Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1879-06-05

And led thy tottering steps with care
Before me risen to Heavens bright morn,
My sonl my father guide me there.
A CREDUL0US MONEY DIGGER.
1t is the general belief OF the more
ignorant classes throughout the east
ern and middle states, that untold
wealth, in the shape of gold, silver,
and precious stones, was buried at
different points along the Atlantic
coast, by such pirates as Kidd, Black
beard, and others of lesser note, and
it is probable that more money has
been expended by credulous and SUI
perstitious individuals in digging for
unknown treasures than the pirates
themselves ever saw, and although,
so far as we nave heard, no favora-
bic results have ever rewarded these
superstitious fools, yet you would
find it labor lost to attempt to reason
them out of their telief. They will,
with the most solemn air and lam
guage, cite you instances on instan-
ces, where the real places Of deposit
have been found by themselves and
others, and the treasures only lost at
the moment of being seized, through
the agency of some horrid charm,
wrought by the pirates at the mo-
ment Of burying their valuables, and
which the diggers were not able to
withstand. The object of these
charms, according to general belief,
is either to frighten the diggers from
the spoil, or induce them to speak
single exclamation being sufficient
to give the evil guardians power to
cause the treasures to vanish, even
after being unearthed and in open
view.
Along the shores OF Long Island
Sound, especially, there are hundreds
of fishermen and farmers who do not
feel half as certain OF ever reaching
heaven as they do OF finding and sc.
curing some concealed and devil
guarded treasure before they die,
and they will tell you such wild and |
thrilling tales of past adventure as
will, in spite OF your skeptical reason,
make your flesh creep, your blood |
run cold, and your hair stand on end.
We once came in contact with one
of these men fisherman from Long
Island who rejoiced in the eupho-
NOUS appellation of'Old ST Blodget.'
He was perhaps fifty years of age,
tall, lank, bony and muscular, with |
hard, stern, weather Drowned fea
lures, small black eyes, bushy, frown-
ing eyebrows, iron. gray hair, Roman
nose, and large mouth He was as
full OF superstitious conceits as an
ignorant child or negro, and knew far
more of Kidd and KIDS hidden |
treasures than he did OF the apostles. |
In fact, he appeared to have spent |
his whole life in the study OF Kidd |
and the nature OF fish On these cub.
jects he could descant tluently and |
and enpila,ically, but was ignorant
of anything else, and thought Boston |
was an island, and the state of Name |
a British province, and supposed. we |
could go TO England by land
'But Kidd was the man, sra |
great man of his kind, sir-for he'd |
lots Of goold, sir-raal doubleoons,
and diamonds, and SIGH land he was |
smart enough to bury 'em with |
awful spell on 'em, so that nobody |
couldn't git 'em 'cept them as is wise |
in the DEVILS tricks, sir
Then you really think, Mr.. Blod- |
get, that Kidd buried his treasures
under a spell p
Think, sir T.? No, don't Think |
know it,
How do you know? Did you ev-
err find any p
'Yes, sir-more'n once
"Then / suppose you are now a
rich man, Mr.. Blodget?"
'W.a all drawled the old fisher
man. Il found 'em, sir, but / didn't
kind o. git 'em, you see, becase of the
awful spell toat snatched 'em out of
my hands
'Well, Mr.. Blodget, I think if ever
/ had got hold of one Of Kidd's mon
ey pots or chests, i would have held
on to it, in spite of all the spells and
nominations of all the witches and
wizards the world ever saw
That's list where you talk like a
ignoranimous,sir axing your pardon
returned 'Old ST. beginning to wax
warm on the subject You're a
young man, sr, and may be larned
in some things, for all knows, but
jist let me ak you if ever you dug for
kidd's money, sir ?
Il certainly never did
Il knowod it, returned the old fish.
erman, triumphantly, 'or else you'd
never talk that way, sir. All! if you'd
only ever have saw what l have, sir,
you wouldn't make light on't-;n
fact, l don't believe you'd be here at
all-you'd a been clean skeered 10
death, sir @
And pray what have you seen Mr..
Blodget?'
Heavens and 'sirthl what haint !
seen?-sich sights, sir, az nobody
won't believe 'cept them as Knows
they're true
Suppose you tell me some one of
your most renaik ab,e adventures =
Its hard picking ont. SIR, when
they're all OF that ere kind. Bat
never mind-I'll tell you one I.st
me see! Its jist zen years age come
fall, that dreampt three times hanl I
running-whieh always makes ice
dream true, you know-that Kidd .
had buried a big pot of doableoons
right over t'olher side OF sandy ,
hammock that lay across little hav !
about half mile from VIII. re | lived, I
aud that / must go aud git Farmsr /
Baker, aud tell him all about it, and q