Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1920-11-19
RUSSIA SENDS BIG
SHIPMENT Of GOLD
TO CANADIAN MINT
MlNlON IN HEAVILY GUARDED
SPECIAL TRAIN AND RUSHED
TO TTAWA--BULLiON TRANS
FERRED AT SEA.

Victoria BE, Nov. l9.-Stores Of
transfer of millions Of dollars of Rus
sian gold from one ship 10 another in
half Il gale III sea OIL the Canadian
Pacific coast and Of rush "trip with
the money across tauada n "A heavily
guarded special train, disguised ~
silk express We're published IN the Vic
tOria Colonist recently as part of the
hitherto untold history OF the World
war.
Two recent newspaper dispatches,
xeelningl, unrelated, the CoIonist said
recalled the hitherto unpublished ana
romantic story of the gold shipment.
One dispatch from Europe said MIR.
NoyitskN former assistant Ia the min
lister OF finance of the all Russian goN-
ernlntnt, had limited at hp hug"
amounts of gold shipped through Van
couver, r. g., during the war, iuclud-
inY fG0,UU 900 from Nlndivostok.
Warships Figure in Story.
The other dispatch said me Cana
dian cruiser Rainbow had been sold 10
Seattle firm. The connection. the
counis said was in the fact the Rain
bow transferred a big shipment of the
gold al sea from a Japanese Warship
aud brought II into Vancouver.
RussIa'S gold, the story continued,
came In several shipments the first of
which amounted to about $4,000 Oco.
II WAS IN the form Of bullion IN boxes
about fifteen inches long, and was
loaded AZ NladiyoStok early in 1916 for
transfer to III" ottawa Cunada) mint.
A big japanese War>hip with Novit2ky
In charge of The bullion carried the
money across the Pacific.
Rainbow Gets Treasure
The treasure ship never touched
Canadian port, however. for far oar AZ
sea the Rainbow in a near.gale met
the warship and the precious freight
WAS transferred between the heaves of
the rollers. The Warship turned back
and the little cruiser steamed into Van
cOuvrr, arriving N The Canadian PA
cihc dock at three o'clock ON q dark
and wet morning
Awaiting her We're officials of the
Dominion Express company. who bad
come out from Montreal in their prl
vate car A picked crew put the
money on special train of five ex
press cars, which had been switched
into the Canadian Pacific dock. Each
car was loaded with $9DO.r in gold
Greatest Caution Used
Every door WAS guarded and barred
and the tranScontinental trip started /
A telephone system connected the /
whole train, and whenever q sentinel
wished to move from one car 20 an !
other he did so on release from the I
official car The doors were never
opened when the train was ut a stand T.
still, and no guard was permitted to |
show himself from the train windows /
while passing through towns Al night >
the train ran in darkness, and at each |
divisional point, when engines were !
changed, detectives guarded the plat /
form until the journey was resumed. |
Az an additional prccaution the train .
was operated ut irregular speeds on |
different legs of the trip.
Sleigh> backed up to the train at OF /
tawa and The gold was unIoaded and |
taken 10 the min, under direction of |,
Novitsky.
The train was the first of several Il
which passed through Vancouver dur 1
ing the war. In August. 1916. another 1
train carried SI0UUO.NuO across Can.
ada, and in January, 1917, S177NuUOO
made the trip.