The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-04-09

And a silver Mine Whose Secret She
Failed to Unlock.

cessful men in his county. He has sew
eral farms, and lives on one on the Lint
of the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad
close to Salem Post-ofice, and near the
Roanoke River. Yesterday, accompan
led by Detective John Ween, of Rich.
mond, and Chief of Police Donovan, OF
Newark, he visited Brooklyn and ilenti-
fed Matilda Worton, the gypsy fortune
teller, who is in RaymOnd-street Jail on
a charge of robbing William Jessop, of
Princeton, Indiana, of $2.250, as the
woman who, three years ago, robbed him
of package containing $40, 900 in green
backs, leaving in its stead a similar pack
age that contained strips of newspaper
cut into the shape of bank notes. Mr.
Trout is about fifty years of age, has
blue eyes and a sun-burnt beard, and
seems more like an Ohio farmer than 8
Virginia planter. Mr.. Trout laughed
heartily at his own foolishness in treat
ing with a gypsy fortune-teller as he told
the following story: .r..... ..
"In February, 1875, I received postal
card signed DIR. I. Worton,' informing
me that there was natural deposit OF
silver upon my farm. l paid no atten-
tion to the card, but afterward I received
one or two more cards to the same effect.
/ thought that they were sent with some
design, and | did not give them serious
attention. In 1876 Mrs. Worton, the gyp-
sy woman, called on me and stated that
she had come to tell me of fortune that
lay almost within my grasp. She said
that close to my house there was de-
posit of silver containing about a million
dollars, that the mass of it was in crude
state, but that large amount Of the
metal had already been mined. The
silver, she said, was first discovered many
years ago by two Indian chiefs named
Curry and Mesh, who, on shifting their
habitation, buried their fortunes there
and put spell over the mine, which it
required a superhuman gift to break.
The hiding-place was sealed by secret,
and she alone could charm it away and
open the mine for my benefit.
IL told her that if she could show me
where the mine was, l would give her
one-half of the proceeds, but she said she
needed a package of $4,000 to handle,
always in my presence, SO that she could
work out the secret. l didn't have SO
much money at hand, and l told her
that could not get it. She came to me
number of times, and assured me that
the knowledge of the existence of this
buried treasure was all that brought her,
self and husband to Roanoke County,
and that Mr.. Worton's horse-trading and
her fortune-telling were simply blind
for the real mission, namely, to unfold to
me the silver mine and to get their re-
ward. At length she said that she could
extract the secret of the hiding place OF
the mine if she could handle $40, 600, but
she promised that the money should
never go out Of my sight. At length l
got the $4,000 together in bank notes,
and the gypsy began her incantations.
She counted the money, sprinkied it
with earth, muttered over it, and said
prayers without number.
"When she had finished she went
away, leaving the money in my hands,
tied up in brown paper, and, as she eau
toned me not to touch it for fear /
would undo her work, I put it up and
kept it intact until she returned again.
She paid me several visits, and each
time took out the money, examined 1T
carefully and prayed over it. ! held it
for time while she prayed. This was
done several times. At length, on Nav
9TH, 1877, she said that all Of her plans
were working so well that in one more
visit she would charm away the spell
that bound the secret Of the mine, and
would, she thought, be able to lead me
directly to it. Of course, I did not
believe any Of the nonsense about the
secret spells, or the charms or anything
like that, but | wanted to know about
the treasure if it was there, and I was
willing to allow her 70 60 on with her
mutterings and prayers, if in the end
she disclosed to me what she had
promised. She again took the money,
examined it, blew upon it, turned it over
and prayed over it. She then asked me
to count tile money, so that I could see
that it was all there.
az don't want you to think she said
to me, that I would steal any of it,
said: IF you took that money or fooled
me I would kill you.' saw that ali my
money was in the package, just as l had
given it to her, and then she carefully
tied it up and put string about It.
Now she said, the spell is broken, and
in one more visit it will be cast aside.
Then / will take you to the mine and
show you that all we have promised will
come true, and that you will find your
self the richest man in Virginia. But
she added, mo one must touch this pack
age, or open it, until 1 return again, for
if it is opened our charm over the secret
will be broken, and we will never re-
cover it, promised that I would lock
it up and permit no one to touch it, but
she said that she wanted me to swear to
1t upon the Bible. turned to get the
Bible, and the money was hardly out of
my sight moment / turned again, and
she had the package extended toward
me. / swore upon the Bible that /
would not open it or allow any one else
to do 80, and took the package. I wrote
ID. d. Trout upon the back, and made
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