probably carried or
his stealings during the whole of th,
four years that he was in the employ
of the mint. Cochran was at this tim,
boy working IN the mint. He acted
as Negus's assistant. He was led t.