SONOMA GOLD ROBBERY.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 November 1921, Page 5

SONOMA GOLD ROBBERY.

A PORTION RECOVERED. FOUND ON THE STEAMER. By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright. New York. Nov. 28. Five thousand five hundred and sixty English sovereigns have been recovered from ;the ventilator hold of the Sonoma at San Francisco. New York, Nov. 28. San. Francisco messages report that the Sonoma’s recovered gold was found by t‘he engineer Knudsen stuffed in rubber hoee on board the ship. Received Nov. 29, 5.5 p.m. San Francisco, Nov. 28. The United Press reports that 75,000 dollars more of the Sonoma’s gold has been discovered, and the Chronicle states that all the gold has been found. DISCOVERY ACCIDENTAL. FURTHER SEARCH BEING MADE. PASSENGERS SUSPECTED. Received Nov. 29, 10 p.m. San Francisco, Nov. 28. The discovery of part of the Sonoma’s gold was totally accidental. Knudsen, finding the ventilator shaft out of order, opened it and found a rubber hose stuffed, shutting off the air. He then pushed a shower of sovereigns out. This strengthened the belief of the detectives that the remainder of the gold was still on board, and the searches were renewed, proceeding over the vessel slowly and minutely. The Burns Detective Agency, which was called in, advanced the theory, partially substantiated by known facts, that the thieves were passengers on board the Sonoma. The company officials immediately consulted the records, showing that one man made three consecutive trips. His name was not disclosed, but the Burns Agency declares that the individual is now en route to* the East, and it is believed an arrest is likely to follow shortly.

WRONGLY SUSPECTED. CABIN BOY AND A CRIMINAL. Received Nov. 29, 9.5 p.m. New York, Nov. 28. The San Francisco Chronicle states that attempts to identify J. Whatton, the Sonoma’s cabin boy, as Charles Barrett, implicated in a bullion robbery on the steamer Humboldt in 1920, failed to-day, and, according to Chief Detective Matheson, there is no possibility of Whatton being Barrett. He said: “I arrested Barrett when I was working on the Humboldt case, and I am certain Whatton is not the same man. There is absolutely no similarity of description. It is almost certain that Barrett is at present in the East. The habits of the two men are totally dissimilar.” Seventy-five thousand dollars was in the original container, buoyed by a large oil can tied by a rope to the Sonoma’s rudder. Another message states that £15,000 was found in three milk cans suspended underwater at the stern of the Sonoma. MUCH STILL MISSING. Received Nov. 30, 12.5 a.m. New York, Nov. 28. , The final check shows that 13,000 dollars are still missing from the Sonoma’s gold.