The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1876-12-28
A Mysterious Box.
THE Nstchez Miss New South. ]

/
December.
A Mysterious Box.
THE Natchez (Miss.) New South.l
Late one night last week two white
men appeared at Buntura's livery stable
and hired horse and light wagon fol
the ostensible purpose of making q
journey into the country few miles to
see man on important business, but
later developments prove them to have
been seekers after buried treasure, and,
from all accounts, their mission was a
successful one. On leaving the stable
with the conveyance, they took aboard
third party in the person of a colored
man, who had in his possession pick
and spade; they then drove quietly
through the city and out on the Wash
ington road until they arrived near St.
Catharine's Greek, where they alighted,
and one of the white men produced a
roughly sketched map of the immediate
neighborhood, which the three proceeded
to inspect by the light of dark-lantern;
after occupying half an hour in COM
pairing the tracings on the map with the
Immediately surrounding country, they
apparently came to the conclusion that
they were in the sought-for locality. At
this stage of proceedings one of the men
drew forth his watch and remarked, cit
lacks just ten minutes of midnight, the
time which we must begin our work"
He continued to hold the open watch in
his hand, and the three conspiraGors,
breathlessly silent, in the dreary hours
of midnight, when weird spirits and
hobgoblins are wont to stock forth-lay
crouching upon the sward near the
banks of the historical St. Catharine's,
waiting for the hour to come when the
fates decreed theirwork should commence.
/ At last the hands on the dial denoted
that the hour had arrived, that witch
ing hour of night, when church-yards
yawn and hell itself breathes forth
contagion to the world" Then the men
arose, and taking from the wagon
miners rod" they began to march in a
circle around a large cottonwood tree,
which stands some distance from the
road; each circuit brought them nearer
to the tree, after walking an hour, and
when within six feet of the tree, the
"miner's rod" suddenly flew from the
hand of the man who had been carrying
it, and stuck upright in the earth about
three feet from the butt of the cotton
wood. The colored man was here ordered
to bring his pick and spade into requisi-
tion, and 60 to work, digging at the spot
where the rod had located itself. Through
the remainder of the night he diligently
welded the pick and spade, until the
light streaks in the sky began to signify
the approach of morn, and as yet no
treasure had been unearthed; the sun
rose in all its splendor, and still the ebony
colored servant was dexterously plying
the pick and spade. The gardeners and
marketmen on their way to town stopped
in surprise at the unusual spectacle, and
wondered what was the meaning of the
strange proceedings. They questioned
the white men as to the object of their
digging, but they were dumb to all ques-
tions. By six o'clock considerable
number of spectators had assembled at
the spot, and their presence seemed to
annoy the strangers consid erably, but
did not interfere with the work. The
hole had by this time assumed consider
able dimensions, being some eight feet
deep and several feet wide, when sud-
denly the colored man struck his spade
on some hard substance, which produceda
grating noise, causing the two white men
to become excited and somewhat nervous,
as if the object of their mysterious un-
dertakipg was about to be consummated.
They had apparently struck the looked
for object, but the men thought it would
not do to unearth it in the presence of
the numerous spectators who had been at
traeted to the scene by the strange pro-
ceedings, SO one of them suddenly dis
covered that their horse, standing some
few yards distant, showed some indica-
tions of sickness, and he Immediately
ran to the horse, at the same time call
ing upon the spectators to follow him,
which they did, and as soo2 as their
backs were turned upon the excavation
the eolored man with his spade turned
up a mahogany box about eighteen
inches long and six inches wide, which
the remaining white man hastily
snatched up and covered with his over
coat, and, after ordering the colored man
to fill up the hole and meet them at a
certain place, he hurried to the buggy
and, in company with the other white
man, drove at a rapid pace toward the
city, leaving the astonished spectators
in state of bewilderment, and wonder
ing what all this business meant. There
are many surmises regarding the contents
of the box and how it came to be buried
at the foot of the cottonwood tree. The
prevailing opinion is that the box con-
tanned diamonds, specie, and greenbacks,
as one of the men paid the livery bill
with musty $40 greenback, issued dur
ing the war, which was probably por-
tion of the contents of the box. The
two white men are supposed to have
formerly belonged to Wisconsin regi-
ment which was stationed here during
the war, and the box and contents were,
in all probability, stolen from some resi-
dence, and buried by the parties who
resurrected it, or by other members of
the same regiment who let them into the
secret. 1t is rumored that the box and
contents were valued at $4,000.