Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-01-21
STORY OF AP0T OF MONEY
STRANGE LETTuB FOUND IN AN
ALBANY COUNTY WCODPlLE.

One of the Helderbergs Covered with
PsopIe Searching for IS Burglars Body
and a Hidden Treasure--A Wlikie Col
Iins Tale.
From tao Nel5 York. Sun.
KNowERs VILE, \. Y, ALBANY CoUN-
rY, Jan. 14.-Peter Hart, shoemaker OF
Cumberland. has put this whole country
side in a commotion. Caves and buried
treasures, ropes and yalises with false
bottoms, burglars, poisoning, murder,
and the chopping up of the body OF a man
these are the things that are III the
minds of the people in half dozen villa
ges, and Peter Hart is responsible for II
all, though no one can blame him. Inc
young men have all fallen to dreaming OIL
sudden fortunes, and a great many OF
them have taken to hunting caves WIN
the thermometer at 10 to 20 degrees below
zero. As for the women, the slightest rat
tie of the window sash or the sudden
barking of dog after dark will wake
them up and dart into their minds the ter
ribie tale that Peter Hart brought down
from the mountains the other day.
This is the region of the Helderbergs,
those mountains that the traveller up the
Hudson sees lying low and blue in the
west about twenty miles north OF the
Catskills in Albany county. They are not
SO big and high as the Catskills, but they
are as big as the Berkshire hills and
every whit as pretty, though sadly need
ING a winding river like the HousatOnic
to show them and it off. They are queer
shaped mounds of rock, all feathered over
with eYergreens and hardy trees, but all
around them is a lovely agricultural re-
gCn, whose trim fences, costly farm build
ings, good roads, and cOsey dwellings
speak volumes for the prosperity of the
people. 1t is no out-Of-the-way, benight-
ed region, which has been completely
turned tOpsy turvy by sheet of paper
picked up on a woOdpile. To this region
the people of halt dozen cities resort to
spend their summers, and Indian Ladder,
where the cobbler picked up his sensation
Is a sort of a lesser Saratoga. They have
not got the ''MikadO' craze vet, but they
have got as far as "It's English, you
know"
ia Peter Hart was drawing wood on In
( dian Ladder mountain, a high hill that
ends as abruptly as the back Of an ele-
phant, aid that has waterfall leaping
from its summit to the plain below, with
a ROADWAY almost straight up in the air
left by the Indians, and roadway not
very mucl less steep, the handiwOrk Of
conQuerinT white men. City folk and
country fox chain the hind wheels of their
vehicles AM get out and walk when the
Indian Ladder road Is to be descended
with team. At the head of this road,
on top OF thu mountain, Peter Hart was
hauling WOOD fortnight ago, when he
suddenly CANE upon sheet OF toolscap
lying on lOg, with bit OF hemlock bark
on it for paper weight to hold it down.
He untOlded the paper, and proved to be
whole sheet o foOlscap, written over on
three pages andpart OF the fourth. Rain
and the essenCe0f the bark had stained il
so that it LOOKED rs if it might have suffer
cd hard usageana old age, but it was dat
ed Sept. I, 1855. The penmanshlp was
scrawllng and Irregular, and here and
there words w3re nisspelled.
Il write thisto Inform whoever finds
this that have a secret to tell" Those
we're the first words alter the date line,
and they were the first words Mr. Hart
read. After thatit vasno wonder he read
the next. - WA bDrn in England and am
now S5'SSars OF ags" the writing pro-
caeded. Il was Bon a gentleman. My
father is a rich ma and large landown-
er. / am the secOd son, and | fell in
.ove with a girl wen / was 20 years of
age and thought Sc loved me. She prom
lssd to marry me-. Then follows q state
meat that upon th arrival of the eldest
brother on the scee the young woman
transferred her Auctions from the second
to the first son. that ] could not stand, =
he adds, so he pCDned her with strych-
she died OF heart disease. soon after
ward, the writing declares, the young
man got850O iromHs father and started
for America. ThiaWas on Sept. 10, 1915.
Cursed be the d." he remarks, in
parenthesis, and ten proceeds, as fol-
lows:
"A-cOming over te ocean became ac-
Qualnted with nOi& thief and burglar,
and he cOaXed me togo with him to Cali
formal and there W. bapama aeun
with two other menOt bad repute. The
one Was an Irishna. named John Haley.
at least that wastle name he went by,
and there we rOhea q bank and stole
$4,000.
Haley and the utter came on to New
York, and from tire proceeded to Cana,
Ola, the writer say, where they robbed
several farmers, ttu the country 'be-
came too hot for Il, 30 we came TO the
- heidelberg mouniins." The first place
l1ey stopped at, e continues, was the
Weatherwax hot at KnOwcrsyille. They
robbed numberf houses, got next to
nothing, and preently removed to the
mountains. Haly was smoking his pipe
s. near the Indian Ndder road one day, and
IL slipped from hi fingers and rolled into
81 crack ia the reks. Haley slid down
Into the crack abut twelve feet after il.
and thus came uDn cave, into which
Jne can 20 abOuEl00 yards. There were
bones and an Old-i1ie barrel in there. Ha-
ley and the write had been living IN the
cave about two weeks wden they quar-
i relied. This was)n July4. Haley called
Il has companion acOward and thief, and
his companion iRtantly shot and killed
him. lie writes hat he cut the body up
and threw the parts Sin a rock hole near
the old limekiln and covered il with
stones, wherg no one can lind it," Al
ter that thf writer OF the letter had
no peace q nina, and so determined
on suicide. The letter concluded as fol-
lows:
"I.writ this TO let my friends know what
has become OF me. Whoever finds this
letter arb has it printed in the papers and
sends 4 copy to England place,
L0ndoI-whOever gets this letter take it
to the Journal IN Albany and have il pub
lisheC. NOW ] must tell about the money
we sole. There are about $4,000 in bills
and about $500 In gold. The money IS IN
leather satchel, in the bottom. 1t has a
false plate on the bottom, put on with
scIews, aud there you will find the mon
eI Whoever hnds this, and has it print
IL. l. 4 -.