The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-08-03
01D-FASHIONED SACHEL.
ADVENTURES OF a GRIP
THAT CONTAINED $4,000.

,r,,,av, He Found Twenty-S6ven hOlls.
put His Treasure Away in Place
+unare He Knew Nobody Would
I'D l. and After That a Series of
aor,arkepie Incidents Happened.
r. B. LetDis IN Chicago T.n:e..
=, the month Of March, 1865, which you
- ron,smber was only few weeks before
VIZ n.lo.a OF the war, was visiting an uncle
Ii,od on a farm in Mitchell county,
T5iana The sth l went out for squirrel
- n was about IL o'clock in the morn
-rban I shot my first squirrel, and as he
~ tro,n the limb he brought up among
o. NJ cutcropping rock. In search
..r him I found a satchel which had
bsen placed between two powders so
:, xas securely hidden from anything
.-oont chance discovery. One might have
..oo5 within three feet Of it and been none
'..-rsar | hauled the sachel out and found
suo Ia ons of old-fashioned make, though
t ~ new. A bit of mildew had just
s.rU n rather on the leather, and judged
n Deg, hat that it had been there for week
o~s II was bulky enough to prove
~ 4i.s consisted OF "A suit OF clothes, and
70 M great curiosity concerning 1t. In
To- made further search and found the
eorirrel before / gave the sachei second
looE A.. ..- -. to,-.-.,,,,
IN amps. but they we're most numerous
-, the Ohio river, and tbs majority Of
go we're thieves and robbers as well as
nbI;c nuisanees. As l returned to the
pnhaI il struck me that no one would have
s1tared that dense piece OF woods to hide
an outfit OF clothing mile from the high
~ and determined TO inspect the con-
W-Jf lonyaH buk I mead A skOne n
hrs"k it open, and the first glance
tumnad nv heart into my throat.
r. secheI was full OF crisp.
Nv oreepbaoks in packages of 81 ,00O
sscb Even after took one Of the pack
sges in nay hand and carefully inspected
kbe bills was not quite sure whether was
awake or dreaming. There were packages
of ones. two, fives, and tens, and every bill
rUas fresh from the treasury at Washing
kon hauled out one after another until l
had counted t~enty-seven. Each had
hand around it, on which was stamped the
nmount-Sl,OOO.
NOT AN EVERYDAY OCCURRENCE.
ExDerience will make a man cool in the
4 face of danger, but one can't become expe-
4 xiencsd IL finding treasure. l believe l
was more ratified over that And than If
q had met highwayman and been held up
Il FOR my all. | sat on log with those
sweuty-seven packages piled up before ms
and shook like man in a cnill. IL was
fully ten minutes befone l could realize the
luck that had come my way. Without
laying myself open to criticism l
C intend that am an honest man. have
always paid 100 cents on the dollar of
ny indebtedness. In my time have found
and restored many lost articles which dis
honest man would have converted to his
own use. have been freely trusted with
the money OF private individuals, and after
serving Ave years as q county treasurer
committee examined my accounts to dis
cover aud report that the county was in my
debt tell you these things ia hopest to ex-
ruse myself for what followed the finding of
q the money.
81 From the moment caught sight Of the
money | determined 10 keep it. We are all
honest until tempted. Some of US can be
bought for a few hundred dollars, others
demand thousands. Replacing the money
In the satchel started for home. didn't
propose TO share the secret OF the find with
any one, even il | shared the contents later
on therefore made my way to the barn
TO put the satchel in a safe place. Twas
3 fully half an hour making up my mind
where to deposit 1t. There were several
tons Of hay in the NOW and finally climbed
up and dug hole In one corner and depos-
q tied my treasure. l moved at least half a
ton Of hay, and when left the place felt
sure that it would take all all day search for
anyone to find the money.
WHERE THE MONEY CAME FROM
Ny uncle subscribed to Louisville daily
paper, and also to several weeklies. l was
81 Just recovering from wound in the head
received at Petersburg, and my eyes were
weak. | had, therefore, done but very
little reading. After dinner | got all the
back numbers Of the daily for ten or twelve
days and sat down to see if could strike
anything regarding that money. AS an
IA old soldier had spotted those packages at
a once. All Of them were treasury notes aud
all had been put up for an army paymaster
In a paper dated nine hours previous
found what was feverishly searching for
1T was quarter OF column article detail
ing the facts of the robbery of an army
paymaster at Madison, Ind. He was on his
way down the Ohioby passenger steamer.
~ accompanied by his trusted assistant. At
Madison, while the boat was taking on
cargo he went up town to visit an old
IN friend, being gone about two hours. On
ms return be found that his assistant had
robbed the safe of $50, 900 aud disappeared
W Inc article went on to say tpat every
eHJrt was being made TO overhaul the rob
Der who was supposed to have worked
M hngeNhanded, and that all the chances
Were in favor of his capture. None of the
subsequent issues contained news of his cap
fure, however, and may state here that he
sct safely away and probably landed some-
where 10 Europe There vas no question
~ my mind but that my S27 100 was por-
tion OF that robbery. AS | reasoned it out
we paymaster's assistant had a confederate
nm ahu THIS money was his portion OF the spoils
"a nTIuugn not an even divide between them.
Ina confederate may have been an en-
Ploye OF the boat or q resident of Madison.
1n either case he had taken his share and
s sL'aae of and hidden it in the woods TO wait
'oi Tue excitement TO blow over.
TIE TRAMP WHO WAS IN HURRY.
~, Aany honest man, my duty was plain.
uat money ought to be restored to the
government at once. l am obliged to in
I'm otn Tue reader, however, that / was no
.GIIser an honest man. | had firmly de-
r,uel 70 keep that money, and l could ad-
t Nance dozen different excuses to quiet
SsuN' Sill, small voice which is supposed to
ever ready to warn us of the error of
~. ways. On the third morning of my
p'esSlon, while we were eating breakfast,
10y uncle mentioned the fact that a tramp
20 come along late in the evening, after
. .oI gone to bed. aud had been given
r oue.Vef IN the barn. He had. to my uncle's
so SeNV surprise, got up and cleared out With
~ asking for anything to eat. It struck
So1,t ~ OF a sudden that the tramp had
sSvaU and carried off my prize, and, getting
80 a! from the table as soon DIS / could,
&C. ''sq TO the barn to make an investiga>