The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1901-03-23
The KIDNAPPED LINER.


TO Southampton.
The fact of her departure, ordinarily
of merely local interest, was tele-
graphed all over the civilized world;
for there was a significance attached
10 this particular ship such as had
never before marked the sailing OF an
ocean steamship from those shores.
II was not because the great ves-
sci numbered among her crowd OF
passengers well-known English
duke and his young bride that her
sailing was heralded by such blow
ing of trumpets, nor because she also
had upon her lists the names OF the
august British ambassador TO the
United States, returning home on a
brief furlough, noted English TRACE
dian. fresh from his American tri-
Gus personages whose names were
household words In n dozer coun-
tries.
The presence OF all those notables
was merely incidental. What made
this trip of the "OlSlahoma" an event
of international interest was the fact
that at this, the apparent climax of
the great gold-exporting movement
from the United States, now continued
until IL had almost drained the ma
tional treasury OF its precious yellow
hoard, and had precipitated n com
mercial crisis such as never before
had been experienced, the "Ol<la-
homa" was taking TO the shores of
insatiatc John Bull the greatest
amount of bullion ever shipped upon
a single vessel.
II was not the usual paltry half
million or million sterling that she
was carrying away in her great
strong room of steel and teak wood,
but thirty million sterling OF CLINT
ing bars, hastily called across the
ocean because of the adverse "bal-
ance of trade" and the temporary
mistrust OF American securities by
the tickle Europeans.
Suppose some daring Napoleon of
crime should hatch a startling con-
spiracy 10 seize the steamer, intimi-
date the crew and passengers, and
possess himself of the huge treasure?
at would be a stake well worth long
risks" thought some of the police
officials, as they read the cablcd ac-
counts in the London evening papers.
The "Oklahoma" was n fast sailor
Her 500 feet of length and her 10000
tons of displacement were made light
work of by the great clanking, triple
expansion engines when their com
pined force OF $4,000 horsepower was
brought TO bear upon her twin
screws. Under ordinary conditions
she ought TO have made port on the
other side in time TO let her passen-
gers eat late dinner on the sixth day
out. Incoming steamers reported n
brief spell OF nasty weather in mid.
ocean, however, and so her failure TO
reach Southampton on the sixth day
and even the seventh, was not particu-
larly remarked.
If the big ship had arrived on the
eighth day, or even early on the
ninth, IL would still have found the
public i'm comparatively calm state
of mind, for the mid-Atlantic storm
would naturally account for n multi
tude of lost hours; but when the
ninth Tapped over on 10 the tenth,
and the tenth on TO the eleventh and
twelfth, with no tidings OF the tardy
steamer, surprise grew into anxiety,
and anxiety into an international SEN
sation.
All sorts of plausible theories were
advanced by the steamship agents,
the newspapers and other oraclcs, in
Guiding that OF the inevitable broken
shaft; and these might have sufliced
for day or two longer had IL not
been for another and much more start
ling theory that suddenly come TO the
surface. and threw two continents
into fever of trepidation and sus-
pensc.
IL was the following announcement
in n leading New York morning pa
per that reused excitement TO fever
heat:
az new and most astounding phase
has come over the case OF the mystic
riously missing oklahoma. IL has
Just been given out from police head
quarters that Gentleman jim Lang
wood, the noted craftsman and
forgcr, whose ten years sentence ex-
pired only few weeks ago, was In
New York. several days before the
sailing of the oklahoma and went
with her as a passenger under an as
sumed name. Even at that very time
detectives were looking for him, as n
tip had been sent around that he was
up 20 some new deyiltry. One OF those
clever people whom nothing ever es-
capes had seen him go aboard almost
at the last minute, and gave an ac-
curatc description of his personal APP
pearance, which was evidently but
slightly disguised.
"Langwood is probably the only
criminal in the country who would
ever conceive and try 10 execute such
n stupendous undertaking, and il Is
something more than suspicion on
the part Of thc New York police that
he has Struggled on board "A couple
@ - Ir~r,. xxoff-aru,aI Inunnra1aao xvhc