Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-08-31

until you have my written order to dc
liver them. You are at liberty to exam
inc them, if you choose"
Mrs. Moss cheerfully accepted thi
strange trust, supposing that the secre
was shared by her and the General only
Subsequent events seemed to show tina
their conversation at this time had bee1
overheard.
That night. after her distinguish,
visitors had departed on their severa
ways, the widow locked herself in he
chamber and examined the contents o
the casket.
Such a sight as it was. The room
fairly blazed with the brilliant scin
tillations caught from the lamp ant
scattered everywhere by heap of dia
monds, rubies, pearls, and what n
The treasure was faithfully concealed
and the widows lips We're closed about
it. Parties singly and in squads, mount
ed and afoot, on the scent of the van
ishing Treasury of the Confederacy
visited the house within the next two
weeks, rudely searched it, and inter.
rogated Mrs. Moss as to gold and silver
that had been left with her by Jeffer-
son Davis. She stoutly denied any
knowledge Of any such thing, and sent
away the inquirers empty-handed.
Later, a different applicant came. He
was a cavalryman, whom she recog-
nized as one who had been with the
party that had stopped at her house.
He presented her written order with
General Breckinridge's signature at
the bottom for the delivery of the
casket, explaining that the General
had reconsidered the matter and con-
Guided to take the jewels abroad with
him, and was then waiting on the coast
for them
The widow gave up the precious box
and its contents without suspicion of
anything wrong. The next day, in
thinking the affair over, she became
uneasy. and showed the writing to a
gentleman of the town who was we'll
acquainted with General Breckenridge.
He Immediately pronounced it a clumsy
forgery
Mrs. Moss died a few weeks after
this. She was old and feeble, and
those who knew her best say that she
never rallied from the grievous shock
of that discovery.
This is the story that is firmly be-
ieved at Washington, Ga, to-day,
and there is so much that is perfectly
we'll known to be true in the narrative,
and the whole has so very likelya sound,
that am quite willing to accept it as
true.
In the meantime, the imaginative
people of that section have built up
some very pretty romances upon these
facts, which do not sound at all truth
full to us.
Not a year passes but read some of
them in print. One that was tele-
graphed from Atlanta to the New York
papers, about six years ago, was very
bold attempt to humbug the credu1ous
upon this subject. 1t was gravely stat
ed that as Mr.. John Frank was riding
along the highway, about nine miles
from Washington, he saw something
shining in the stump of a blown-down
tree; and that, upon examination,
he found about a peck of gold
and twenty thousand dollars worth
OF precious stones. This find"
was at once declared to be part of
the plundered Confederate Treasury,
and the jewels that had been taken by
fraud from Mrs. Moss
The weakness of the story was, that
it ended with its first telling. Mr.. John
Frank and his Find" were not heard of
again. It also seemed to me that 800
600 was small amount to represent
the value of the jewels contributed by
the ladies of Virginia to the cause.
There can be no doubt, as was stated
in the former article on this subject,
that some of the disbanded Confed-
crates had an opportunity, and LIBERAL
ly improved it, to help themselves out
Of the contents Of the Confederate
Treasury on wheels. And this present
article shows what became of the Jewels
But, we may depend upon it, that the
men who enriched themselves in this
way never hid the booty in the ground,
or in hollow trees. They took it where
they could enjoy it.-Chicago Ledger.
MY First Night on Guard.