Editorially speaking...
It was in the news earlier this month that a Gabriola Island man had lost his great-uncle’s ‘Dead Man’s Penny’.
This First World War memorial plaque was made from bronze and became popularly known as the ‘Dead Man’s Penny’ among front-line troops. It was also known as the ‘Death Penny,’ ‘Death Plaque’ and ‘Widow’s Penny’ even though it’s 120 millimetres in diameter.
BBC – A History of the World
Mike Aldridge thinks he somehow dropped Great-Uncle Samuel Richard Aldridge’s medals and ‘coin’ while driving home from Victoria from a medical appointment. He didn’t notice the vinyl bag containing his family heirlooms was missing until the next day.
“I opened the door of my van and it must have dropped out,” he told the Nanaimo News Bulletin. He admits to being forgetful because of a sleep disorder. The vinyl bag is easily identifiable as it’s tied with a seat belt with a GM buckle.
Obviously upset, he has reached out to the press and contacted coin collectors, pawn shops and stores that sell collectibles. He’s also offering a reward of $500 for the coin and $750 for everything which is said to be “well above the going rates for online sales of these items.
Anyone with information was asked to email bullseyepnd@gmail.com.
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The flip side of Mr. Aldridge’s loss is the reported discovery of the 1875 wreck of the passenger steamer Pacific which sank after a collision off Cape Flattery with the loss of as many as 300 passengers and crew. There were only two survivors.
—Wikipedia
Treasure hunters have been looking for it for decades because of its reputed treasure that, today, would be worth several millions of dollars.
But it’s far more challenging than finding it and salvaging its contents from 1500 feet down in the depths.
Salvage laws now give first claim to descendants of victims and already several have come forward.
Would-be salvors might want to consider the salvaging of the CPR passenger liner S.S. Islander which sank with loss of life after striking an iceberg in Lynn Canal, Alaska in 1901. In the 1930s, after repeated attempts salvagers succeeded in hauling the hull onshore. But the purser’s safe, thought to contain boxes of bullion, yielded only a handful of gold coins and waterlogged currency.
When the ravaged hulk of the Islander, whose decks and superstructure had collapsed inward, was sluiced the amount of gold and valuables recovered didn’t nearly pay for their trouble.
It’s known that the Pacific carried several passengers who’d struck it rich in the Omineca diggings and were headed for the bright lights of San Francisco. Were they carrying their gold with them and is it still within the wreckage?
At least the salvagers of the Islander didn’t have to share the spoils with descendants.
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Further to last week’s tribute to Molly Justice on the 80th anniversary of her murder on the Saanich railway tracks in January 1943, I discovered that Chemainus folksinger Sweet Potato Brown has recorded a song, simply entitled, Molly Justice.
For 40 years it was my grandmother, Ellen Green, who each January placed her In Memoriam ad in the Colonist. I’ve carried on the family tradition during a career-long crusade to keep Molly’s memory alive in print.
Now she’s being remembered in a ballad. You can hear it at https://sweetpotatobrown.bandcamp.com/releases.
Bravo and bless you, Sweet Potato Brown!
Chemainus folksinger Sweet Potato Brown who has recorded a ballad telling the story of 15-year-old Molly Justice’s murder, 80 years ago. —
And this short note from reader Brian Holt: “Funny that you should be writing about Molly Justice. I let my mother know that you will have an article out... She is very interested as she knew the family of the young man who supposedly murdered Molly. Mom talks often about the murder case. I am sure it was a big deal back in the days of sleepy Victoria.”