Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1908-01-03
open DRUCE GRAVE;
END VISION OF GOLD.
PLAN TO GET PORTLAND CASH
SHATTERED BY FINDING OF
MANS BODY.
CHARGE OF PERJURY
FINALLY EXPLODED
Assertion That NobIeman Lived Dual
Life and That Mass Of Lead Was
Buried in English Vault Is Upset
Upon ELIMINATION Of Remains.

AOnQOu, O6C. SI.-IQ6 DOQy OIL
Thomas Charles bruce, in Highgate
cemetery, was eXhumed Monday, just
- years to day after It's burial The
CONN was found to contain the re-
mains of human body, thus explod-
Ing the romantic tale told by Robert
@. Caldwell and others, who swore
during the recent hearing of the
bruce perjury case that it contained
roll of lead.
The official statement given out by
representatives of the home office and
others who were officially present at
the exhumation, not only definitely
disposes of the lead myth, but seems
effectively to prove that the body
buried in 1864 was actually that Of T.
c. bruce. The authorized statement
follows:
The coffin was opened and found
to contain the body of an aged, beard
ed man; the plate on the coffin bore
the name Thomas Charles Druce.'"
Every Vantage Point Guarded.
The scene at Highgate cemetery
when the vault was opened was re-
markable. Constables seemed to
spring from everywhere; every bush
and every tree apparently hid an Of
ficer of the law. All the entrances
to the cemetery were surrounded by
cordons of police. Only those per-
Sons who had passes from the home
Office were admitted to the grounds.
George Hollamby bruce, who claims
he is the rightful heir to the Portland
dukedom and to its vast estate, tried
twice to get into the cemetery, but
was met with a stern refusal.
The operations began at daybreak
with the removal Of the topmost cof-
fins in the vault, containing the bod
les of the wife and son of T. G.
bruce. It was very late before the
coffin, the contents of which have
aroused the curiosity of the whole
world, was brought up ready for open
Ing and inspection.
Vault Gives Up Its Secret.
The top was quickly unscrewed and
the inner casing of lead cut open.
There was no need for the dictum of
the eminent surgeon, Augustus j..
Pepper, who was appointed by the
home Office to carry out the examina-
ton, to assure all present that human
( remains lay in the coffin.
The bruce vault has thus given up
Its secret after ten years of legal
proceedings, which have cost, all told,
. considerable fortune A large part
Of this money was obtained from
servant girls and other workers who
were induced to buy shares in COM
pany formed to prosecute the claims
of George Hollamby bruce against the
estate Of the duke of Portland The
charge of perjury against Herbert
Druce is effectively disposed Of
Dire Consequences to Follow.
~ Those persons who have sworn to
the placing of lead instead of hui
man body In the coffin have been dis
credited, and they probably will have
to take the consequences of their
acts.
So far as the general public is con-
cerned, the entire long drawn-out
Druce-duke of Portland controversy is
at an end, and the case of the claim
ant, George Hollamby bruce, has
fallen to the ground
Must Answer In London.
New York, Dec. 31.-Robert G. Cald-
well, whose testimony as witness
IN the so-called bruce case led to the
reopening Of the grave Of T. c. bruce
Monday, is now at the home of his
daughter at New Brighton, Staten is
land. He is under $1,000 bonds to an
swer to charge of perjury preferred
by the British authorities in connec-
ton with the story he told in the
London court. Caldwell was arrested
when he arrived here from Europe
December 81. Counsel for the Brit
ish vice-consul, through whom the
warrant for Caldwell's arrest was OBJ
tanned, insisted that the latter be held
prisoner until extradition proceed.
ings be completed, but upon the plea
of Caldwell's counsel that such de.
tention would be almost certain to re.
suit in death, two physicians were ap.
pointed by the court to make an ex-
animation as to the prisoners physi-
tai condition.
CHIEF JUSTICE cAssoDAY DEAD,