The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-07-13

IN lsG5 | vent to Hong Kong i'm the in
terest of a certain English manufac-
- turer. saws n writer i'm the New York
.S,,. and il was a year and a half later
when I one doy received n strange Wis
itor and , stranger proposition. | was i'm
charge of a large warehouse. and one of
my Chinese employes brought i'm the
STRANGE and exclaimed:
.J told him Won would have nothing to
do with him lint he insisted on coming"
The strange was a half-breed of some
sor, ,a,nt. RAGGED and evidently hard up.
Az son as we were alone he introduced
Li,,soIf as Semvo and stated that he was
from the Island of Luzon, one OF the
,roun comnosinp the Philippines. He
halonyad Ia the native population, but
had Spapish blood i'm his veins. He
had once been a man of i'm
~portaucc. but the Spaniards had
robbed him of his power, and afterward
feared his influence 10 such a degree that
no had Grs, been imprisoned and after
ward banisbed. He had been carried on
native craft TO Japau. and left there rag
God and nenniless. and had been more
r., = ,aarr,.cb;n, Hong Kong. While
, ,"a" =" rs =. h.oaLa,,
ne had only Few shiiiihes ~ h,s po.nes
he hau neither come 10 soiici' ciiari'y no'
place TO work. He had a straight,
square business proposition to submit. III
I approyed of il, we'll and good; il l did
not ,he, no wo,iId Inc no worse off. When
.asit..J ,tn, S,,pisb influence was
"Hn -. aamr,fau ho made sucb nrcn-
piot,ihe su""ha, ~" .
aratlons as ne couiu 10 inee' 'he "e,
bic. He was a very wealthy man. anu he
quietly went to work and converted every
him he could into money, gold dust aud
iewelry. He had got about $4,000 togeth-
rI ,ha u,,I;n, ,ov.r bounced unon
:. '.h -, 90 aa, !, Uo
hiin' pu, nov q",N .r" ps.
had cached or ourieu ms ior'uhe aho'
though he was abused and threatened py
the Spaniards for months, he wouldn't
be,ray the secret,
TO 90, thar money nv his own indiyid-
- 49, Wa u,t.rIy ;mnossih,e The
. uai ehor.s was ".e''' ""po
' he SET foot on Luzoh ne wouiu ne
arrested. He must have a partner VINO
would furnish a ship and crew, and he
would 90 along to mark the spot where
,ho ,r.asure WAS hurled.
~ t.II'aI -, ,La no, with ,;,y and
~. -. H. ha
upon ms proJect WIN c",,e'np' ~hehn nc
first began TALKING. Nheh ne WAS
through had agreed to think II over.
There is a fascination % buried treas
ure or "a sunken wreck that Will enlist cap
ital To the detriment of honest specula-
ton. ! was noted as being a conserva-
tive man n the idea OF my going into
any such venture would have been re-
garded by my friends as evidence of APP
preaching mental calamity. ] went TO the
American consul and i'm n roundabout
way he confirmed a part OF Semyo's
story. He had heard OF him ana heard OF
his being deposed and banished. Then
l went down to the wharyes and al
most the first man i ran against was the
Yankee captain of "A brig called the John,
which was then having some repairs
made. She had been running i'm the tea
:, trade up and down the Yellow sea, but
' now. uueerly enough. the captain in
formed me that he thought of taking a
run over to the Philippines aud try for n
cargo on his own ccount. The products
of the islands are ebony, logwood, gum
wood, bamboo, ~cocoanuts, all sorts of
fruits. cotton, tobacco, indigo, coffee, ETC..
and manyt trading vessels are employed
in the traffic. His craft was manned by a
mate and four sailors, and ! found all of
them to be Americans. When ! came to
express my surprise at this he explained:
! You see, they arc runaways from
American war vessels, mate and all. l