Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-07-07
ghe dMitta Daily Eagle: Sunday Blorung Gully = 1859.

position by pieces OF coral rsr1nW, on
careful examination. saw that it had been
carved with English letters over its entire
end. Exposure had nearly obliterated them,
but enough remained for me to decipher the
| following; no ley sole su.
of t....r. ue "A -. ia yes
Is re OOk uu olS Ia pa
sd n. tn"
Nothing further could be made out, and
felt sure from the general appearance of the
rest of the log, which was probably capstan
bar, that the substance of the message dis
connected as it was, lay IL the above cipher.
l puzzled over it a long time All hands lent
their intelligence to the work, and we finally
decided that the latter part at least was
Look under stone six PAGES Cue north. :"
Sending for the boat compass, Iplaced it in
the center Of the spot, and with anxious step
paced off the distance Tho men soon cleared
space of several feet in diameter. Almost
in the exact spot where my footsteps landed
me 1 found a fat piece of coral, evidently
shaped by man, and beneath it, in hole
carefully lined with coral, found small
tin tobacco case Opening this, produced
dingy roll Of paper, its edges ragged and
torn, the body well nigh destroyed by rust
and moisture. 1 saw at glance that the
most careful handling would be necessary in
unroiling it, and as there was slight breeze
blowing over the top of the island I decided
to take it off to the ship and examine it there.
Assuring myself that no further evidences of
the mystery were to be found, [ returned on
board ship Repairing to the cabin, I report
ed my discovery and displayed the box, ask
ing the captain to appoint some officers to
~. 4 IL
ordered another officer and myself as board
to examine the roll, using the utmost caution
in handling it. We had thin paste made,
provided ourselves with note paper, and as
each layer was carefully unwound from the
roll it was transferred to a stiff sheet of
paper, over which we had first spread thin
coating of paste. Great delicacy was neces-
sary; the sheets had little more consistency
than burnt paper, but after an hours patient
labor we were rewarded by seaing all the
contents Of the roll safely transferred and
ready for deciphering Traces OF writing
were discernible, but they were so obscured
by the bleckened surface of the paper
sheets, by the way, from some pocket diary
or memorandum book-that it was only by
the aid Of a magnifyng glass that we were
able to read them at all. Each Of us read
separately, and after examining together
some disputed words we produced the accom-
panyfng story:
81 am Robert Harley, master and sole sur
vivor Of the bark Acasta, from Sag Harbor,
knocked down by white squat near this
island. Charles Bennett and myself drifted
ashore ON some gratings and capstan bars
He died from EXHAUSTION in the SURF l re-
main long enough TO write this record, which
the grace of God permits me to do. l shall
die very soon-by the side of Bennett if my
strength permits me--but l want before ]
die to implore the good people who find this
record to take it to Miss Gardner, and tell
her that I still love her and her alone and
that her name will be on my lips when death
comes to me on this desert island. I hope to
meet and wed her IN heaven"
There was no date and no further informa-
ton to be gathered. The letter had evidently
been written in pencil, and was in a plain
hand, large letters, we'll spelled, and carefully
adjusted TO the limited amount of paper.
There seemed to be nothing to do except to
preserve the letter. Its evident age pre-
cluded any possibility of the writer being
still alive, SO, with the permission of the cap
tain, l took personal charge of 1t, and laid il
away among my papers.
/ returned from this trip in April, 1881, and
wrote at once to the collector at Sag Harbor
relating my experience, and asking him fol
any light that he could throw on the subject.
He rephed to the effect that the bark Acasta
had sailed from Sag Harbor in 1S49 in com
mand of one Robert Harley. There WIS nc
record of her crew to be found, and the vessel
had never been heard of since. The name
Gardner was very common one III that 10
cality, and inquiries in several directions
failed to elicit any information of the ont
mentioned in the record He begged that
would preserve it for their historical society
and he assured me that the village authori
ties would bear the mystery in mind and try
TO unravel it.
The winter of 1882 found me again in San
Francisco, awaiting the fitting out of the
jamestown for voyage around Cape Horn
to Newport, R. l. Great difficulty had beer
experienced in securing servants for the
officers messes; Europeans and Americans
scorned our offers of $3.50 per month, while
Cinnamon were unwilling to take the voyage
to New FORK without a guarantee that they
would be sent back to Frisco again. The case
was growing desperate /, as caterer of my
mess had exhausted all the employment
offices, and had descended from the level OF
respectable means to enter into arrange
ment with a couple of murderous looking
shanGhaiers who, on consideration Of 500,
had promised to deliver to me sixteen able
bodied Cinnamon, who, they assured me,
would be only too happy to enlist" / wa.
to meet the conspiratorS in a saloon at the
foot Of - street-a locality that BODIED little
good for their characters. 1t was with somt
misgivings for my own personal safety thai
| agreed to the rendezvous, but there seemed |
to be no other way of securing these necessary
adjuIcts to ones comfort at sea- Before start |
ing out however, secured the services of 6
private detective, who was 10 station himself |
near the door after | had entered, ana bs
ready to respond to any call; end with pESto. |
in pocket, / repaired to the neighborhood.
The place fit the deed. There was an air OF !
soualoT and Indebtedness about 1t that sn1elt |
of crime, and my heart shook within me as J |
shifted it | was CONSIDERABLY ahead of time |
but thought | would take a look at the place, !
at any rate 1t proved TO be corner grog
gerry near the bay, and surrounded by all the |
evidences Of a seafaring population. There
was curious hitching post on the corner
and an uncouth villianouS looking individual |
was leaning against if, smoking black, short |
stemmed clay pipe he raised his head at my
inquiry as to whether this was No. =, and |
snarled out, Cant ye seer then softened
tribe as he asked "Be you the young Teller
what's to meet my chums here this after
noon" On my replying that was TO meet
MesSrs - and -, be said, well, you're
on time, sure enough;7 and then relapSed into
his position of evil sohioquy.
=. l,,,+.