Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-05-24
PLATINUM
Story Of A Large Shipments Jour.
ney To The United States.

Story Of A Large Shipments Jour.
ney To The United States.
Think Of the preciousness of plati-
mum!
For war purposes il Is well-nigh in
dispensable. Just for one item, tanks"
could not be operated without il. They
must have II for "counterpoints" in
their machinery.
A tank, one should realize is a
crude-looking monster outwardly, hut
its insides are 4 complex Of elaborate,
brightly polished and skillfully con-
structed mechanism.
Now. think OF the fact that 80 per
cent OF the worlds platinum supply
comes from the Cral Mountains, in
Russia. Also, that the Germans, from
this time on, are likely to control this
resource.
You will then be able to appreciate
the value Of an idea that struck GER
tain American mining engineers Il
while ago, when they plainly saw that
we should almost inevitably be drag
ged into the war.
Two OF these engineers. Lieutenant
Stines and F. w. Draper, undertook
to get together lot of platinum. Be-
ing in Russia at the time, they man
aged to collect II in small quantities.
though this was done in competition
with German agents. and there was
more or less incidental danger. For
German agents do not stick ut murder
or triiles of that sort.
Eventually. however. a quantity Of
platinum representing market value
Of about S2,100,000 was collected and
deposited in ii bank at PetrOgrad. The
next question was. how to get it to
the United States.
The representatives Of an American
express company in Petrograd re-
fused to accept the responsibility. No
body would accept it except f. w.
Draper, who was persuaded that it
was up to" him.
There were one or two obstacles in
the way. One Of these lay in the fact
that, wherI the Siberian Railroad
passes through Manchuria, there were
tribes of bandits which. if they knew
that the platinum was passing
through, would not hesitate to hold
up the train, or to hold up all trains
until the right one arriv ID.
DR.. Draper said Put the platinum
in boxes big enough to make it pos
sible for one man to pick up and
run away with 4 box" 1t was the
best safeguard he could think of. All
Of the stun might have been put into
one box: but it was packed in nine
boxes.
A private car was thought Of, but
rejected. 1t would draw attention. In
stead, three adjoining compartments
on the Siberian Express were secured.
Arrangement having been made that
the platinum was to be placed at the
disposal Of the United States govern
ment, the seals of the American en-
bassy at Petrograd were placed on the
rbezeess sd ard -Ms.-Q1-2per- MAS Qr2yided
with a courier's letter.
The latter was necessary to evade
the inquisitive revenue officers. who,
wanting to know what was in the
boxes, might take samples Of the
platinum. And If they had taken sam
pies, there would probably have been
no platinum left when they got
through.
1t was necessary to bribe the car
porter in order to persuade him to
allow the boxes to be put aboard the
car. The precious consignment. with
Mr. Draper in charge. got away from
Petrograd and reached Vologda. fifteen
hours to the eastward. There demo-
bilized soldiers tried to take possession
of the train, and afterward detached
the engine for their own use.
At the Manchurian frontier the
customs officials were very insistent
upon seeing what was in the boxes.
They were bluffed of. however, with
the letter bearing the embassy seals,
and at length Vladivostok was
reached. There the platinum was de-
posted in q bank, safe for the time
being. But, owing TO censorship dif-
ficulties, Mr.. Draper was thereupon
Obliged to go to Japan and wire New
York for instructions. 1t took eleven
days to get reply.
Arrived back in Vladivostok. the
rest seemed easy. But the ship on
which Mr.. Draper had engaged pas
sage for himself and his platinum, In
stead of sailing on the appointed Sat-
urday, was delayed by pump trouble
for a couple Of days, and finally, after
starting, turned back to port. owing
to more trouble, and decided to wait
until the next Saturday before leaving.
So the platinum had to be carted back
to the bank.
On the next Saturday, however, the
steamer actually started on her voy-
age, and Mr.. Draper, landing at Yo-
kohoma, was able to place the plat
mum in the hands Of an American
express company. 1t was safe at last
and in due course reached the United
States.