Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-06-03
Steamer Alameda Robbed
Of a Strong Box.
II CONTAINED TREASURE
10 the Amount of $4,000 and Was
Placed in a Specially Constructed
Steel Tank--N0 Trace Can be
Found.

San Francisco. June 2.-There was
great excitement on board the steamer
Alameda upon her arrival from Aus
ALA today when it was discovered
that a box containing 5000 sovereigns
was missing. Seven hundred inc fifty
thousand dollars in gold had been sem
hither from Sydney. The money was
shipped in 30 steel boxes. each contain
ing 5000 in British gold. One of these
boxes was distracted from the steamers
treasure room during the voyage. The
theft is apparently shrouded in the deep
est mystery.
To thoroughly understand the peculiar
dettness of the crime it is necessary to
explain that large sums of money,
frequently exceeding 81, 600, 900 in amount,
come from Alaska by every steamer
These ~consignments of gold represent
the balance of trade in favor Of the
United States. Thus England owes the
United States for grain and oil and Aus
tralia is England's debtor for all kinds
of merchandise. 1t is more convenient
and less expensive to send money to
America from Australia han from Aus
tralia to England and from London to
New York. Therefore part, at least, of
the demands of the United States upon
England are paid directly by the colonies
of the latter country.
So common a feature of the cargoes
of the Australian steamers are these
shipments of gold that Zach vessel be-
longing to the Oceanic Steamship COM
pany has a special steel tank construct
ed for the safe carriage of the treas
ure. On the Alameda this vault, as it
may be called. is formed Of steel plates
each ive-siXteenths of an inch thick. 1t
is located under the steerage dining
room and the only mode of entering 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 re-
ceipted for by the purser, and the key
of the lock placed in the safe in the
purser's room. The purser declares
that the key to the lock has never been
taken from the safe from the departure
of the teamer from sydney until the
arrival here. The seal over the lock
was unbroken and yet the consignment
was short 5000 sovereigns. No one ques-
tons tnat 20 boxes We're placed in the
steel tank at the beginning of the voy-
age and yet but 10 boxes We're 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 discover
the thief. A thorough search was made
OF the ship and every passenger, as We'll
as all of the crew, was obliged to un-
dergO an ordeal of rigid examination.
None of the officers viii discuss the mat
ter, their mouths having been peremp-
torlly sealed, but none will claim that
the missing treasure was found.
Ihe mysterious character of the theft,
the dizziness with which it was accom-
plished and the c~leverness with which
it was concealed has puzzled officials
and detectives alike. The generally ac-
cepted theory is that q numbe were
implicated in the theft and that when
the box of sOvereisns was secured it
was opened and the, gold divided among
the robbers and concealed until they
could safely remove it for their own
uses.
The police have arrested two men who
came up on the steamer on suspicion,
AS yet, however, no charge has been
placed against them and the authori-
ties Tor the present refuse to disclose
their names. The suspects gave their
names as Willard Green and John H
Porter and the former was on the pas
senger list as William Reed. The Off
Gals scout the idea that Purser Smith
Is in any way implicated in the theft.
ne mas grown gray in the service of the
LIN AC 10 ueCldfeu TO De aDSO-
lutely above suspicion in the matter.
Inc latest theory of the police is that
the missing box was never in the steel
tank. AS he boxes are heavy. each
weighing about 80 pounds. and as they
We're brought on board they were check.
ed by the purser and chief officer and
carried to the strong room by two port
ers. 1t is now believed that a game of
fim-fiam was played at this stage and
the box instead of being placed in it's
proper receptacle was onened and tha
money either taken out on shore before
the steamer sailed from Sydney or else
divided among the confederates who
We're among the passengers, Nothinp 10
known about Reed, alias Green. and
roraer, u the police believe them to be
IN some way as yet unexplained.