Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-01-16
TREASURE TROVE.
Untold Millions Plugged in Walls
and Sunk in Lakes.
Why Mexico Can TruthfuIly Be Called
the Eldorado of Treasure Hunters
Gold and silver Hidden from
View in Old Structures.

The cupidity of the Spaniards who landed
with Cortez upon the shores Of Mexico was
first iDcited by the golden trinkets which
the Indians brought to them to exchange for
European tawdry, says the Too Republics.
It was the love of the precious metals that
led them to deeds of bravery far eclipsing
any thing of modern years and equaling
the exploits of the olden knights. The
history of the torture of Montezuma for the
purpose of ascertaining the point where the
kingly treasure of millions upon millions in
golden jewelry was buried substantiates the
fact of the real object of the Spaniards in
conquering the valley Of the Anahuac.
Historians lay great stress upon the riches
in precious metals of the rulers of the sew
eral empires, but more particularly upon
the great wealth of Montezuma of the Grand
Tenochtitlan, the present city of Mexico.
In the description of the jewelry and other
objects from the skillful hands of the Aztec
metal workers one is transported to the
widest scope of imagination verging be-
yond the wonderful tales of the miraculous
pieces of mechanism detailed in the sara
bian Nights" The golden bird with tenn
pered pieces of metal to give it the exact
c2lored plumage of the natural bird which it
represented and the contrivance 20 make it
sing, the chameleon lizard in gold and in
the varied hues of nature, are some of the
objects found by Cortez and his companions
IN the Aztec capital.
Where was this vast treasure of wealth,
which, it is claimed, exceeded any thing
then possessed by any European monarch,
burieds Some say it was buried beneath
the waters of Lake Tezcoco, and others
claim on the present site of the Iturbide
Hotel Wherever 1t was stored, its hiding
place still remains dead to the world. Prob
ably in no other country in the universe is
there more buried treasure than i'll Mexico.
Nearly every week cases of unearthing
treasures are reported in some part of the
Republic. Banks in Mexico are of recent
origin, which fact, with the former in
security from revolutions, probably in
measure accounts for the present finding of
so much coin and jewelry. The custom of
sinking money under bricks in the floors
and plugging it in holes in the walls COM
menced with the occupation of the country
by the Spaniards. Even until to-day the
custom is in vogue in many parts OF Mex
leo. Unlike most nations, the Mexicans,
as rule, hold what they accumulate, not
investing 1t in enterprises when there are
any great risks of loss. Little by little
large capitals are acquired, and are sunk
in the earth or are plugged up in
lost to the world Two years ago
treasure was found while making re-
pairs in the Conception Church. Without
doubt the largest and most valuable treas
ures are still hidden from view in the
churches, old converts and monasteries in
this city. The Catholic church was the
wealthiest institution in Mexico, as the sill
yer rails and rich ornaments still to be seen
in the temples of God in the Aztec capital
attest. The frequent revolutions with
which Mexico was cursed up to twelve
years ago made it necessity for the
priests to have secret vaults to store the
ornaments of the wax images, the service
of the church and the tIthes. That by
death, sudden departures and other causes,
the vaults with their treasures in time
should have been lost to the world is not
miraculous
The latest discovery of a treasure has
just been made in this city. A woman of
advanced years has lived for a short time
| in room in the old Regina convent, on
Regina street She paid no rent, her quar-
ters being given her by charitable person
whose name is not known. One day while
the old woman was driving nail in one of
| the walls she noticed that it went in very
easily, not giving the required resistance
| ImpelIed by curiosity, the woman COM
menced to make an excavation in the wall,
| and with little labor soon opened cavity in
which she found a number of pieces of sill
verware, which tits supposed formed part
| of the convent church service. The wom-
| an made the discovery known to her
| benefactor, who took out the pieces of plate,
severely reprimanding her for her curiosity,
| and also telling her that they belonged to him
| and that she must keep the secret, promis-
ing that he would give her piece of
land where she could peacefully pass the
rest of her days. The old lady continued liv-
| ing in the room, however, and soon after made
| another excavation in the wall, in which she
| discovered sealed ola (earthen jarl She
| broke it, and in it discovered forty or fifty
dollars in gold coins, reliqslary in which
| was the wax bust of a monk on which was
J hardly legible inscription, and moreover
some documents or deeds to houses, and one
| telling OF hidden treasure, with all de-
| scriptions where it is to be found This
| time the old woman did not tell the charita-
BILE person of her discovery. She went and
consulted Mr.. Balandrano, to whom she
took all the documents found with the ex-
| ception of the one telling of the place where
| the treasure was hidden. 1t is said that Mr.
| Noriega, who learned of the discovery made
| by the old woman, purchased the land where
the treasure is supposed to be buried, and
| has already commenced hunting for it.