The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-07-24
eooD sroR1ns OF THE PRESENT DAE
Nse Strange Adventures or n satchcI that
an Honest blnn Found.
oepyrts,t. 1899. BY caarrs u. I1th.

IN the month Of March. 1885. which you viii
remember WAS only few weeks before the
s'ose OF the war. l was visiting an uncle who
lived on farm In Mitchell county Ind. Or
tne 18th ] went out for n squirrel hunt. II
was about ii o'clock in the morning when
enot my nrst squirrel. and as he fell from the
\ nmb he brought up among mass Of outcrop-
ptng rock. in searching for him l found n
\ satchel which had been placed between two
! pouiders so TINT it was securely hidden from
anything except chance discovery. One might
I nave stood within three feet OF II and been no
wiser. hauled the satchcl out and found II
20 be one OF old-iashioned make. though en-
tireiy new bit OF mIldcw had Just begun TO
4 gather on tho leather. and judged that II had
been there for week or more. 1t was bulky
Z enough to indicate that its contents consisted
4 ef q suit OF clothes. and had no great curios-
ny concerning it. Indeed. l made further
search and found tho squirrel before | gave
4 Tho satchel q second look.
At that time the county was overrun with
.tramps. but they were most numerous along
The Ohio River and the majority OF them were
thieves and robbers well ms public nut
I eances As returned to the satchel II struck
me that no one one would have entered that
dense piece OF woods to hide an OUTFIT OF cloth
ing mile from the highway. and determined
10 inspect the contents. 1t was locked. but
used stone to break 1t open. and the first
Stance jumped my heart into my throat The
eatohel was full OF crisp new grecnbacks in
pAokAges OF 81 900 EACH Even after l took
one OF the packages in my hand aud carefully
inspected tho bills was not quite sure
\ whether I was awake or dreaming. There
Wero packages OF ones. twos. fves. and tens.
and every bill was fresh from tho Treasury at
\ Washington. hauled out ono after another
: until had counted twenty seven. Each had
. band around it. on which was stamped the
Amonnt-S1.OO0
Experience will make man cool in the face
y Of danger. but one can't become experienced
4 in finding treasure. believe was moro rat
tied over that find than II had met a high
wayman and been held up for my all. l sat on
log with those twenty-seven packages piled
MP before me. and shook like man in a chill.
1t was fully ten minutes before could realize
the luck that had come my way. Without lay
ing myself opon to criticism l contend that l
an an honest man. 1 have always paid 100
4 cents on the dollar Of my indebtedness. In my
time have found and restored many lost arti-
cles which dishonest man would have con-
verted to his own use. l have been trusted
with the money OF private individuals. and az
tor serving five years as a County Treasurer
committee examined my accounts to discover
and report that the county was in my debt
tell these things in hopes to excuse myself for
what followed the finding Of the money.
From the moment | caught sight OF the
money l determined to kept. We are all
honest until tempted. Some Of us can be
bought for few hundred dollars. others de-
mand thousands. Replacing the money in the
sotchel. / started for home. l didn't propose
to share the secret OF the find With any one.
even II shared the contcntslatcT o. there
fore made my way to tire baTn to put the
satchel in h safe lace. I was fully half an
hour making up my mind where to deposit it.
There were several tons Of hay in the NOW.
and finally climbed up and dug hole in one
corner and deposited my treasure. moved ut
least half ton OF hay. and when 1 left the
place felt sure that it would take an all day
search for any one TO find the money.
My uncle subscribed to a Louisville daily
paper, and also to several wceEles. ! was just
recovering, from u wound in the head received
at Petersburg, and my eyes wero weak. had.
therefore. done but very little reading. After
dinner got M the back namlcrs of the daily
for ten or twelve days. and sat down to see II |
could strike anything regarding that money.
As an old soldier had spotted those packages
at once. All OF them were Treasury notes.
and all had bean put ui' for an army nay
master IN q nancr dated nine lays previous
was quarter OF column article detailing the
ffots OF the robbery OF an army pnymaster. at
Madison. Ind 10 was on his way down the
Ohio by passenger steamboat accompanied
BY his trusted assistant. At Madison. while
the boat was taking on cargo. he went up town
On his return he found that his assistant had
robbed the safe Of sdo. 900 and dissppeared.
was being made to overhaul the rohber. who
was supposed to have worked single handed.
capture None Of the SUBSEQUENT i issues IS con- on
tained news OF his capture. however. and |
in swaT hera
was no question in my mind that my s27 1000
was part Of tho naymaster.s money As
o. confederate. and this money was his share
Of the .spoils. though not an even, divide be-
tween them. The confederate may have been
an employee Of tho Loaf or q resident OF Madi-
son In either case he had taken his share
and hidden It in the woods to wait for the ex-
assn honest man "a ny duty was plain That
at once 4 am obliged to inform tho reader.
however. that was no longer nm honest man.
hal firmly decided to keen that money, mud
quiet that still, small voice which is supposed
To- BE- eyer ready to warn Us OF the errors Of our
while. we were eating breakfast. my Uncle
ens "te tine fact tt had
n the barn. liz h@d .n to my S S"eSs
great SURPRISE, got up and cleared ont without
asking Tor anything to eat. 1t struck me all OF
asudden that tho tramp had found and carried
Of my prize. and, getting away from the table
haymow was rs had left 1t. but when dug
down In the corner it was to find my worst
tssrs realized H. The satcheI and money were
An hour. and then l took a gun aud set out
over the highway in pursuit Of the tramp. who
had several hours the start Of me-
The further adventures OF the satchel COW
cred space OF months. What induced the
tramp to dig down In that corner Of the hay
NOW has always been a mystery to me. I
- have sometimes believed he must have been
the robbers confederate and that he tracked
ne TO the barn from the woods. He took the
tlon. and by getting lift with a teamster he
ccGyered about Twenty-Five miles the first day.
Although he was dressed like a tramp. the
Perhaps the questions lie ask ed frightened the
nan into doing what he did After leaving
the teamster he entered q country school,
h9ase So. and ma the money in the garrett.
ret reached by iG fh Win 10y gar,
seen afterward on the highway several miles
distant and then he disappeared for good
About three weeks aiter, tho money had been
RiASea 10 the garret the chimney Of the school-
house was struck by lightning and tumbsd to
the ground. A farmer. who Was also a brick.
eyer. was employed to rebuild the chimney.
20 doing he found the satchel, and not one