1040

Bridgeport & Bodie Telegram About Men Killed Trying to Rob the SF Mint After the Earthquake

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins - Mint Sets Start Price:250.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 1,000.00 USD
Bridgeport & Bodie Telegram About Men Killed Trying to Rob the SF Mint After the Earthquake
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Fantastic! This is a very rare telegraph message from the Bridgeport, Bodie, Mono Lake, Masonic and Sweetwater Telephone Line. This is a very rare telegram form on its own! What makes this lot even better is that the message, dated April 20th, 1906, is about a botched attempt to rob the San Francisco Mint after the earthquake. "Flames now checked, lack of wood and water greatest trouble. fourteen men killed in attempt to rob mint." Signed ST Morgan. Sent from Reno to the Chronicle Union. 6.25 x 9" The devastating SF earthquake occurred just two days prior on April 18th, 1906. Luckily, the mint escaped serious damage from the quake and fire, but clearly a group of men thought they could take advantage of the chaos! This event is referenced in San Francisco's Horror of Earthquake and Fire, written by James Russel Wilson, 1906, Memorial Publishing Co. : "It was a night haunted by a thousand terrors and punctuated by the crack of the rifle. The soldiers guarding the treasure vaults of the United States Mint and of the ruined bank buildings were alert. During the night they shot and killed no less than fourteen men who were seen prowling about, intent upon robbery."

Date: 1906
Country (if not USA):
State: California
City: San Francisco
Provenance: Ken Prag Collection