The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1901-08-17
ROBBERS GOLD WAS FOUND
JACK WINTERS CONFESSED
Ne Guided the Party 20 Place where
IL was Fat-IIe Tell. ct the Rob
bery-wIn ReceIve Light PaHiuA-
ment. ~ Any.

San Francisco. Aug. 12-Jack Win
tiers, who was arrested for the Selb,
smelling works robbery. has con
fessed the crime. and so far $3.50. O0l
worth Of bullion has been recovered
from the bay. where he had sunk IL
For three days the detectives have
tried all sorts of intimidation to max,
Winters confess. but their threats an
parently had no effect upon him
Finally he asked to see Superintend
ent Ropp OF the works. who, he said
was the only friend he mad. In his
conversation with Ropp Winters man
ner indicated that he knew where the
gold had been hidden Rcpp told him
that they had a strong case against
him and that he would be sent t.
prison for 30 years. He said:
"YoC viii be an old man when yot
get out and il will do you no good t.
hide the gold. We know II is bidder
in the water near the works and We
will search every inch. You may b
sure that the gold will be found before
You get out OF prison
Winters finally weakened and told
Ropp that he had taken the gold. an6
would take him to the spot where i
was hidden- The criminal. in com
pany with Superintendent Ropp and
a force Of detectives, left on a tug 70,
Crockett, There they waited all night
for the low tide Winters pointed ou-
the place at the end Of the railroad
wharf behind the coal bunkers, a
the beginning OF the Vallejo slip. Al,
that point at low tide the mud Is abour
four feet deep. covered by a foot OF
water. When the tug FIRST reached
Crockett. Winters pointed out III,
spot in the water where he said h,
had thrown the gold. Superintendent
Ropp marked the place on the whar,
and the tug steamed away to wait 70
low tide. In the morning Winters
himself got into the mud and waite
up to his neck and for and hour an6
a half CROPPED for the missing bullion
Up to 10 O'Clock $4,000 worth ha6
been recovered This includes tn
four bars Of fine gold. Winters ha,
put some Of the bars in bags. He sal,
that one Of the bags had broken anT
some small bars had dropped out. 1
is now only a question OF carefu
search TO find the rest Of the $3.50. 600
claims that he did the jol
all alone. He says that he made Il
trips from the vault To the wharf from
which he dropped the gold. The
smelter officials. however. are positive
that he received assistance from some
one. The detectives think that his
story that he did it all himself is cor
rect
The tug with the detectives and the
prisoner. Winters. on board has re
turned to the city.
Winters, when he had made up his
mind to tell all he knew about the
crime. was exceedingly willing to give
all the information that was neces
sary for the recovery of the bullion
He practically assumed charge of the
operations and led Captain Seymour
and superintendent Ropp to the dock
He acted more like one Of the detec
tives employed than as a prisoner. As
soon as he arrived at the waters edge
he called the superintendent to his
side and said: Now watch where
| am going to show. Be careful that
you get the locations right"
STOPPING. he picked up three stones
and pacing forward he tossed one OF
them into the water. 1t fell to the
south OF the spot at which the pris
oner stood. Another stone fell to the
east and the third was thrown directly
in front of Winters.
That" said the prisoner. will
mark the water boundary Of the place
where your geld Is hidden"
Stepping to the left, Winters drew
nail from his pocket and asked for |
hammer. He then paced OF a few
'aTds to the right and drove another
lail in the timber.
The gold" he continued, will be |
between these two nails. somewhere
n line with the stones just tossed
nto the water"
A small boat was secured and into |
I Sheriff Veale. Detective Kimball OF |
he Pinkerton agency and two labor
rs were loaded. Winters assisted in
he search for the bricks. He talked
,libly all the while. The deep mud
lnally put stop to operations, and
was decided to build a cofferdam
'efore trying to recover the rest Of
he treasure.
Winters told the officers that he
tanned the robbery long ago with
minute detail He had been two O,
hree months on the work on his little
lnnel
1t had taken two nights labor to
ut through the brick wall Of the
melteT. Most OF the boring in the
ottom Of the vaults had been done
n the night when the gold was taken
Ie carried the plumber. which was
eayy. from the vault to the water and
epossted II where the water was from
iree to six feet deep at low tide. The
stance from the vault to this cache
as about quarter of a mile and he !
Iade II round trips. He was AT
ork four hours on Monday night
our small bars Of refined gold he /
'ncea1ed among the stones OF thu )
just at the further mouth /.
the railroad tunnel I
His purpose had been to use this
I'D for present needs.
Winters on his last trip had per 4
lived that dawn vas breaking. Not z
ring to complete the trip. be laid or
shore the two bricks which were
1nd at the poiEt where the robbers 4
at was supposed to have landed 4