The Mystery of the Vanishing Gold
A government shipment of gold disappears between Seattle and Port Townsend, leaving investigators baffled by a tampered seal.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The loss of $320 in gold while being shipped from Seattle to Port Townsend is shrouded in mystery. The package originally contained about $360, of which $320 was in gold, and was sent through the Northern Pacific Express Company by Deputy Collector of Customs McDonald from Seattle to the customs collector of Port Townsend. The Seattle deputy sealed and expressed the package two weeks ago. The following Monday, it was delivered to Special Deputy Collector Walter Bowen by Charles Kline, the local messenger. In accordance with the usual custom, Mr. Bowen called in another deputy and they broke the seal. The gold was missing, and to make up for the weight, $30 in silver had been substituted, which weighed about the same as the gold. Mr. Hamilton, the local agent, was immediately notified, and upon examination it was clearly seen that Deputy Collector McDonald's seal had been tampered with. The express company has been unable to fasten the theft on any one. It seems that the actual possession of the package while it was in transit came into the hands of two regular express agents and three messengers.
“The gold was missing, and to make up for the weight, $30 in silver had been substituted, which weighed about the same as the gold.”
The transit of government funds between Seattle and Port Townsend was a high-stakes logistical challenge in the 1890s. Today, the route is a standard commute, but the vulnerability of physical currency in transit remains a classic trope of historical crime reporting.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.