The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-06-03
BOX OF GOLD LOST.
$4,000 In Coin Disappears
From the Steamer Alameda.

San Francisco, Cal, June 3.-There
was great excitement on board the
steamer Alameda, upon her arrival from
Australia when it was discovered that
a box containing 5000 sovereigns was
missing. Five hundred thousand dol
lars in gold had been sent hither from
Sydney. The money was shipped in
twenty steel boxes, each containing 5000
sovereigns in British gold. One of these
boxes was distracted from the steam
ers treasure room during the voyage.
The theft is apparently shrouded in
deepest mystery. To thoroughly un-
derstand the peculiar dizziness of the
crime, it is necessary to explain that
large sums of money, frequently exceed
ing million in amount come from
Australia by every steamer. The con-
signments Of gold represent the balance
of trade in favor of the United States.
This England owes the United States
for grain and oil, and Australia is Eng
lands debtor for all kinds of merchan-
disc. 1t is more convenient and less
expensive to send money to America
from Australia than from Australia to
England and from London to New
York Therefore, part at least, of the
demands of the United States on Great
Britain are paid directly by the col
Onies of the latter country.
So common a feature of the cargoes
of the Australian steamers are these
shipments of gold so that each vessel
belonging to the Oceanic Steamship
company has a special steel tank con-
structed for the safe carriage of the
treasure. On the Alameda, this vault,
as it may be called, is formed of steel
plates each five-SiXteenthS of an inch
thick. 1t is located under the steerage
dining room and the only mode of en-
tering it is through a small trap door,
secured with an iron bar and a Yale
lock. The lock was sealed with the
stamp of the steamship company after
the boxes of sovereigns had been counted
and receipted for by the purser and
the key of the lock placed in the safe
in the purSer'S ROOM The purSer de-
clareS that the key to the lock has
never been taken from the safe from
the departure of the steamer from sgd
ney until the arrival here. The seal
over the lock was unbroken, and yet
the consignment was short five thou
sand SOvereigHS. No one questions that
the twenty boxes were placed in the
steel tank at the beginning of the Voy
age and yet but nineteen boxes were in
the tank when the steamer arrived.
When the loss was reported to the
captain he took extraordinary pains to
locate the stolen treasure and to dis
cover the thief. A thorough search was
made of the ship and every passenger,
is we'll as all of the crew. We're obliged
to undergo an ordeal of rigid examina-
ton.
None of the officers will discuss the
matter, their mouths having been per-
emptorily sealed, but none will claim
that the missing treasure was found.
The mysterious character of the theft,
the dizziness with which it was accom-
plished and the cleverness with which
it was concealed has puzzled officials
and detectives alike. The generally ac-
cepted theory is that a number were
implicated on the theft and that when
the box of sovereigns was secured it
was opened and the gold divided among
the robbers and concealed until they
safely remove it for their own uses.
The police have arrested five men
who came the steamer on suspicion.
AS yet, however, no charge has been
placed against them, and the authori-
ties, for the present, refuse to disclose
their names.