The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1919-09-06
SHOPPING STACKS OF SILVER
Eighteen TrainlOads of Bryan's Fav-
orite Metal Carried Across
America

Cheyenne, Wyo., Sept. 6.-Moun
tains of sterling silver, millions and
millions and hundreds of millions of
dollars worth of the precious white
rnetal, 18 train loads, not carloads, of
the silver "pigs" were secretly trans
ported, during the war, across the
great plains of Nebraska, over the
mountains of Wyoming, through the
deserts of Utah and Nevada, and
landed on board British warships in
San Francisco bay for transporta-
tion to India and Japan and China.
And so secretly were the shipments
made and so secretly were the treas
ure trains guarded that not one dol
left Philadelphia until they were
shunted alongside the British men-of-
war at the docks in San Francisco.
The story is just being told by west
ern railroad men who assisted in
handling the trains.
The treasure was being sent to
Asia by the British government to
pay for war supplies and materials
purchased by the British army 1t
was portion of credit established
in this country by the British. But
cash, not credit. was NEEDED in the
Asiatic countries. so the British con-
verted their American credit into
good American silver dollars, had
them melted into silver "pigs" at the
Philadelphia mint, and shipped across
the continent to San Francisco, where
British warships carried them across
the Pacific to Asia, where they were
used to pay bills contracted by the
British government for all sorts of
war supplies.
FIRST TRAIN IN MAY, 1918
Eighteen trains were required to
transport the silver treasure. The
shipments extended over a period of
II months, the last train load going
over the mountains and the plains
and the deserts in April of this year.
The first of the 18 trains made the
journey in May, 1918.
Five cars were handled at a time
and this number completed the train
that is, five express cars and one
car for the guard. The guardcar was
used to prepare meals, mostly. The
guards slept in the treasure cars.
Each train went through as "spec-
ial," and was billed as "war materials,
rush forward" And they certainly
were rushed across the continent.
Everything gave way before the
silver trains. Overland passenger
trains were sidetracked; cars of live
stock had to go to the siding an hour
before the treasure trains were due;
fruit trains from the Pacific, all had
to get out of the way for the trains of
''war materials" which were being
"sent to Siberia" for use of the allies
on the Russian front.
ARMED MEN ON GUARD
From Philadelphia to Cheyenne
each car was guarded by two gun
men. Each man was armed with two
automatic pistols Of the heaviest type.
And each man had, in addition, a
sawed-of pump shotgun and a supply
of slug cartridges. For long-distance
work there were couple of repeating
rifles in each car. The men took turns
in sleeping and guarding. One man
in each car was on guard all the time
The other guard in each car slept on
cot in the car.
Each car was locked on the out
side and on the inside. Meals were
prepared in the extra car and were
brought to the doors of the treasure
car by the superintendent of the
train. Neither the superintendent nor