Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-08-17
sEcREIED GOLD BARS.
A MYSTERY OF STOLEN WEALTH
NEVER CLEARED UP.
A Quarter Of Million Dollars Found
I'm the Walls Of . HOuse-SeQuel
of the Find.

bars from the mint in San Francisco and
the robbery Of over a quarter of million
of dollars, also in gold bars. from the
Selby smelling works near San Francisco.
calls to mind the discovery of a large but
unknown quantity Of gold in bars in a
house which was being demolished in Oak
land, just across the bay from San Fran
CISCO. said Washington correspondent to
q Star reporter this morning.
/ was engaged in newspaper work on
the coast, at the time in Oakland. in fact,
and 1 am conversant with the particulars
from personal knowledge. though the dis
covery at the time excited but little local
interest, and so remarkable was It that it
was doubted in some quarters. Suisse
Quently. however. the truth was developed.
The gold bars to an estimated quantity of
$2JO,OO0, were actually found, but to whom
they had originally belonged, or by whom
they were stolen, Is still mystery As it
happened about ten years ago 1 cannot re-
call the names Of the parties with accuracy,
though l once knew them every effort. of
course, being made at the time to keep the
find secret.
Discovered by an Italian.
"A two-story frame house on 10th street,
In Oakland, was owned and occupied by
family the head of which at the time in
question, and for great many years, over
twenty, / think, was an employee in the
San Francisco mint. / remember the house
well. The old man died suddenly. and the
mouse was at once sold by his heirs. The
new owner began tearing it down. intend
ing replacing 1t with business structure
IN oigglng away the lower walls an Ital-
ian iaDorer came upon a gold bar hidden
III tne foundations. He covered the bar
up WITH earth and went on digging but
soon unearthed so many other secreted
pars that his find was discovered by three
otner men employed with him. They at
uhce entered into secret compact to col
Iect the Dars themselves and inform no one
eise especially the contractor and the
owner or the great and unexpected wealth
win which they had so suddenly become
itallans l think. They were successful
LII getting the gold away from the prem
lses unobserved by others The first init
ilatlon that something of unusual ma
lure nau happened to these four men was
that they quit work for good and made
heaVy investments in real estate Their
purchases excited suspicion. as they all
i hiu oeen very poor men. To cut short
iong story. however. 1t was ascertained
that they had in fact found the gold, and
tney were, under legal advice converting
IL INTO other property to prevent the posi-
Die owner from laying claim to his original
property.
How the Money Was Spent.
successful
In fact. luck appeared to be with them.
No one came forward to claim the hidden
treasure for the very good reason, I'M
doubtedly, that the only other person on
the face Of the earth who had known of
its whereabouts was dead. One man
bought ranch in the central part of the
state for $4,000. The Italian living in
Oakland bought fine new house, fur
nished it luxuriously, paying 81 coo for a
piano. and bought his wife an unlimited
quantity of diamond jewelry.
The old adage, however, that stolen
gold brings to its possessor bad luck In
the end proved true. In less than five
years the ranch owner was bankrupt, and
the ranch had reverted to its original own
ers on foreclosure The Italian lost all of
his property and returned to live in the
little cottage in North Oakland he had va
Gated for his fine house. The only thing
he preserved to remind him Of the days
OF his feeting wealth was a Turkish rug
worth about $500, which he placed on
the floor Of the cottage, and would not sell
when all else had gone.
"The third man dissipated all of his
wealth in fast living and gambling and died
a pauper in a hospital in Seattle. The ca
reer of the fourth man 1 cannot recall ac-
curately, but l know that he, too, lost
all that he had The ranch owner, by the
way. died a miserable death alone in a
buried by the town in potter's field.
Mybtcry Oh the
"The gold, Of course, did not rightfully
belong to the man who secreted it in the
walls of the house. 1t was stolen from
some one. and If 1t had been taken by
the man who had formerly owned the
house his heirs put in no claim for it for
the reason that they knew it did not right
fully belong to him. 1t was considered i'm
proba BILE that any person other than he had
secreted it, however, as he had lived in
the house for many years. had built it
himself. If my recollection Is correct.
'Since he had been for so long an en-
ploye of the mint, the general impression
at the time was that he had stolen the gold.
a bar at time from the mint vaults.
bringing it home when he quit work at
night, alone with his secret While this
explanation was the one generally accept
ed, the singular part of the mystery Is
that. if it were true, the government made
no effort to run down the thief nor was
any such large shortage Of gold bars ever
discovered and reported at the San Fran
cisco mint. nor has 1t been reported to
this day.
Noise in Cities.
From the Syracuse Post STANDARD.
I, bod S.tv,cr To