Omaha daily bee., 1884-09-26
"A POT OF GOLD,
A Treasure of $4,000 Discovered
Near Mobile After Being Buried
Twenty-Five Years.

From the Mobile Register,
A reliable gentleman of Mobile writes
as follows from Portersville under date
of yesterday.
Mr.. Hugh Rolston's place at Hunters
vile is situated about a mile west of
Bayou Coden. Adjoining his place is a
field in which are a number of oak, ash,
cedar, and various other kind of trees.
On one of the large ash trees, which
stands about seventy-five feet from the
beach, is carved, in a deep, legible and
indelible letters, the following: 81. M.
February 18th, 1862, James l.. Minis,
born in Ireland, 1881" To the right OF
these letters the figure of a schooner is
intaglioed, underneath which are the
numerals, &C, OO0." About twenty feet
northwest of the ash tree are two cedars
that stand 4 or 5 feet apart, in the trunks
of which are two deep missions, evident.
ly made with an ak; and twenty or thirty
feet due west of these cedars is a hole
d deep by q feet square. In the bot
tom of the hole is an impression that
was made be some kind of an earthern
vessel. The hole was discovered Friday
morning and gave indications of having
been dug but a few hours. Mr.. Robert
Middleton informed he that one of the
ladies at Mrs, Rolston's heard an unusual
noise Thursday night and called the at
tention of Others to it, but as there is
always 30 much connection along the
beach, caused by the rolling surf, the
voices of fishermen, ETC., that no atten-
ton was given to the strange noise.
Everybody at Mrs. Rolstsn's is now salts
fed that the hole was dug Thursday
night, and that the noise heard on that
occasion was caused by the men in their
endeavors to eXhume the vessel contain
ing the supposed treasures of
$40, 600. The people of Coden, PorterR-
vile and Bayou La Batre are in a con-
dition of wild excitement over the dis
of this excavation, and jump at
the conclusion that some one, who was
familiar with the circumstances connect
ed with the burial of this $4,000, and
the locality as well, has been there, ok
humed the box of treasure and departed
with it. They all declare that within this
excavation was concealed
$4,000; that it was placed there III
+ ebruary, 1862; that it has remained
concealed there ever since; that James L..
Minis put it there; that he marked the
by the missions on the trees,
and that either himself or someone to
whom he contided the secret went there
Thursday night, dug up the pot, or what
ever it was, and made off with it.
The impression on the bottom of the ex-
cavation, which, as has been stated, was
made by an earthen pot, tends to confirm
the belief that money was deposited
there, and to the amount specified on the
tree-$10, 000. With all the natural and
circumstantial features connected with
the discovery, lam inclined, like the rest,
to believe that the $4,000 was buried
near those cedar trees, that it has re-
NAMED there twenty-five years, and was
carried away by parties who knew all
about it's whereabouts and the circum-
stances attending its concealment. 1t is
~aggravating to the people here to know
that for twenty-five years a sum of
money as large as $J0,0C0has been buried
almost under their noses, and to make
the matter worse, that some one has
and carried off all this treasure.