Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-06-27
HIDDEN TREASURES.
Circumstances Under Which Some
Have Been Discovered.
"A Fortune in q Tea-Kettie- How Column
bus Anchor Was EOund-A Lucky
Russian Peasant-Bis Mug
gets of Gold.

gets Of Gold.
Among the many discoveries OF hid
den treasure which have been chroni-
cled from time to time one of the
most curious occurred a number of
years ago in the little burgh of
Fortrose, in Scotland. In raising the
clay floor of very old house, for the
purpose of replacing it with some
thing more modern in conception, the
soil below was penetrated for some
little depth, and the spout of what
appeared to be a tea-kettle was ex-
posed. On uncovering the vessel it
was found to be of tarnished copper,
some ten or twelve inches in height,
and of the peculiar shape of the water
ever or aagon used by Scottish
families in the fourteenth or fifteenth
centuries. The top was closed with a
lid formed of piece of lead three
fourths of an inch in thickness and ap-
parently soldered to the fagon. The
vessel was remarkably heavy, and on
removing the lead it was found to be
completely filled with old silver coins.
There were over one thousand in
number, and were all of the time of
King Robert I'LL, of Scotland, who
reigned from 1890 to 1406 They
were very thin, as was the general
character of the silver of that date,
and somewhat larger than an English
shilling in size.
One of the most important and ex-
tensive discoveries of this kind was
that made few years since by a
Russian peasant with an unpronounc-
able name in the village of Sta-ogor-
sikh The peasant lived upon land
forming part of the estate of Prince
Ostersky, whose ancestors were plum
dered and expelled from their possess
sions by the Tartars, and in all
probability the treasure discovered
was secreted at that period The
peasant was at work not less than ten
years in searching for the hidden
valuables, but the circumstances which
first instigated his search are not
stated. He was rewarded, however.
by finding, besides numerous precious
articles and manuscripts, twelve large
boxes filled with very ancient coins of
fine gold. The total value of the
find is given at 10000 600 roubles,
two.thirds of which went to the State
and one-third to the lucky finder,
making his share about s3,OO0,O 900.
A very singular discovery. of an en-
tirely different character, is thus re-
corded In 1869 an Arab boy, a con-
vert to Christianity, was taken pris-
oner by the Algerines, and sent to
Algiers, where, refusing to abjure
Christianity. he was thrown into the
mold in which block of concrete was
about to be cast, and the block was
afterward built into the wall of fort
In the year 1858 the fort was disman-
tied and the Arabs bones were found
in the block. the position of which
had been noted by an ancient chroni-
cler. A cast now in the Algiers Mu-
scum was taken of the cavity in which
the martyrs features and even the
texture of his garments are perfectly
preserved. His bones were placed in
marble tomb in the cathedral
A very odd discovery was once
made in Newburgh, N. Y, cemetery.
While clearing up the grounds it be-
came necessary to cut down q large
willow tree, which measured at its
base nearly five feet In diameter.
When the men were ready to take the
tree away it was found advisable to
cut the stump in pieces, on account of
Its great size and weight They there
fore sawed into it, and after cutting
about fifteen inches from the surface,
at point some three feet from the
ground, the saw grated across sorne-
thing hard. Not expecting to find
any thing but wood so far in the tree
they made several more strokes, and
stopped only when they discovered
that the sawdust was composed of
fine. white powder-in short. marble
dust The workmen then split the
stump. using powder and axe, until
they reached the curiosity, which |
proved to be a marble foot-stone, in |
the very heart of the tree. The fiber
or grain of the wood had grown
around it, and evidently had been too |
powerful for the stone, for it had been |
broken in two pieces, and the top
leaned considerably out of place. In |
spite of the utmost care, SO firmly was |
it imbedded that it was found impossi- |
BILE to remove it without breaking,
and the memento was consequently |
not preserved.
A curious discovery was made |
about ten years ago in a tree near
Augusta, Ga. A civil engineer was
engaged in running and locating the |
lines of a lot of land below the city,
using as assistance a deed drawn up
one hundred and tweLty-one yesrs
before In one section OF the deed it