Daily camera., 1901-10-14
UNOWNED GOLD BARS
Mysterious Find In Oakland That
Was Never Accounted For.
lntersstinG Account Of Former News
pADss AAA-Eortans 1ouaA b.
Laborsrs who AftsFWasAs
Retired

| lnter>stinG Account Of Former News.
PAPER AaA-Eortsns 1ouad b.
Laborsrs who Afterwards
| RstirsA.
The recent theft Of $4,000 worth
OF sold bars from the mint IN oan
Francisco and the robbery of over
quarter of Q million of dollars. also
in gold bars. from the Selby smslt-
ing works near San Francisco. calls
to mind the discovery Of large but
unknown quantity Of gold In bars In
. house which was being demolished
in Oakland. just across the bay from
San Francisco, says . correspondents
OF the Washington Star.
was engaged in newspaper work
on the coast, at the time In Oakland.
in fact, and am convsrsant with the
particulars from personal knowledge.
though the discovery at the time sx.
cited but little local interest, and so
remarkable was It that 1t was doubt
cd In some quarters. Subsequently,
however, the truth was developed.
The gold bars, to an estimated guam
tity of sasO,OOO, were actually found.
but to whom they had originally be-
longed or by whom they were stolen.
- stil . mystery. As Il happened
about ten years ago l cannot recall
the names of the parties with &C
eursey though l once know them.
every effort. Of course, being made ~
the time 70 keep the "hnd" . secret.
A two-story frame house on Tenth
street. In Oakland. was owned and
occupied by . family. the head OF
which at the time In question. and
for q great many years. over 20. l
think. WAS an smploys in the San
Francisco mint. remember the
house we'll. The old man died sud
denly and the house was At once
sold by his heirs. The new owner BE-
gan tearing IL down. intending re-
placing IL with Q buainsss structure.
In digging away the lower walls an
Italian laborer came upon . gold
bar hidden In the foundations. He
covered the bar up with earth snd
went on digging. but soon unearthed
90 many other sscrstsd bars that his
hnd was discovered by three other
men employed with him. They 1T
once entered into a sscsst compact
70 collect the bars themselves and
inform no one slss. especially the
contractor and the owner. Of the
great and unexpected wealth with
which they had 90 suddenly become
possessed.
THE men were all laborsrs, NO be-
ing Italians, I think. They wsre sue
ssssful in getting the gold away from
che premises unobssrvsd BY others.
The hrst intimation that something OF
an unusual nature had hsppsosd 70
these four men was that they quit
work for good and made heavy invsst-
msnts in real estate. Their purchase
excited suspicion. As they all had been
very poor men. To cw. short . long
story. however. Il was asesrtainsd that
they had in fact found the gold. snd
they were. under legal advice. convert
ing II into other property 70 prevent
che possible owner from laying claim
20 his original propsrsy.
in this they were all succsssful. In
fact, luck appeared TO be with them.
No one came forward 70 claim the hid
den treasure tor the very good reason.
undoubtedly. that the only other per
son on the face Of the earth who had
known OF its whereabouts was dead.
One man bought ranch in the central
par, Of the state for s70.o 900. The Ital-
IAN living in Oakland bought hne new
house. furnished IL lu1uriously. pay
ing 1000 for q piano. and bought his
wife an unlimited quantity Of diamond
tvslry.
The old ada9s. however. that stolen
gold brings to lis posssssor bad luck
In the end proved true. In less than
ave years the ranch owner wsA bank
rupt, and the ranch had reverted 70 il
original owners on foreclosure. The
italian lost all Of his property and re-
turned 70 live In the little cottage In
North Oakland he had vacated for his
Ane house. The only thing he pre-
served to remind him OF the days OF
his aeeting wealth was Turkish rug
worth about 81 500. which he placed on
che floor Of the cottage. and would not
sell when all else had gone.
! The third man dissipatsd all of his
wealth in fast living and gambling and
died q paupsr in q hospital in Seattle.
The career Of the fourth man l can
not recall accurately. but know that
be. too, lost all THAI he had. The ranch
owner. by the way. died . miserable
death alone in . cabin on the SAcrs-
mento river and was buried by the
lown In the pottsr's field.
"Ths gold. Of course. did not right
fully belong TO the man who sserstsd
Il In the wallis Of the house. It was
stolen from some one. and II II had
been taken by the man who had for
msrly owned the house his heirs put In
no claim for II for the reason that they
knew it did not rightiully belong 30
him. 1t wss considered improbable
shat any person other than he had Sc
srsted II however. as he had lived in
Ahe house for many years. had built
Il Kim self. IL my recollection is correct.
"Sinee he had been for so long an
employe Of the mint the general i'm
preston at the time was that ne had
stolen the gold. bar at time. from
che mint vaults. bringing Il homs when
he quit work at night. While this sx-
PLANTATION was the one generally ac-
septed the singular part Of the mys-
stry y that II il were true the govern
ment made no effort to run down the
4hief nor was any such large shortage
Of gold bars ever discovered and re-
ported At the San Francisco mint nor
hss II been reported TO this day"
II Oostly Hotel at Vancouver.
II hotel In 10 be huilt in yancouReI