The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-11-01

were about twenty-five tons of II. i super
intended the weighing. 1 helped TO seal
the doors OF the vault when We were
through and saw that everything was Sc
cured From time to time the vault was
inspected. but the seals were intact and no
one had any idea but that the gold was all
there About two years ago Secretary Car
Isle gave orders that this bullion be
coined. The vault was opened and more
than four hundred pounds of gold were
missing We had little trouble in detecting
the thief. Cochran had been much excited
when / told him OF the intention TO coin
the bullion
He objected. ard said the gold was so
nicely piled up. and was such a beautiful
sight 10 show TO visitors, that the govern
ment had better bring some of its bullion
from New York and coin il. 1 laughed at
this. and Cochran then insinuated that the
gold might not be all there. When he
found that we really intended to coin the
gold he came over to Washington to see
me. thinking there might be yet a chance
TO stop IL. He called &c my house here at
II O'Clock one night and asked IL 1t was
really true that the government was going
TO take the gold out of that vault. 1 re-
piled. Yes He then said: We'll, you
won't find all the gold there. Some of it is
1t is not there 1t was at this time that 1
began to suspect him. and said to myself
We'll. il any Of that gold is lost think
you know where 1T is A day or so after
this we opened the vault and we found the
gold was just $4,000 short. Still. the seals
were intact. The steel walls of the vault
were unbroken, and there was no sign
TO where the gold had gone. Cochran
seemed very nervous, and upon finding that
he was suspected. he confessed that he was
the thief. lie showed how he had fished
the gold out with a crooked wire. He
would Pull IL down from the pile and drag
II to the door of the vault. and then by
slightly pushing the door at the bottom he
was able to get 1t out through the crack
between the door and the floor. He hGd
carried It off. bar by bar. in his lunch bas-
ket. or in his trousers pocket. and had
taken it to his home I'm the suburbs of
Philadelphia"
SOLD THE GOLD TO TIE MINT.
What did he dc with the gold?'' asked.
'sHe sold it right back to the mint from
which he had stolen it," replied Mr.. Pres
ton. He did not dare to do this without
remelting Il as the gold was fine that IL
would be sure 20 create suspicion. He had
at his home a crucible and he remelted the
gold, mixing it with silver and lead. This
last product ne sent to us through the
express company. and vas able to do so
without suspicion. We found one bar of
gold in Cochran's house the day he con-
fessed and we also found 5000 in gold
eagles. IL was a curious house. 1t was
honeycombed with secret closets, and it
was in these that the money was found.
Cochran kept up his stealing to the last.
The day the weighing was completed Coch-
fore any of the otEer employees of the mint.
We had weighed part of the gold. The
vault was open, and there was a truck in
st loaded with bars OF bullion. Cochran.
finding no one about. picked up twenty of
these bars. and. one a. a time, threw them
into the ventilator shaft of the vault so
that they fell in between the roof of the
vault and the floor above. When he con-
fessed he told where this gold was and We
got It back. The remainder was partially
covered by that which we found at the
house. and we received something from
Cochran's property and his bondsmen
Uncle Sam is, however still sl2, 900 or $4,000
short from that robbery. and the superin-
tendent OF the mint. Colonel BosbysheIl,
may have to pay this
What did they do with Cochran?" 1
asked
WAS ITleu ana sent 10 the pen1ten-
tiary for a term of six years and seven
months. He is now in prison. He weighed
$50 pounds when he was arrested. He
does not weight $50 now. and has lost 100
pounds since his theft was discovered
do you think he was insane?"
That is a question" replied the director
OF the mint. He seemed to be a mono
maniac on the subject of gold. He claimed
that he had saved the United States mil
lions OF dollars by guarding it's treasures,
and he was indignant when the gold was
taken from him. Since that time we have
not kept gold bullion in vaults of this ma
ture. and there will probably never be
robbery of that kind again."
A LOSS OF $1500O0
'Ras Uncle Sam ever lost as much as
this in the paste?
There was little loss in Cochran's
case" replied Director Preston. THE
money was nearly all recovered. There
have. however. been big losses in the past
in 1856, just about the time that / entered
the Treasury Department, Uncle Sam lost
$4,000 at the San Francisco mint When
one of the settlements was made ii was
found that this much was short The
melter and refiner claimed that this was
waste; that II had been lost in refining or
had escaped up the fues. 1t is a question
in my mind whether be did not tell the
truth At any rate he was arrested. but
not convicted. Shortly after his trial he
left me United States and went to South
America He was drowned there
Another curious case in connection With
the San Francisco mint" Mr. Preston went
on. occurred just about the close of the
war, or about 1866. The cashier of the
mint: whose name was William Macy
vas the brother-in-law OF the Treasurer or
the United States. During one operation
the coiner OF the mint claimed to have de-
livered $4,000 in gold double eagles to the
cashier. The cashier credited his books
with 100000 and swore that this was all
the coiner had given him. The result was
that there was $4,000 missing. About this
same time 1t was discovered that Macy.
the cashier. had embezzled $4,000 of the
mint funds set aside for wages. He ac>
knowledged the stealing of this, but not
the other. He happened to have many in
fvendal friends. and in some way or other
he escaped prosecution. He vas discharged
from the mint and came East On his way
through Omaha he deposited $500 in one
OF the banks there. He put " under an
assumed name. and was given certificate
of deposit He lost this certificate, and the
bank refused to return the money. He
never got II.
$4,000 IN SPOONFULS.
There was queer robbery at San Fran