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About Eugene register-guard. (Eugene, Or.) 1930-1983 | View Entire Issue (July 12, 1936)
35,000,000 Buried In Africa By Boer Chief W.n;y Officer Claims Treasure Secreted In CaveSays 5fl00y000 In Gold Bullion Is Hidden In Mountain Carer lievcs Treasure Is Cursed JRMER BRITISH ARMY OFFICER RE VEALS TRUE STORY OF FABLED SOUTH AFRICAN TREASURE vtl - "iPUL " ' " "" iTt. Capt. A. V. Lewis, retired British army officer, T-SSSSx fjcJj "'fajr " ' n ZlJ"" JU?TLff ' " Jj? seated at extreme left, who claims to possess the J 1 ,iwMPf-Kns) Campaigning in South Africa during the Boer war. Transportation -m,"-S''r 4 Y " 't Jif Jfclil was one of the big problems for both armies in a country where -cn'' "" 'S',i'";ff!ZfejK "MjimI JgxtJ St! A grccmcnts frequently were fought guerrilla fashion. JJr V J "-iNk. It If k i f t?) V I C5 - AV'-s-lltSiV A A scene typical of the village life of the South African na lSy &ll tives. The Boer war was fought under extreme hardships with I'v ? "' 1 1 VI both sides frequently pressing the black people into service. By Harry M. Nelson WERE have been many stories of ill-fated treasures. The Hope diamond which is re- fcd to bring ill luck or death to anyone com- in contact with it, is an example. Often :s this "aura of destruction" is brought Jut through the pronouncement of a "curse" (the jewel, or whatever it may be, by a pagan 1st who has served as its keeper. And in ir instances it is the treachery and ruthless ings that have ensued in the fight to gain session of the treasure, which is responsible.- ie latter condition may be said to apply to. tabled store of gold bullion which is believed . iave been hidden during the Boer war at the mand of Oom Paul Kruger, president of the ublic of South Africa. Kruger's government its ally, the Orange Free State, were waging fattle to the death with the British Empire possession of the rich Witwatersrand ics. Defeated and forced to flee, President ;er, so rumor had it, secreted a large supply fold, with the idea that it would be used to bilitate the fortunes of his people, when w was declared. J' that time never came to pass. Instead, W remained in exile in Holland, the Boer rMics were re,uced t British provinces, and cache of gold eventually became a myth. ut the existence of the gold was never ioted by those who had been in South Africa ng the Uoer war. It was talked about on tho ft and in the cities of the land and in the far fs of the world. But there was no clue as to "hereabouts. Nevertheless, one expedition f r another braved hardships and death in the f! of finding it. But failure was their only art. hcweer, the true story of this gold maw k r . . ... I mm, vapi. a. w. L,ewis, a reurea army officer living in Berkeley, Calif., himself a veteran of the Boer war. is the P man livinar wh Vina thin nt nrmntinn. Hl ka the silence of more than 30 years to tell of intrigue and murder, and of dishonor en no had no connection with the treasure than to have been associated with those " " its hiding place. at Captain Lewis told this writer, is '" hi a mountain cave in the vicinity of -'wrg m the northern Transvaal. He esti- to be from 5,000,000 to 7,000,000 Eng Pounds about as nnn nnn t :. s- k. fnrm '""'on, packed in stout cases. ' cme into existence, he says, at the time of "non of Johannesburg by the Boers, in 1900. President Kruger had been offered refuge in Holland, and in . leaving he wished to take aboard ship with him a quantity of gold bullion which had been taken from the Witwatersrand mines. But the Boer officials who remained be hind demanded that a portion of the gold be left in the country, so that they could carry on after peace was declared. Kruger conceded to this de mand, and as a result the necessity developed for hiding the. gold. Shortly after the English had occupied Johan nesburg and the surrounding territory, they be gan to hear tales about this treasure. It was common talk among the English, as well as the Boers. SA lieutenant, in command of the third squad ron of the Bush Veldt Carbineers an irregular cavalry unit, which was stationed at Pieters burg. He heard this talk of gold, but paid little attention to it "We had our work to do," he explained. "Any way, the thought of my ever being connected with the treasure never entered my head. I prob ably wouldn't have had anything to do with it, either, if it hadn't been that at about that time the Boers began surrendering. Little bands would come into camp and lay down their arms. And many of them joined the British forces and fought against their own people. Such conduct did not endear them to us. But they were good fighting men, and they were valuable to us as guides. "It was about this time that Sergeant-Major Lord of my command reported that a young Boer trooper with us, had told him he had taken part in hiding the treasure. The man's name was Van Niekerk. I questioned him, and he told a straight-forward story. He said the gold had been entrusted to Landdrost Hans Minnik,- a Boer official who held a position similar to that of mayor. The instructions were to conceal the gold in the interest of the Boer government. "Minnik, he said, had selected him and a fel low officer, Du Toit, to aid in carrying out these instructions. Kaffirs native blacks, were com mandeered to assist in the work. When the gold had been hidden, the Kaffirs were killed to in-' sure their silence. "Van Niekerk said the gold was hidden in a mountain cave, some 120 miles away. He offered to lead us to the place if we would promise him