JAP GEMS DISCOVERED

Chronicle (Levin), 23 November 1946, Page 5

JAP GEMS DISCOVERED

Received Eriday, 7 p.m, WASHINGTON, Nov. 21. General MacArthur has notified the War Department that diamoncls worth from 20,000,000 to 25,000,000 dollars which the Japanese Armed Forces hid in caches throughout Japan before the occupation, have been discovered. They are now in the Bank of Japan 's vaults and will be disposed of iiltimately in accordance with agreements, among the Allie.d Powers. A smaRer collecfion of miscellaneous stones including jades, opals, sapphires and industrial diamonds, in addition to a collection of cultured pearls, has also been store.d in the bank's vaults pending final disposition. The United Press Tokio correspondent says the germs are owned by "Koeki Eldan" which is the Japanforeign trade control association and wartime procurement agency for the armed forces. The gems weretj apparently buried on orders from the High Command in the hope that they could be used to finance underground activity after the surrender. Two Smithsonian .Institute experts .who, with Army Intelligence officers, tracked the gems to their many burial places over a period of nearly six raonths, said that when the di$monds were dug up they were in a "confused condition, dirty and mi^ed with worthless debris." Tfie largest diamond weighed between '53 and 55 carats.