The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-07-22
poBBING GOLD SHIPS
..-,c,,lT TASK OFTEN SUCCESS
= FULLY ACCOMPLISHED.

lila, Coast the Favorite Field
'n' r.s.s Daring Feats of Burglary.
..s More Notable Thefts That
nave Taken Place.
cuoral times in each year Australian
uoners announce the departure to
p vu.lapd or San Francisco OF vessels
rvy;ng hundreds OF thousands OF
ca a"1ds value in gold. In 1896 the three
p ouni; of Queen sland, New South
S T",ss and Victoria sent away over S4o'-
OO0, OOO .. % srrrr;sa that
announcements excite the cupidity
SUI soction of the community or that
u, time TO time attempts are made TO
li Nn.artitiously lay hands on some por-
s;"n If the seductive treasure.
Robbing ships safe on the Austria
Ian coast is now conducted with the
', silent and thoughtful elaboration
san = the solving of difficult chess
ao .hIom The first thing the rif1er sets
p;O heart upon is how to get the key.
mho theory. and indeed the general prac-
.:ao ;s that the captain checks the boxes
thov are stored in the bullion room.
AIS the door when the transaction Is
complete, and, sleeping or waking, car,
r;os the key in u leather pouch around
10 recl, till he unlocks the door at the
end of the voyage.
Rut theory and practice are often set
.s;de In the Tararua case, at Mel
Sonrne in 1880, when $40, 600 worth
- Gold bars were stolen, the police dis
Oovered that two keys, either OF which
onened the bullion room, used to hang
osa;nst the wall in the public bar. 1t
was also discovered that one OF these
KEYS mysteriously disappeared IL months
before the robbery and that no serious
Investigation was then made into the
loss nor was any alteration made In
the lock of the bullion room.
This Tararua was running between
Now Zealand and Australia and had
Skinned boxes of gold at various ports
Altogether she was supposed to carry
II boxes On arriving at Melbourne 1t
was found that one OF these boxes was
missing. Examination showed that some
one had simply opened the door with a
kew. extracted the box and locked the
door again.
The robbery from the Iberia, which
left Melbourne for London in March,
1889. is supposed to have been also ef
fected by means Of key surreptitiouslJ
nrocured. In that case the robbery wa
not discovered till the arrival OF tint
vessel in London.
The robbery from the China develop
ed in remarkable way. Here the Orr
entail bank in Sydney placed the gold OF
board coast steamer called the Avoca
At Melbourne the gold was transshlp
ned TO the China. The China touched
at Adelaide and other ports, but it wa
only at Gale the discovery OF the rob
berry was made. Detectives operated Of
all the ports simultaneously, but nc
where could clew be found. Tn
amount missing was the usual $40, OoC
In 1878 q man named Weiberg, VIII
had been carpenter on the China, too
up selection in the interior OF Victc
ria. Before settling down he married
Melbourne barmaid and appears to hav
confided to her some shady particular
of his past history. The Samson an
Delilah story was in part repeated, an
the public laid themselves out to watc
Weiberg. The upshot was the arrest
the man as the safe rifier of the Chlni
One thousand sovereigns were foun
in a tin of fat stored away by him
Melbourne. In his hut was discovere
wooden plane stuffed with gold. III
wood was followed out and the gol
dropped in. In the hut was also disco
cred bar of soap containing 200 sove
eigns.
He told the detectives that he be
1900 sovereigns concealed on his sele
ton and offered il they accompanl'
him to point out where the booty Ia
AS may be surmised, he fooled the p
lice into wild, thick timbered regio
took them suddenly off guard and MAJ
his escape. He was recaptured, howe
er, some months later.
The mystery of the Iberia was clear
up in still more singular manner. "
day two boys playing at Williamson
saw mouse run into hole under
platform of the railway pier. one
the boys started to dig the mouse
with a stick and to his surprise
earthed mas of sovereigns. The
lice were informed, and before the q
was out 8, 742 sovereigns were reoovere
The recovery of the Aredale gold "
more satisfactory as far as amount
concerned. For. nearly two years {
police labored in vain. The myste
might never have been cleared up
for an accident. A wharf Jumper III
ing at Nelson pier, where the Ared'
had been berthed, hooked on to son
thing which excited his curiosity. I
tanning assistance, the Jumper succe.
ed in bringing to the surface the mi
ing box, with it's treasure intact. 1
robber had evidently sunk the box,
tending to return for 1t when oppor
nifty offered. Chamber Journal.
md KerOaeue.