The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-10-04
4 NORTH CAROLINA ROMANCE,
The Long hidden Contents OF nm Old Snfc
Lucky Find for I'm Orphan Girl.

|
The correspondent of the Cincinnati
| papers writing from jamestown, n. g.,
says: This quaint old place, which lies
i'll the centre of one Of the Quaker set
Elements, WAS during the war a fave rite
resort of refugees" by which name
were designated those persons whose
homes in the Eastern section Of the State
were inside the danger limo or in Coun-
ties already held by the Federal troops.
In this sleepy town these found haven
of refuge and made themselves comiorta.
bic, TO remain while the war lasted.
They brought hithcr their money, and
i'll the old fashioned bank stored Confcd.
crate bonds and currency in great
amounts. The crash came, in the fatal
1860, and SlOneman's raiders whirled
down so near that most Of the refugees
prepared to fly. a little later the war
ended. The big old sufe, M solemn as
the grave, and rs chary Of its secrets,
was shut. But few Of the depositors had
withdrawn the now hopeless currency it
continued.
Some of the refugees had died, others
had been suddenly called away, others Mt
the last moment, amid all the excitement
Of the hour left. The bank, dead cor
\
livcd-luzIy. Years rolled by, each
making the old safe and its secrets more
solemn still, rs it stood cobwcbbcd in
one of tie lower rooms of the gloomy
old brick bank building
Rumors Of its contents being OF yalle
began to be created in tho fertile field,
Imagination, and it was whispered that
i'll lis deep reccsses lay piles of solid sill
yer, vast quantities Of bonds, jewelry
worth princes ransom, and finally the
contents Of the safe became matter Of
daily conjecture. Last year the boom"
ill Couiedcrniu bonds began.
Sleepy olo jamestown was insensible
to boom The word was too new.
| What Of it? But, nevertheless, one day
two hoary headed old officers of the long
dead bank hobblcd to it, opened the door
and entered the musty room, in a recess
Of which sat the great safe. They tried
the lock /; it would not open. A lock.
smith was sent for, but even his efforts
were unsuccessful. The old men gave
up the attempt, but others took up the
work. Keen spectators bent their
hearts on getting into the safe. a man,
modern in his ideas, said he you'd see
that it was forced, but kept his own coun-
sell
On Wednesday last another process.
sion, if so it might be termed, entered
the building, one Of the men who com.
posed it being man whose bullet head
and cropped hair gave him the aspect of
criminal lie looked at the safe. The
others retired. Half an hour later there
WAS IN explosion. Returning, the party
found the door Of the safe open. The
man, pardoned convict from the peni-
tentiary ut Raleigh, who in by.gone days
had been "cracksman," had made
speedy work concerning the antique safe.
The old man, ex convict, two speculators
i'll Confederate bonds and half a dozen
spectators were in the room, while out.
side were curious crowd of perhaps one
hundred.
The safe was ransacked. From its
capacious depths were taken out quite
$4,000, 600 in Confederate bonds, while
nearly a million in State bonds and az
much i'll Confederate and State currency
was also discovered.
| The bonds were tied in rolls or in box
es, and the names Of the owners could
be found in but one case. On large
roll, the largest, was found the name,
Adam Exum, 1863" Unrolled, the
bundle WAS found to contain 500 500
Confederate bonds. What the long dead
owner had paid full value for, and what
had for long years been 80 much paper
| only. had again become of worth by one
of tho strangest financial movements of
modern times, for the bonds were worth
$3.50 per 81 GOO.
Bit strange DIS past events might seem,
iuture ones were even more curious. 1t
| was found that Exum had gone to Char
lesion, S. c., in October, 1868, and moth
ing has since been heard of him. His
| son, q soldier, had been wounded, had
married after the war in Virginia, had
come back to North Carolina, died in
1871, his wife following year later, aud
their child, a girl, had been placed in an
orphan asylum. The action of the ex.
bank officers was prompt and Just.
When told about the girl, so poor, so
desolate, they sold the Bonds, on which
were her grandfather's name, and sent
the money they brought, $3.50, to a
Raleigh bank, notifying the superinten-
dent Of the orphan asylum where the
girl was being cared for.
Ihe case Is curious one in all it's as.
poets, and is attracting much attention
in the State wherever known. The girl
is intelligent and modest, and though no
great fortune comes to her, vet the
strangeness of its coming gives it an in
terest which would not ordinary attach
to it. The girl has been sent to leading
school.
= The young doctors who have been
let loose from the schools on a confidinp
and physic.lo loving public are likely to try
many experiments very interesting In ali