The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-03-29
CapfnIn KIdd's Treasures.

A few months ago an enterprising stranger.
sOjOurning IN "a village near the eastern end OF
Long Island. hit upon "a device for missing
money. He spent days and days exploring
certain parts OF the shore, where tradition has
Il that the famous pirate, Captain Kidd buried
q portion of his treasures previous 10 his arrest
and trial for freebootng. After month or So
devoted 10 the mysterious explorations and
digging here and there IN the earth. tins enter
prisiug genius. whose name was Morton,
caused it 10 be widespread about that he had
found kidd's bank Of deposit and secured some
Of his coin. When addressed on the subject
he was very reluctant 70 talk, and his reluct-
ance only whetted public curiosity. The re-
port Of his find" was confirmed by the
woman at whose house he boarded: herprying
eyes had looked upon dozen OF more silver
coins Of very ancient date IN his room. and
their antiquity was further evidenced 10y their
blackness through long disuse. She wills
pered the momentous secret, and one day
while he was detained elsewhere by cOnviyial
companions. his room was examined by two
OF three men who had appointed themselves q
committee Of investigation. They saw and
handled the coins, ali of them bearing date Of
the seventeenth century. the period IN which
kidd's piraces were committed. Excitement
ran high, and then further questioning led
Morton 10 tell his story.
He said he had learned from q rudely drawn
map, which came into his possession through
adescendant OF one OF kldds men. the locality
where the treasure Law, but the map WIS not
sufficiently explicit 10 define the spot within a
hundred yards or more. Consequently, he
had been compelled 10 dig in many places He
had finally found the deposit, but was only
able 10 take away few Of the coins. as he
reached the treasure Just rs day was breaking
He had hastily filed the hole and since then
be was not able to 60 10 the spot in conse-
Quence of being so closely watched. He
knew there was a large chest or the re-
mains Of one, and that it appeared 10 be full
of coin, and that was all he could tell. He
offered 10 sell half share in the find" for
: 900. just for the sake Of protection and Sc
curty. though be would not take Sl0,O 900, or
even go 600 for the whole of it,
The hopes of the villagers were high. and
il was proposed to raise the : 1000 among
them at once. The matter was under discus
sion in the village store one evening. and the
coins We're freely passed from hand 10 hand
as indications OF the genulneness of the dis
coyery. Nobody doubted the truth of the
strangers story which was confirmed by the
rude and very ancient map which had guided
him in his search. A young man, whose head
WAS filled with tales of the pirate Kidd. but
who was unusually well versed in his history,
was allowed to look at the coins He ex-
amined them attentively. and suddenly re-
marked that 1t WAS very strange that one Of
pirate in the East Indies. said the youngman.
Fin the years 1897 and 90. Then he came back to
the West Indies. where he was in April. 1899,
and he was in Boston, where he was arrested
in June of the same year. Now. | don't see
how il was possible for dollar. which was
coined in Spain in 1899. to be sent 10 the East
Indies so that Captain Kidd could capture it in
that year and get to the West Indies by April
or 70 Boston by June" A light dawned upon
the listeners, and the stranger said he would
90 TO his boarding place and bring documents
that would satisfy everybody He left the
store hastily and was not again seen by any of
the villagers. His scheme was well planned,
and would quite likely have been crowned
with success had he not made the blunder Just
described of including a coin of 1899 in his
recollection The brightyoung man. who re-
membered what he had read and reasoned
therefrom, is now regarded with great respect
by his elders.-Colonel Knox in Chicago Tri-
bune.