Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-07-29
SEARCH FOR HIDDEN GOLD.
DelYing for Millions Lost IA Century age
in the sound.
From, the Mem York Wor,d.

From the Mem York W0rld.
Pleasure-seekers driving along the East
ern boulevard across Harlem bridge, and
passengers on the Port Morris car going
towards the sound, have noticed for the
past year or more two weather
stained dredging barges working a
few hundred feet from the shore.
Day after day the old machines
hayN worked monotonously along
and now and then an equally ancient sail
boat has joined the dredgers, exercising a
kind Of supervising influence over them.
Passers-by on shore used to laugh good
naturally at the workers in the water
until 10 got to be an old story and the
clankng of the machines had ceased to
provoke comment.
They were digging for gold-for a hid
den treasure.
1t is not Capt. Kidd's treasure with a
mythical location and Of an uncertain
amount. The story of the lost gold is au-
tbenticated by the dry records of the
British army and the value of the money
is set down in round English figures at
100000, about S4000,000. 1t is this that
has kept the dredgers hard at work for so
long a time.
The gold is supposed to have been lost
about 105 years ago. During the Revolu-
tionary war the English war ship Hussar
stole up the sound with $500, 600 in gold
on board. The money was TO pay the
soldiers in Gen. HOwe's army, and for
other expenses OF war. He'll Gate then
was not less treacberous than it is now,
and in a storm that arose the sailing YES
sci went on the rocks. A hawser was
run ashore and made fast to tree that
grew near where the foot Of East One
Hundred ana Thirty -eighth street is now.
The tree proved too weak to stand the
strain, was torn up,and the vessel drifted
to the mainland and went down.
Thus far all the records agree, but after
the parting of the cable there are two stO-
ries OF the wreck. The one maintains
that the Hussar beat hole in her bottom
and went down that night; the other
holds that she did not sink till next day,
and that all the money was transferred
to land before the end came. The men
operating the dredging machine believe
the first story.
Ever since the war ended there have
been spasmodic attempts to get at the
buried treasure. Old maps and time
stained charts have been unearthed and
old records carefully examined TO get at
the exact location Of the wreck. Two or
three private fortunes have been sunk in
the EFFORT TO get the mllllOnS thought TO be
under the waves, and at least two CON-
panies have sunk money in the enterprise.
The present dredging is carried on by
a corporation. the members Of which are
working at it in full faith. They keep
their doings and their names as quiet as
possible. Capt. Longstreet, VINO has
been on the river for forty years, is full OF
stories of the search, as indeed all old
river men are. Now and then the finding
of some little clue has lent new hope ia
the workers, but up to last week nothing
definite was met with.
Last Tuesday the dredging machine
struck against several ribs of timber that
after some little difficulty was dug out
They were rotton and worm-eaten, but
the enthusiasts on the dredge declared
that they belonged to the bow of a miss
ing boat. Others declared it to be only q
piece OF an old sunken raft. Two week.
ago an old English copper coin was
| found, and that in itself was taken as an
omen of good luck. The scotfers who
have no interest in the company laugh al
the faith of the dredgers, but the latter
say that before the middle Of the week il
will be their own turn to laugh.