The daily morning Alaskan., 1903-07-07
TREASURE kfLOAT
lcopyrIrht. bod. by 2. D. LswIl.l


 when we fen in with and boarded e brig which had seemingly been aban' doned for Q week or more. The fore castle and cabin were empty of bed ding. and not a single article of cloth Ing could be found. We searched in vain for the logbook and the ships papers, nor could we find a scrap of writing of any sort. The flag locker was empty. but we should have known the brig to bc Russian without seeing her namo. Her clock. chronometer Qf she had One). log line and officers instruments. together with her charts and the com. pass from the pinnacle. had been re- moved.
 We thought that we might learn something by a look at her cargo. but when We got the main hatch on we found she was only ln ballast. We made discovery of Importance in the cabin. however. She had a shallow lazaret reached by a trapdoor. and from out of this recess we hauled four large leather sacks of silver plate. About half Of the lot was church plate, while the rest had belonged to some private individual Every piece was of solid silver, but many of them had been bent and hammered to get them Into the sacks. These latter recepta- cles were made of cOwskln. with tho hair stlll on. and were laced up at the seams. It took our united strength to haul the bags out and on deck. It was little wonder. though. as there was about 100 pounds of dead weight to a sack.
 Here was something worthy of the name of loot. and In the course Of an. other hour we had the sacks aboard of the bark and had left the derelict to her fate.
 AS to the silver. it seemed plain enough that it was the proceeds of a robbery somewhere In Russia. It was given out that it would be taken home with US and sold for the benefit of the crew. and for two or three days we were busy figuring out our respective shares.
 Then we encountered a Swedish mer. chantman In distress and stood by hlm for a portion of the day to render as- sistance. He had come out of the White sea and while conversing with our captain incidentally Inquired lf in cruising about we had ever got sight of a small brig named the Grodno That brought out the story and solved the mystery. and lt also got our entire crew into Q peck of trouble.
 The GrOdno was owned at the port of Rem, in the White seq. It appeared that while she was waiting for a cargo a band of eight robbers plundcred Q church and also the residence of the governor of the province on the same night In getting cway from the latter place they had fight and killed two of their pursuers. They had carts in which to carry ofI their booty, but in- stead of proceeding inland they took forcible possession of the brig. Only her mate and boy were aboard, but two or three of the robbers were also sailors. They compelled the mate to put to sea. and. though pursued the next dny. they had the luck to get clear on.
 The Idea was to get to England with the booty. but after getting around on the north coast lt was thought better to go Into hiding until there was DO longer fear of pursuit.
 The island of Tana. at the entrance of Tana bay. was selected. It was the Intention to strip the brig of every thing and live ashore for a f-w months, but when this had been partially ac' complished and while all hands were ashore one day the craft broke loose and went drifting out to sea. to be boarded by us four or i've days later.
 don't know whether the captain in' tended to put Into any Russian port or not. but If SO he was saved the trouble Two days after we left the Swede Russian man-Of-war which he spoke and put on our track oyerhauled us and demanded the plate. When that was given up. we were commanded to accompany him to Rem and were vlr tuallY under arrest during the voyage
 When we reached Rem, every man aboard, from captain to cook. was marched of to jail The captain was liberated on a bond Of some sort afteI a few days. but the rest of us were treated Ike dogs.
 It was Ave weeks before we were taken before the governor and a judge to be examined. Two of the robbers had been hanged. one sent to Siberia and the others imprisoned at home. You will think it a very funny thing. but these latter actually charged us with having robbed them. While they had been convicted of robbery. they claimed the booty as legally theirs
 One of the questions asked me by the judge was by what authority board ed and searched the brig. The captain was asked by what authority he or. dered and assisted In the removal of the silver. And when he gave them a piece of his mind he was fined $50 and sent to Jail for two days as a punish. ment It looked for a time as if our entire crew were to be sent to prison because we had taken the plunder from the wreck. but think the whole thing was a sort of blun to prevent us put ting in a claim for salvage. Some of nltr mon nItlnlhn nf rnrtrh hnnr,nnnh Ar