Saturday, Mar. 24, 1923

South Africa

The fortune of Paul Kruger, one-time President of the Transvaal, has been exhumed, according to reports from Cape Town. A young man by the name of Pritchard says that he has located the spot where the treasure was buried in the Sable game reserve, North Transvaal. Mounted police have been despatched to the scene to keep law and order.

Rumor has it that the lost fortune is anything from $1,250,000 to $2,500,000. All that is definitely known about the late President's wealth is that he left an estate valued at $3,750,000.

Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, born on Oct. 10, 1825, at Colesburg, Cape Colony, lived a life of desperate activity. In 1898 he was elected President of the Transvaal for the fourth and last time. In 1899 war with Great Britain was declared, but in 1900, too old, he was forced to retire from command. It was during his flight to Europe at this time that Kruger lost his fortune. He died at Vevey, on the shores of Lake Geneva, in Switzerland, July 14, 1904.

When a statue to President Kruger was erected at Pretoria his third wife insisted that the crown of his hat should be left open in order that rain water might collect there for the birds.