The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-19

/ dispatch which characterizes imperial Co
! lcnial administration.
! Eariy in 1897 he was in Sen Francisco
! with gold specimens Of marvellous richness,
! nuggets and flakes of virgin gold, and
/ chuaks Of quartz IN which there was far
| more gold than rock. He was not telling
/ 3, cple in general where he got it, but he
/ let II be known that there was plenty leIt
/ behind, and he was seeking companion
/ with some capital TO work the deposit a
| negro was the first to take the bait-a ne
! grO with some few thousands saFed. Just
/ how the transaction was worked no "Pe
| knows, but in short time Sorenson he'd
/ the money and tine negro blew ms brains
! out
Then sorenson fell in with lot Of
\ young merchants, each OF whom mad saw
| ed some money, and ali of whom were re-
GREETING that they had not taken the first
| chance at the klondike. Al this time last
| year gold was in the air in San Francs
! co, and any man who could show 'ucn
! specimens as SOreusOn had was sure 20
| find listeners. He would not tell them
| whence came this gold until they had
| formed a company and had put up the
| money. IN this company he was TO nave
| Oue-third interest i'm return for putting the
! adventures on the ground. Capt. Mclean
| who had just finished the Sophia Suther-
! land when the bottom dropped out OF the
| seal-poaching business, in which II hdd
/ never been proved that he was engaged
/ contributed his vessel in lieu of cash.
| man named De Wiz a mining superIn-
| tendent put in his professional knowledge
| as his share With these exceptions, the
| capital stock was raised among number
! of intelligent mechanics, who put ther
| hard-wOn earnings into a scheme as us
! iouary as the first South Sea bubble. IL is
| no reflection upon the Intelligence OF these
| young men of San Francisco that they
! were led away. Remember that the riches
/ of the Klondike were on the lips OF the
| whole world This man not only talked
| gold to them, but his bucksktn sack heid
| hundreds of dollars worth OF the VlISll
metal They could not help noticing that
he wore a ring in which was pearl as
| large as a marble and they would be less
| than men If they failed TO be impressed
| bv his off-hand statemeNt that he found
| il Gin an oyster down there where the
| gold comes from" Few men can accustom
| themselves to speak lhppanuy OF jewels;
| when they do, they make distinct I'M
| preston
What was Sorensons ultimate purpose
| in this great scheme Of deEusion no one
knows but himself. The South sea has
a shrewd idea that the game OF the Al
bert was to be played over again. But
| it was not to be. Fate was looking Qua Tor
the South Sea Gold Mining and Commercial
| Company and in its interest had keen
eve on Sorenson. A trihe OF cargo Of
/ ferng, the gold-scekers thought TO earn
a few dollars on the way by calling IN at
| ADia. That probably saved their lives.
For two men in Apia knew the story OF
Sorenson. One OF the consuls had been
cruising in the Solomons when the affair
Of the Albert was taking place ana re-
membered the crime in connection with
the criminals name but he mad never
seen the man It so CHANGED that a cOpra
buyer from Sydney was in Apia-the very
man who had picked up the Albert's din
gey and whose testimony had contributed
TO those zen years in the Queensland J4ll.
The story was told 10 Capt. Mclean and
to the sailor who was secretary ana treas
Urer of The company, IN order that they
might know what manner of man was
leading item and how vain was then
prospect of finding gold in the Solomons
or anywhere else in the South sea. From
the mans past record it was but simple
humanity to put the poor fellows on their
guard.
The captain and the crew company held
long and anxious consultations as to what
they should do. They hesiTated to go fur
Their into the wild islands with such man,
and they recognized that they had sulh-
cient reason 10 break with him then and
there Yet If they cast him out they had
no means of finding the gold, which they
continued to believe in, for he had re-
fused to mark its location on any chart
or 10 Indicate more closely than by saying
it was in the Solomon Islands. If they
returned 10 san Francisco they would be
out the money they had put in, and that
was a loss they could not face compla-
Gently. After fun discussion, they decid-
ed to carry the adventure through to the
end trusting to their vigilance 10 pOtect
them from SorensOns possible schemes.
| Meanwhile, they had a taste of what
they were TO encounter. Understand that
with the exception Of Sorenson not man
aboard had ever seen a South sea island
, untn Upolu was sighted, and all were
, | densely ignorant of the manners and GUS
toms of natives and whites, and in a gen
eral way the one will just as we'll bear
watching as the other. A small trader
listened to the talk of gold until his mind
was actueted TO remember a place at the
| east end of Upolu, thirty miles away
where he had discovered some stuff which
might be metal, and therefore, was sure
" rich gold deposit. That is the way
a story grows in Apia The small trader
3 told il TO the larger one for whom he was
trading. The larger trader had on his
hands two or three tourists whom HI
! wished to entertain by a trip along the
coast. Therefore he promptly embellishcd
the story to Capt. Mclean agreed for q
! half interest 10 put the gold hunters on
l the spot, and thus without expense secure
passage for himself and friends on the
steamer launch belonging 10 the shOOner
! The launch was overloaded with theso
oilers and made miserable work of il IN
the ht0VY sea OUTSIDE. IL came on 10 dow
J and for the whole time of the voyage il
l rained with tropical violence. At night
J in the native villages the gold-seekers
ignorant of the language were left 70 then
own devices. while the trader saw that
his guests had the best obtaina bic. And
at The end of a dismal and dreary trip II
was found that the gold deposit was only
1 a brown stain on n basalt cliff. After
this the Sophia Sutherland sailed away t.
! the westward. Her people hoped against
. hope that they would find gold But OF
one thing they were sure, and that was
that night and day they must watch Scr
enson That was last October. and now
seven months later the Sophia Sutherland
comes limping back with the remnant OF
: the expedition. Some of the gold-seekers
! have been left behind some are dead ana
all have suffered from the fever which
: infects the Solomon Islands in the rainy
season. The end of il all Is just whal
might have been expected
ONE TO RETIRE.