a share of the treasure. Ml TOOK the matter up with Major Lenahan. He gave me permission to take a patrol and check on the story. I was permitted to select the best men and horses in the command, because the trip would be in enemy country for the most part "We left about 9:30 o'clock one evening. It was a moonlight night, and winter time the best time of the year for travel. Twenty miles from camp we came into Boer territory. We galloped 14 Ml This gentleman from the dark continent would scarcely rank as a beau brummel on Broadway, but he is a power among his people and has to be reckoned with by i white invaders of his realm. along single file on narrow trails through the bush which is characteristic of that country. There was one specimen of bush which was par ticularly annoying. It was a huge thorny variety, about 12 feet in height, and with wide spreading branches. The natives call it 'Wachtenbietje', meaning 'wait awhile'. Occasionally we would brush against one of these bushes at a narrow place in the trail, and the result would be torn clothes and severe thorn wounds. "We had to be continually on the alert, be cause of the danger of running into a Boer patrol. The tension on our nerves was increased, too, by the cries of wild animals. These would burst on us without warning. Sometimes they seemed to be at our very elbow. I particularly remember the cry of the hyena. The jackals are bad, too, and the leopards. Occasionally we would be startled by the rour of a lion. And again we would hear the cries of wild animals fighting each other. "We rode all that night and the next day and the following night. We reached our objective just before dawn. I left the patrol on the road, and with Sergeant Lord and another trooper, Jeffries, as 'my companions I followed Van Nie kerk. He led us up a hill, through a regular jungle. ii A IE HAD to make our way through dense V undergrowth and over and in between huge boulders. Because of the intense heat, it wasn't long before our clothes were wet with perspiration. And as we fairly crawled along, Van Niekerk kept telling us to look out for the green mambas, a snake which Is more deadly than the cobra and which is found in the African jungle. It hangs from a limb and attacks Its victim as he passes underneath. We didn't en counter any of these snakes, but it was certainty a nerve-shattering experience. "We finally reached the cave, at the entrance to which were marks in the soil, indicating that heavy cases of some sort had been deposited there recently. There were other signs, too. "When we arrived at the cave, Van Niekerk asked if he might talk to me privately. We drew to one side, and he told me he had brought me here to provu that he was telling the truth. The gold, he said, had been moved from this cave to another a short distance away. He then showed me this cave. 1 "His story was' that after helping Minnik hide . the gold, he and' Du Toit decided they had as much right to it as any one. So they hired Borne Kaffirs and moved the gold to a new hiding place. Then they killed the Kaffirs, as Minnik had done previously. Du Toit, he said, had met his death in action shortly afterwards, leaving him as the only one possessing the secret." Captain Lewis says that with the exception of those who accompanied him to the cave, none of the members of the patrol knew his mission. They suspected it had to do with some prospec tive military maneuver. He says they never learned otherwise. - Junt why the Captain himself maintained the secret of the gold all these years may seem a bit puzzling to the average person. He says it waB chiefly because of the superstitious horror he developed for the treasure, as a result of the ill luck which overtook practically everyone who came in contact with-it in any way. IT SEEMED to him that his return from th gold hunt marked the beginning of a series of disasters to his regiment. It was as if some sin ister influences were at work. The disintegration of tHe morale of both men and officers were rapid. Hard drinking, hard living group that they were, they now exhibited a spirit of brutality, which was foreign to their natures. Some of the officers seemed obsessed by an insane desire to kill. This madness manifested itself in the ruth less murder of several innocent Boer prisoners. It was in this connection that Van Niekerk met his death. He was shot down by an officer of the regiment, because he protested the bru tality shown to Boer prisoners. "The history of the regiment," Captain Lewis said, "was that of tragedy. A number of Inno cent Boer prisoners were brutally murdered. Two of the officers were courtmartialed and executed for these crimes. The regiment disbanded tn dis grace and the commanding officer sent home a prisoner to Australia, to die of a broken heart." One might consider this tragic outcome as having been due largely to the intense heat of the South African climate a hent which oftca drives men mad; and to the inherent brutality of war, and to an over-indulgence In liquor. But Captain Lewis is Inclined to believe that the cause goes deeper than this. He sees in the catastrophe the malign Influence of the treas ure. "It may seem foolish," he said, "to draw any such inference. But only one who 'has experi enced these horrors is competent to judge." It was because of this belief that he resolved never to have anything to do with the treasure again. And he kept his vow for more than 30 years. He now hopes to visit South Africa again, and, perhaps, interest the government In recover ing the gold. ' Page Fiva B
