The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-06-03
Five Thousand Sovereigns Stolen
From Steamer Alameda.
THEFT A MYSTERIOUS ONE
PART OF A CARGO OF GOLD
BROUGHT FROM AUSTRALIA.
Upon Arrival of Ship at San Fran
cisco, $25, 900 Was Missing-Seal
of the Room In Which the
Money Was Stored Was Unbrok-
en-Arrests Are Made.

San Francisco, Cal, June 2.-There
was great excitement on board the
steamer Alameda upon her arrival from
Australia today, when it was discov-
! cred that a box containing 5000 sover-
eigns was missing. Seven hundred and
fifty thousand dollars in gold had been
sent hither from sydney. The money was
shipped in thirty steel boxes, each
containing s25, 900 in British gold. one
of these boxes was abstracted from the
steamers treasure room during the
voyage.
The theft is apparently shrouded in
deepest mystery. To thoroughly under
stand the peculiar deftness of the crime
it is necessary to explain that large
sums of money, frequently exceeding
million in amount, come from Ais
tralia by every steamer. These con-
signments of gold represent the bal
ance of trade in favor of the United
States. Thus England owes the United
States for grain and oil, and Australia
is England's debtor for all kinds of
merchandise. 1t is more convenient
and less expensive to send money from
Australia to America than from Aus
tralia to England, and from London
to New York Therefore, part. at least,
of the demands of the United States
upon Great Britain are paid directly py
the colonies of the latter country.
HOW THE GOLD WAS STORED.
So common a feature of the cargoeS
of the Australian steamers are these
shipments of gold that each vessel be-
longing to the Oceanic Steamship COM
pany has a special steel tank con-
structed for the safe carriage of the
treasure. On the Alameda this vault,
as il may be called, is formed of steel
plates each five-sixteenths of an incn
thick 1t is located under the steerage
dining room, and the only mode or en-
tering ii is through small trap door,
secured with an iron bar and 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 5000 sover-
eigns. No one questions that twenty
boxes were placed in the steel tank at
the beginning of the voyage, and yet
but nineteen boxes were in the tank |
when the steamer arrived.
Seach For Stolen Treasure.
When the loss was reported to the |
captain he took extraordinary pains to |
locate the stolen treasure apd discover |
the thief. 4 thorough search was made |
of the ship and every passenger, as we'll |
as all of the crew, was obliged to under
go an ordeal of rigid examination. None /
Of the officers will discuss the matter.
their mouths having been peremptorily
sealed, but none will claim that the
missing treasure was found.
The mysterious character of the theft,
the deftness 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 number were
implicated in the theft, and that when
he box of sovereigns was secured it
was opened and the gold divided among
he robbers and concealed until they
could safely remove it for their own
Uses.
The police have arrested two men
who came I'D on the steamer on sus-
)icion. AS yet, however, no charge has
)een placed against them, and the au-
horities, for the present, refuse to dis
lose their names.
Theory of Police.
The suspects gave their names as Will
ard Green and John II. Porter, and the
ard Reed. The officials scout the idea
Smith ic N