The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-08-18

ly varies from $40. 900 to approximately 81
0o.00. the usual amount being from $50. 900
to $4,000.
Workman Hears "Ghost"
in the Gold Vault.
On the night Of the robbery there was an
unusually large amount Of gold to be stored
IN the vault When the day was ended
Superintendent Vsn der Ropp and his as
~sistants carried fcrty-one bar. Of solid gold
and a hundred bars of solid silver to the
vault and stacked them carefully along
tie inner walls. Then the door was closed.
the bolts shot and the combination thrown.
Then the night shift came on under Fore
man John NJ. Owens. and took IN the
work at the furnaces. There was roar and
rattle and clash and clank Of macb;nerv
and labor all through the night
Suddenly Pat McGlynn. a workman
stopped still at his task and stood int emily
listening.
What's the matter. Pat?" called IN. q,
his fellows.
! Pat slowly turned back to his tss
I'm thinking there's either a dev,, mr.
ghost in the box over there" he r.n,,.s
pointing the stem Of his pipe toward N.
vault. "e
"D'you hear anything,' asked tn. com.
panion. ~
Faith. an 1 did unless I was dres min.
said Pat. TT sounded like the devil ~,
scrapin' his hoofs on a boiler"
Inc companion laughed and listened. He
called to other workmen. and they vent
close to the vault. Not a sound cou,d
hearo- After a time they resumed tb.,r
WORK. They laughed at Pat. and snoL. =,
McGiynn's ghost" and Pat laughed roo
OUT conunued to insist that he had be.,d
a noise in the box"
Discovery of the Loss
and Beginning of Search.
shortly after daylight a blast from the
whistle OF the steamer Sunol. which ma.
to take the gold to San Francisco wa. ~.
signal to unlock the vault.
summoning a dozen assistants from tbs
workmen around the furnaces. Foreman
owens turned the combination and n,r,sa
BACK the lever which opens the door.
1t ereaked. but did not bulge.
again and again he tried to swing b,cr
the door Of the vault. but with no better
success
something is wrong" Owens announced
to the knot gathered round him. There :,
a wedge In the lock inside of the vau,t
Bring a sledge."
A heavy blow from the hammer ssn,
something Gathering down upon the steel
moor inside the vault. The doors few omen
and Owens stepped inside.
Everything was in confusion. ."rne v.,,,
has been robbed" he cried. The COLA hull
lion Is gone. Look. that's how they cid n.
He pointed at the floor Of the vault in which
a great bean-shaped. jagged-edged hole bad
been drilled out from below. A piece of the
flooring. curled up and large enough 70
leave an opening through which a man
could crawl. lay upon the safe floor. Near
by was a broken drill. an empty oil oan
and a few bits of burned paper.
Instead Of tiers of gold bars piled a. hjsh
as a mans head there remained in tn.
strong box but q few sticks OF silver baI-
lion and four bars Of refined gold.
Owens lowered himself into the onen;n~
through the moor His feet touched solid
earth before half his body was below the
floor level. He lighted . match. stopped and
looked about him.
He was in a tunnel burrowed beneath the
vault. Matches. the drippings of many
tallow candles and other signs of recent &C.
cupancy Uttered the earth. Through an
opening eight feet away light came family
into the passageway.
Owens crawled along the tunnel and cana
up at its outer end. He was outside the
company's building and close to the railroad
track. He came out Of the hole. sneezinc
and gasping.
Red pepper" he said. It's everywhere.
They've scattered 1t about to destroy the
scent"
Across the floor Of the vault and along
the tunnel cayenne pepper was scattered
literally.
By this time w. A. Middleton, assistant
manager, and other officials OF the company.
were on hand. A searching party was hur-
riediy organised and placed in charge of
Middleton.
From the outer end of the tunnel the
trail OF red pepper led to the railway tracks
and toward the 3oo-foot tunnel which the
Southern Pacific has bored through the hin
beside which the plant Is situated.
All through the tunnel the searchers.
lanterns revealed traces Of the cayenne
pepper At the entrance farthest from thu
smelling works the bay il but q couple of
yards away.
Scatter along the beach," commanded
Addlston. = look for traces Of q land.