European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 22, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 a a a the stars and stripes thursday March 22,1990 museum offers $1 million for recovery of artworks Boston apr the Gardner museum on tuesday offered a $1 million Reward for information leading to the recovery of a dozen uninsured Art treasures that were stolen in the largest Art heist in Modem times. At the same time investigators admitted they had few leads and turned their attention to what May have been similar recent efforts to break into the Gardner and the museum of Fine arts. About two weeks before sundays theft at least three people took part in an apparently staged disturbance outside the museum in the Early morning investigators said. One person pounded on the door and begged to be let in to escape people he had claimed were attacking him investigators said. When the guard refused he got into a car with the two men who had supposedly attacked him and drove off. Museum guards were being interviewed to determine whether any of those involved in that incident matched the description of the robbers who had disguised themselves As police officers and entered the same door Early sunday investigators said. The investigators who spoke on condition of anonymity also said the thieves removed videocassettes from the Gardner a surveillance system. On Jan. 15, two men who appeared to be police officers tried to enter the museum of Fine arts when it was closed for the Martin Luther King Holiday said William Mcauliffe the museums chief of Security. The men said they were responding to a summons for Aid and asked a guard to let them in according to Mcauliffe. When the guard went to Check with his supervisor the men left. A a we re checking to see if they were police a Mcauliffe said. Eleven paintings and drawings by Rembrandt Degas and Vermeer and other old masters were among the works stolen from the Gardner. The loss was estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Museum officials said soothe by a and Christie a the International Art auction houses had agreed to underwrite the $1 million Reward by using their own resources and soliciting help from the Art Community around the world. The doors of the four Story Tan Brick museum were posted tuesday with signs stating that the museum was closed for the Day. A reporter allowed inside saw City police detectives and workers involved in the museums Security mapping out locations of cameras and checking the equipment. Museum officials said monday that the collection gathered by the late Isabella Stewart Gardner was Only insured for restoration and conservation not for theft. The Cost of such insurance would be More than the museums annual $2.8 million operating budget and Gardner a will bars the curators from buying and installing replacements said Barry Wanger. A museum spokesman. Police said the two thieves gained entry by telling two Security guards there was a disturbance in the area. The robbers bound the guards with tape and spent the next two hours removing the artworks. The thieves took two paintings and an etching by Rembrandt three paintings and two charcoals by Edgar Degas one painting each by edouard Manet Jan Vermeer and Govaert Flinck and a Bronze Beaker dating from the chinese Shang dynasty 1,200-1,100 . Wanger said the thieves also tried in vain to take a third Rembrandt a self portrait. He gave no further details. Several of the pictures and at least one Rembrandt were Cut out of their frames which were connected to an alarm system. The paintings ranged from match Book size to one As big As a desktop. Security consultants said that while Many museums have strict policies outlining who guards May admit after hours guards Are often inexperienced poorly trained and susceptible to being intimidated or fooled. In addition guards Are often in Short Supply and museums must often close exhibits on certain Days because of Lack of staff members to guard them. A a it a very common to see exhibits closed because of a guard shortage a said Steven Keller a Security consultant who was brought in to supervise Security at the Art Institute of Chicago after thieves stole three Cezanne paintings in 1979. Stateside City willed $1 million but has to match the sum oberl1n, Kan. Apr a longtime resident left an estimated $1 million to this Northwest Kansas town to build a municipal auditorium and City Hall. But there a a catch. The town has to raise an equal amount of Money within two years of Madonna Mae Morgan s March 4 death in order to receive the bequest. If Oberlin cannot come up with the Money the 88-year-old woman a gift goes to the shrines bum treatment Center for children in Houston. Morgan died at a nursing Home in Hoxie. About 30 Miles to the South where she moved about two years ago. She had lived in Oberlin since 1962. Her late husband Robert was a retired mail Carrier who invested wisely in Farmland and she also inherited some land said her attorney Kenneth  investors buy luxury Palm Springs hotel Palm Springs Calif. Up a the Resolution Trust corp. Said tuesday it had made its largest property Sale yet by Selling the luxury Hyatt grand Champion hotel for $66.5 million to japanese investors. Maruko inc. Bought the property which includes 316 rooms and 20 Villas a 10,500-seat Tennis stadium 12 Tennis courts an Amphitheater and a health club and spa at 104 percent of its appraised value. The hotel which hosts a Virginia slims Tennis tournament was one of the major assets owned by Gibraltar savings which the government seized about a year ago. Laurence Schannault managing agent for the Agency overseeing Gibraltar said the Sale will leave Gibraltar which still operates 108 branches in California Florida and Washington with about $8 billion in assets. Regulators seized Gibraltar savings after they determined the Thrift was being operated in an unsound and unsafe  remains soon May return to a free Poland Washington apr the Federal government is moving to fulfil president Franklin d. Roosevelt a Promise to Send Home the remains of polish Patriot and pre eminent pianist Ign acc Jan Paderewski a when Poland is  the conditions could not be met Over five decades of nazi occupation and communist dictatorship a and there still arc concerns to be overcome. But with Poland quickly moving to full Independence and democratic Rule . And polish officials now Are looking to june 1991, the 50th anniversary of the pianists death in new York City As the appropriate Date to return his remains. On thursday Tadeusz Mazowicki the first no communist prime minister of Poland in 40 years will visit Paderewski a temporary resting place in a crypt at Arlington National cemetery. But . Officials say they have no indication that Mazowicki will demand the immediate return of the remains of a Man who is one of Poland a Foremost heroes and became the polish republics first prime minister. A a it a the consensus in the polish Community both Here and in Poland that it would be Best on the 50th anniversary of his death june 29, 1991,�?� said a state department official. A the trends Are very favourable and final decisions will be made in the fall As to the exact arrangements a said the official who spoke on the condition he not be identified. A there arc going to be major changes in the polish government Between now and then a the official said. Quot there is a High probability for a new Constitution and new senior officers who arc not communists. A we have waited because we wanted to make sure the Steps that needed to be taken were accomplished properly and that the Paderewski family the Catholic Church and the polish american Community were All in agreement that Poland was once again whole and free a he said. At his death at age 80, Paderewski was the most famous pianist in the world. But he also used his concerts to raise Money for polish refugees after world War i and served As the first prime minister of the Republic of Poland in 1919 a the remains of Ignace Jan Paderewski have been kept for nearly 50 years at this crypt in Arlington a. And 1920. He became president of the parliament of the polish government in exile in London after nazi troops stormed across the polish Frontier in 1939. He still was working for Poland at the time of his death. On july a it 1941, several Days after his death Paderewski a body was placed at Roosevelt a order in a crypt at the base of the Monument raised to those killed when the battleship Maine exploded in Havana Harbor in 1898, a spark that helped ignite the Spanish american War. Paderewski a Zinc coffin lies inside a Large cyp1 Box inside the crypt near the base of the Maine s nag staff. ,., in 1962, when it was apparent Paderewski s temporary sojourn would be lengthy president Kennel y reaffirmed Roosevelt a Promise that the body would o returned Only when Poland was free. A Bronze plaque placed shortly thereafter Recac. A Ignace Jan Paderewski polish statesman and my Cian. His remains rest temporarily within the us Maine