Democratic messenger., 1888-10-06
FINDING A CHEST OF GOLD.
Remarkable Story by an English
Miner. He Finds o Chest
Holding Nearly o Mil.
lion Doliara.

Gx0A0AA8 GNO0kAy - 0AAA
lion Dollars.
A man named Alexander Stanhope, who
has returned 70 Galena, Illinois, aiter an
absence Of thirty-one years spent In tray.
el. tells the following story OF how he
found fortune: ~ came TO Galena in
1s47, having emigrated that year f.
Truro. England, after the death Of ,, !. Of
my parents and ell Of my near .ives.-
I became minor and began :. explora-
tion Of q natural gin at = foot Of the
prccipitous bluff now r. IN as New Cal.
ifornia. Amer wc- ,hdustriously for
l.'ro syee'.-- .-aaeniy broke into large
| cave, the vaulted roof OF which was decor.
ated with stalactitc and spar. the latter
glistening In the light Of my lamp like q
million diamonds.
While standing, spell.bound at the
mouth ofthc cave, I noticed, q short dis
tance TO the right, inside the cavern, q
shelving Of rock, jutting out probably 8
feet from the wall and about breast-high
from the floor. upon the top Of which
rested what proved TO be, on examination,
large iron.bound chest Of oak, the lid Of
which was secured by curiously.shaped
paddock OF brass. With the aid Of my pick
and gad broke open the chest, and to my
amazcment / found II to be filed to the
top with Spanish doubloons bearing the
date Of 1925. Ovcrjoyed at the discovery,
I fell to speculating upon how to remove
the gold, and gave but little thought as TO
the phenomenal circumstances OF its be.
ing there. On leaving Galena for New
California had purchased good.sizcd,
strongly.built skiiF in which to transport
my tools. provisions and other mining
outfit 10 that place, which Is accessible all
the way by water.
without lengthy forethought l decid-
ed TO transfer the treasure to my boat. and,
as soon as that was accomplished, TO set
ou, for New Orleans. where could ad-
vantageously dispose Of 1t. l began, nc.
cordingly, with great expeditiousncss, lest
I should be disturbed by inquisitive new.
comers, TO carry the plan Into execution,
and succeeded that night in conveying
the gold to my skiif, whercI deposited 1t
safely In two strong lockers which FORM
cd the seats in the forward and stern ends
of the boat. On the following morning,
after eifectually banking up the mouth Of
the driit, l set out upon my voyage,which
I accomplished in exactly three weeks.
with but few unpleasant adventures dur
ing the trip. At New Orleans I sold my
doubloons, receiving in exchange an
equivalent in American gold amounting
in the aggregate to $390,O00. Purchasing
English, French. and German exchange
with my money, I took passage for Liver
pool on the first European.bound vessel,
and, after so-journipg awhile in my ma.
tive town of Truro. determined on
spending the res, of my days in wander.
ing about the world, thus gratifying an
ambition which had been my fondest
dream from my early boyhood." The
drift in which Stanhope found the Span.
ish treasure was not discovered tthe st.
Louis Globe Demoera. tells us) until 1876,
when two Irish proprietors-on of them,
Tom. Shannon-brokc into the cave, after
several years Of fruitless search foG an
"opening." and took out of |, a large for.
tune in mineral. The chest which con-
tanned the doubloons secured by S,anhope
was found by Shannon, and occasioned
unbounded surprise and no little specula-
tion as TO how 1t got there. The mystery
has, of course, never been solved; but II
Is believed by Stanhopc that the chest Of
treasure was stolen by some of De Sota's
soldiers at the time he discovered and ex-
plored the Mississippi, and was secrete6
in the cave, the entrance TO which =.
been blocked up by the alluvial deposits
and changes of upward Of 800 years.