Evening star., 1899-10-14
midas GOLD HOARDERS
Immense Amount of Money Hidden Away
in That Country.
Story of the Treasure of the Fortress
of GwaliOr-GOds Fond
of Gold.


From the Courier des Etats- -Unis.
About fifty milliards of francs Is said to
be the total amount of the gold product of
the two worlds since the discovery of
America And, strange to say, of this out
pouring of gold which during four centuries
has been scattered all over the world. an
immense portion remains idle in Iudia,
where 1t has been embedded. In India the
gold returns to the earth and remains there
more completely hidden than 1t was in its
original state.
The amount of gold brought into India
during the past sixty years, that Is to say,
from 1897 to 1898, is greater by three mil
liards nine hundred and forty-three mil
lions of francs than the amount exported.
The soil of India absorbs the floods of gold
just the sands of the desert swallow
the overflow of the great rivers. When it
is remembered that this work of absorption
has been going on with little interruption
for ten centuries, and still continues under
our eyes, 1t Is easy to form an idea of the
immense treasures that are hidden in that
country. All this gold remains sterile, and,
consequently, is lost. 1t is absurd to say
that it is brought into monetary circulation
or that it passes through the hands of the
native goldsmiths. 1t is disseminated in in
Vulnerable hiding places, from which It
never emerges.
In ancient times and up to the period of
the conquest and occupation by the Eng
lish. individual property was not protected.
The country, from one end to the other,
was the prey of rival factions, who ravaged
it ceaselessly and without mercy. Princes
and potentates, we'll the small fry.
were squeezed and shorn constantly To
escape from the general robbery the
tives, great and small, carefully concealed
their money and their values under
ground. This inveterate habit became
hereditary among them, so that today
the natives do just what their ancestors did
in past ages. 1t is estimated that millards
upon millards of francs in gold lie in the
hiding places of India, and it is known that
this colossal treasure IS in coin that dates
back several centuries.
To the suffering and wretchedness that
poverty ordinarily creates the natives of
India add the tortures, equally painful, of
an incurable avarice. 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 remain exactly the
same as they were; that is to say, insati-
able hoarders, suspicious and cruel miSers.
They hide their gold in the vaults of old
forts and in citadels, and add to 1t from
generation to generation. from century to
century. Like that Of Harpagnon, their be-
loved treasures possess for them charms
far more fascinating than those of their
immortal houriS and Of their enchanting
peris.
The persistence of the Maharajah of
Sindhi in petitioning the British govern
ment to give back to him the fortress of
Gwalior is perhaps remembered-a persist
ence 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
trigues the maharajah at last won his case
Ths fnrfra IF Tor WAS civ hqnk n
him. And now quite recently the secret of
his 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
corner stone of the fort, to which a subter-
ranean passage led, and closed up with
such skill and cunning that nobody in lg-
norance of the secret could possibly dis
cover the treasure.
In the presidency or province Of Bombay
1t is estimated that there are three hundred
millions of 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
them the effigy of dragon. In India,
in China, the dragon is a holy creature of
celestial origin, an inducement to the faith
full to become enrolled among the be0 titled,
that they can live with dragons in peace
and prosperity.
But. unfortunately. the gods themselves.
and especially the gods Of India. are very
fond of gold. They whistle for it through
the lips of their priests. Obedient to the
divine call, it comes, rippling from all
points until it reaches the sacred parvs.
1t accumulates in the Subterraneau pas
sages of the temples. to which the priests
alone have access. Thence it over1ows and
takes its place, like proud conqueror. upon
the affairs, where 1t shares with the
gods the incense and the homage of the
men whom it has bewitched.