The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-22
1vDIA's GOLD HoARDERs.
,u,n.cnse Amount of Money Hidden
Away in That Country.

From the Courier des Etats-Unis.
,,7,,t afty mil.iards of francs is said TO
Tho total amount Of the gold product of
- -yo worlds since the discovery of
AMERICA. And. strange to say, of this out
..,.,ing Of god which during four centu-
has been scattered all over the worl.i.
~ IN. nense portion remains idle + ada,
a.t..o ii mas been embedded. In India the
u,.5 returns to the earth and remains
ths-e more completely hidden than it was
in lbs original state.
the amount Of gold brought into India
srri,r the past sixty years, that is to say,
from 1887 70 1898, is greater by three mil
u,rls nine hundred and forty-three mill
,,rs of francs than the amount exported.
Tho sofi of India absorbs the floods of gold
ans, as the sands of the desert swallow
tns overflow Of the great rivers. When it
g.. remembered that this work of absorb
-,,r has been going on with little Interrupt
t,,, for ten centuries, and still continues
under our eyes, 1t is easy to form an idea
~ ,ba immense treasures that are hidden
IN mat country. All this gold remains
stsrife and consequently, is lost. 1t Is
h.,r8 10 saw that it is brought into mon
-, circulation or that it passes through
f5e hands Of the native goldsmiths. 1t Is
disseminated in innumerab.e hiding places,
from which it never energes.
In ancient times and up to the period OF
the conquest and occupation by the Eng
Iish individual property was not protect
cd The country, from one end TO the 9TH
or Vas the prey of rival factions, Who
Tovased it ceaselessly and without mercy.
tot los aTpfl
small fry. were squeezed and shorn con-
sfontly 10 escape from the general rob
berv The natives. great and small, care
ful.v concealed their money and their vail
u7b,es under ground. This inveterate hab-
e. became hereditary among them, so that
TODAY the natives do just what their an
c4srors did in past ages. 1t is estimated
that billiards upon milliards of francs IN
cold lie buried in the hiding places of In
dia and it is known that this colossal
treasure is in coin that dates back several
centuries.
To the suffering and wretchedness that
novelty ordinarily creates the natives OF
india add the tOrtures, equally painful, OF
an iucurable ayarice. That is the thing
which puzzles the observer and throws
him off the right track. In that country
all the poor and INDECENT have little hiding
places. where they put away their little
treasures and guard them, watching their
growth and never drawing from them,
even in the face of famine or dishonor
danger or death. All around them and
above them are the proud and the rich
who do just as their ancestors did, and
remains exactly the same as they were;
that is to say Unsuitable hoarders, suspi-
cious aud cruel misers. They hide their
gold in the vaults of old forts and in eta
dels and add to it from generation to gen.
Grafton, from century to century. Like
that of Harpagnon, their beloved treas
ures possess for them charms far more
fascinating than those of their immortal
houris and of their enchanting peris
The persistence of the Maharajah of Sim
dbl in peutioning the British government
to give back 10 him the fortress of Gwa-
lior is perhaps remembered-a persistence
that seemed strange indeed, not to say
suspicious, because Gwalior was not one
Of the holy places, like SO many others
in India. After numerous petitions and in
trisues the maharajah at last won his
case. The fortress of Gwalior was given
back to him. And now quite recently the
secret Of mis- persistent effort has become
clear to everybody who reads. He had
concealed in the fortress of Gwalior an
immense treasure in coined gold and this
gold had been put away with such care
near the cornerstone of the fort, to which
asubterranean passage led, and closed up
with such skill and cunning that nobody
IN ignorance of the secret could possibly
discover the treasure.
In the presidency or province Of Bonn
uay ii is estimated that there are 300 000,-
w francs in gold sovereigns which are
preserved with extreme care, not only on
account of their intrinsic value, but on
account of the fact, without counting the
image Of St. George, there is stamped upon
tIen the etfigy of a dragon. In India, as
II China the dragon is a holy creature of
tt.eslal origin, an inducefIient to the
faithful to become enpoIed among the
Deatiied, so that they can live with drag
o1s m peace and prosperity.
out fortunately, the gods themselves,
SSuu especially the gods of India, are very
iona OF gold. They whistle for it through
S s, lps Of their priests, Obedient to the
usle call it comes, ripping from all
IoH's until it reaches the sacred parvis.
~ aceumulates in the subterranean pas
a15es OF The temples to which the priests
"ro5e nave access. Thence il overfows
-l ''Aes ITS place, like a proud conqueror.
up2H 'Ae affairs, where it shares with the
soas me incense and the homage of the
"-" "hom 1t has bewitched