Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1881-05-25
MIDNIGHT GOLD HUNTERS.
Strange Scenes on The Ontskuts Of
Allegheny City.

The Plttsburg Post OF late date has
the following: At about midnight on
Wednesday a strange, weird, and ro-
mantle scene could have been witness
ed on the north bank of the Allegheny
river, opposite Herr's Island, near the
small dam which extends from the AL
leghcny shore to the island. The dis
closures made remind one of the story
of Captain Kidd's buried treasure. and
the search thereafter At the same
time a mystery was solved which for
some time has bothered the minds of
the good people of Hers Island and of
the Eighth ward, Allegheny. 1t ap-
pears that year or so since rumor
gained circulation that large amount
of gold and silver coin, together with
other treasures, were buried in the
bank of the Allegheny river, at spot
opposite Herr's Island. A couple of
men and boys placed credence in the
story, and it is said they actually did
find few Spanish coins, beside what
is known as the Indian rock No vast
ness of wealth was discovered, howev-
er, and they gave up the search. The
rumors died away, and in the course of
a few months people apparently forgot
all about the alleged hidden gold. 1t
was believed that the coins were part
of the large sums of money said to have
been buried in the vicinity of Pitts
Nburgh by the French at the time of the
evacuation of old Fort Duquesne. This
theory, however, was not believed by
many. They claimed that the French
must have buried their treasures farth-
er west.
No matter whether it was French or
American wealth, the fact remains that
for two or three weeks past some most
mysterious sights and sounds have
been seen and heard by persons living
on the island. So unfathomably mys-
terious did they seem that the oldest
inhabitants rubbed up their memory in
hopes of finding solution in some
horrible murder or Indian slaughter,
the ghostly victims of which might
possibly pay nightly visits to the his
toric island But no crime of that ma
ture could be thought Of Several of
the residents claim they have seen
moving lights on the Allegheny shore
in the vicinity of the Indian rock,
which like the will-o'-wisp, disappear
ed upon going near them. The lights
were small, and gave one the impress
ion that they might be dark lanterns,
as they shed no light around, but only
in front of each On several occasions
a muffled boom, sounding more alike
the report of a cannon in an under
ground mine, was heard in the same
direction What all these things meant,
no one had the slightest idea The
mysterious incidents occurred generally
between ii O'Clock and O'Clock at
night. Examinations of the Indian
rock and the surrounding embankment
in the day time, disclosed nothing.
Everything appeared undisturbed.
The mystery at last became nui-
sance, so to speak, sleepless nights in
several households pot being conducive
to comfort and amiability Smith
Walker, the select councilman from the
Eighth ward, conceived the idea of
swnoping down on the haunted spot
with band of citizens. Accordingly
he gathered together nearly dozen
men on Wednesday night and lay in
wait until tie lights appeared on the
Allegheny shore. Between IL and
IL O'Clock moving figure was observ-
ed near the big rock, and small light
flashed out upon the water. This was
not all Sounds similar to those pro-
duced by pick and shovel were heard
proceeding from the shore near the AL
legheny end of the small dam Coun-
Gilman Walker now gave his men o
signal and they deity crossed the
bridge, passed up along the railroad,
and prepared to go down on the shore
Mr.. Walker approached the top of the
embankment, and cautiously leaning
over, at once discovered the source of
the strange sights and sounds. Six
men were hard at work digging out an
excavation whice had already been dug
pretty deep. They had lanterns, and
had thrown up sort of an abuscade
with boards and old brushwood to hide
them from sight. The six men wore
slouch hats and red shirts. The whole
group formed quite romantic scene.
Mr.. Walker quietly gave instructions
to his companions and they were on the
point of rushing down to the diggers,
when a low whistle was given some
where in the immediate vicinity of the
Indian rock, and the next instant all
lights below had vanished, and the ST.
lence of a graveyard settled down on
the very spot where Mr.. Walker had
first seen the strangers. He saw it
was a ruse, and was not to be baffied.
So, with his assistants, he at once sur
rounded the excavation, and came face
to face with the diggers. They SEEM
ed much astonished. and would answer
no questions Their captors finally
threatened to call the police and have
them all arrested unless they would
tell what they were doing at such an
unreasonable hour. They then replied
that they were digging for the hidden
treasure, and that they had been at
work nearly three weeks every night,
excavating at various places along the
shore. When they struck a rock they
would use blasting powder, which ac-
counted for the mysterious reports
heard by the residents of the island.
The men further stated that they did
not dig through daylight, as they
would break the charm 1t would
also break the charm to have any
person see them at night when at work
They refused to give their names, but
SAID they resided on Troy Hill. Two
are quite old and the other four are
young men. AS they had committed
no offence, Mr. Walker concluded to
let them alone, but they declined to re-
sumo their digging. declaring that the