The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1877-04-18
A MystcriOns ROK.
The NstchsI Miss New south

The Matches Miss New south
Late one night last week two whit,
men appeared Mt Bnntura's livery stabl'
and hired horse and light wagon iO
the ostcnsihlc purpose of making jour
ney into the country q few miles TO see &
man on important business, but later de.
velopments proved them TO have beer
seekers after buried treasure, and, from
alf accounts, their mission proved suc-
ccssful ono. On leaving the stable with
the conveyance, they took aboard third
party in the person of colored man, who
had in his possession pick and spade
they then drove quietly through the city
and out on the Washington road until
they arrived near st. GATHERINGS creek
where they alightcd, and ono of the
white men produced roughly sketched
map of the Immediate ucighborhOoi
which the three proceeded to inspect by
the light of dark lantern; after occupy.
ing half an hour in comparing the trac>
ings 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, at lacks just
! ten minutes of midnight, the time which
We must begin our work" he contin.
ned to hold the open watch in his hand,
ard the three conspirators, breathlessly
silent, in the drcary hours OF midnight,
when weird spirits had hobgoblins are
wont TO stock fortn-lsy crouching upon
the sward near the banks of the. histori-
cal st. Catharine's, waiting for the hour
to come when the fates deere their work
should commence At last the hands on
the dial denoted that the hour had ar>
rived, that "witching hour of night, when
church-yards yawn and hell itself hreathes
forth contagion to the world" Then the
men arose, and taking from the wagon a
miners rod they began to'march in a
circle around large cotton wood 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 mi
ner's roll 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 requisition,
and go to work, digging at the spot where
the rod had located itself Through the
remainder of the night he diligently
welded the pick and shade, until the
light streaks in the sky began to signify
the approach of morn, and "a yet no
treasure had been unearthed the sun
rose in all its splendor. and still the cho>
ry>colored servant was dexterously ply
Ing the pick and spade. The gardeners
aud marketmen on their way to town
stopped in surprise at the unusual specta-
Gle, aud wondered what was the meaning
Of the strange proceedings They ques-
toned the white men as to the object Of
their digging, but they. were dumb to all
questions. By six o'clock considerable
number Of spectators bad assembled at
the spot, and their presence seemed to an
NO., ,Lo a,r,,.,o-s ,,ra;IarlI,, Lut III NJ,
interfere with the work. The hole had
by this time assumed considerable dimen-
4ions. being some eight feet deep and sew
eral feet wide, when suddenly the colored
man struck his spade on some hard SUBJ
stance. which produced a grating noise,
causing the two white men to become
excited and somewhat nervous, IS il the
object of their mysterious undertaking
was about to be contaminated. They had |
struck the looked for object,
but the men thought it would not do to
unearth il in the presence Of the numer-
Gus spectators who had been attracted TO |
the scene BY the strange proceedings, so
one OF them suddenly discovered that |
their horse, standing sore few yards dis.
tant, showed some indications Of sick |
ness, and he immediately ran to the
horse, at the same time calling upon the
spectators to follow him, which they did, |
and rs soon as their backs were turned |
upon the excavation the colored man
with his spade turned up a mahogany |
box about eighteen inches long and six |
inches wide, which the remaining white ]
man hastily snatcEed up and covered !
with his overcoat, and after ordering the |
colored man to I'LL 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 rapid pace toward
the city, leaving the astonishing specta-
tors in state OF 5ewilderment, and won
iering what all this business meant.
There are many surInises regarding the |
contents Of the box and how t came to |
be buried at the foot OF the cottonwood |
tree. The prevailing opinion is that the
box contained diamonds, specie, and
greenbacks, as one Of the men paid the |
livery bill with musty $50 greenback, |
issued during the war, which was proba-
bly, portion 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-
dehce. and buried by the parties who res
it, or by other members of the