St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-08-09
SEARCH FOR HIDDEN GOLD.
Delving for Millions Lost n Century
Ago in the Sound.
The Story of the wrecking of the
British War steamer Hussar.

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 few hundred feet from
the shore. Day after day the old machines
have worked monOtOnously along and now
and then an equally ancient sailboat has
joined the dredgers, exercising kind of su-
pervlSing influence over them. PaSSers-by
on shore used TO laugh gOod-naturedly at
the workers in the water until it got to be
an Old story and the clanking of the ma
chimes ceased to provoke comment.
They We're digging for gold-for a hid
den treasure.
Ii lsnot Capt. Kidd's treasure with a
mythical location and of an uncertain
amount. The story of the lost gold is au-
thenticated by the dry records of the British
army and the value of the money is set
down in round English figures at $500, 600,
about $4,000, 600. 1t is this that has kept
the dredgers hard at work for so long a
time.
The gold is supposed to have been lost
lO5 years ago. During the Revolutionary
war the English warship HuSSar stole up
the sound with $500, 900 in gold on board.
Inc money was to pay the soldiers in Gen.
HOwe'S army and for other expenses of
war. Hell Gate was not less treacherous
than 1t IS now, and in storm that arose
the sailing vessel went on the rocks. A
hawSer was run ashore and made fast to a
tree that grew near where the foot of East
One Hundred and Thirty-eighth street is
now. The tree proved too weak to stand
tue 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 uneaTthed and old records
carefully examined to get at the exact To-
cation of the wreck. Two or three pri-
vate fortunes have been sunk in the effort
to get at the millions thought to be under
the waves, and at least two companies 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 pos
sible. Capt. Longstreet, who 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 to the work
ers, but up 10 last week nothing definite
was met with.
Last Tuesday the dredging machine
struck against several ribs of timber that
after some little difficulty were dug out
They were rotten and wOrm-eaten, but the
enthusiasts on the dredge declared that they
belonged to the bow of a missing boat.
Others declared it to be only piece of an
old sunken raft. Two weeks ago an old
English copper coin was found, and that
in itself was taken as an omen of good
luck. The scOffers who have no interest in
the company laugh at the faith of the
dredgers. but the latter say that before the
middle of the week it will be their own
turn to laugh.