The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-09-15
NIkHTI-NIhh'S carr.
The Legendary Treasure that Ihfee "e"-
~yati.ps Have Tried to Find.

rrati.us Have Tried to Find.
"rbere has been for more than nun
dred wears a legend prevalent III NY mo
tive village ana In the county, pnrt
bout II +" said a former resident Oh foI
Uicpson that somewhere in the SndW
anrund Mountains in that Vlclhlty theie
is cave or mine containing uepos ,itn
Of untold wealth in gold ana SILVER ,c oot'
and Jewels; and, in spite OF the Iohs,
tedIo1s. and improbable searches tnat
haya from time % time beeh haue ioi
the treasure trove. and the very aPp,ii.
ont imposslbility of the story having
env basIs of truth, there are still PEG
ME living who have such great ia1th III
The existence Of the cave ana suSSh i I'M
plicit confidence In Its eNentiul dISCOI
cry that If they had any money or GUula
raise anv money they would be wiiiinS
10 invest every dollar I'm searching TOR
this cache Of fabulous wealth:
That they have no money d Is q, pv ;6io,,c
efforts to locate this legendary cave, ana
even now they spend much OF their time
delving among the rocks In the nope OF
at last coming upon the entrance 10 thls
hidden storehouse and rolling IN wealth.
and luxury all the rest Of their days.
The legend is so shadoWy ana rldlcu-
iOus that 1T does not seem possible that
even the most CTedulOus and shallo"
minded would ever for a moment have
accepted IL seriously but some of the
leading men OF that region have. In
years past. spent largely OF thoir means
III Seeming IOi Tie ltdSulf NIIt fS'iih
is based upon. only q few years az ,
a company was formed. with a capital
OF $1,000, the purpose or which was TO
engage In exhaustive and systematic
efforts to locate the hiding place of this
mysterious wealth. The men who We're
Interested IN the scheme were from
Orange county, y. Y, and Pagsaic cOun-
~. n. }. They never carried on their
The only exhaustive work done was
by the Treasurer OF the company He
did IL on the company's treasury, in
which there were 81 800 when he began.
When his work was done the treasury
was exhausted ana he lad cone some
where. TIE company formed its attCn-
ION away from hunting 1oi the lost cave
and went TO hunting for the lost Treas
urer.
But his hiding place proved to he as
hard TO ind az the hiding place Of the
legendary treasure has ever been. and it
is etill unknown.
THE legend of the hidden coin and jea-
els Is, In effect, that years ago. nobody
knows how many, an old Spaniard n
an lndian-the legend doesn't commit
Itself as 10 which he was-llVed Sou,e-
where In the Shawangunk Mountains.
but whether 1t was near Port Ben, Port
dickson or Port Even The legend leaves
by the name Of Ninety-nine. WHY Nine
lynne mo misty record does not pause
TO say. But of this thing the legend is
positive: Ninety-nine was over partial
10 whi.kty and IL was his faVOrtte past
ime when ne was drunk TO scatter cold
pieces galore about the settlements 20
pull handful of diamonds from one
POCKET ana String Of pearls from the
1ther ana from other parts Of his opu-
lent person clusters Of rubics and eli,-
uIlhg lots OF Other precious stones and
parade about among the Dutch settlers
and animate and inebriate Goicenda.
NO one could ever find where Ninety.
nine nNed. lie never permitted anyone
10 accompany him from the settlement.
before he disappeared forever from those
merry scenes.
one Benny Depew of Mamakating wa!
faVorite of Ninety-nine. Kenny wa,
somewhat of a prototype of the immor
| tal RIP Van Wrinkle. and loved well hi.
p0wi, ms pipe and his dog. So wheI
his homA among the Shawangunk rocks
always with abundant price. he and Ben
ny had great times ON one OF these Oc
caSlons Ninety-niue must have takcr
| on Jag Of peculiar kind, for he un
loosened his tongue TO Benny and sal,
| such things about the cave where he lived
| ana the contents Of II, that Kenny al
most became sober. so startling wer,
| they. Moreover, Ninety-nine told Benny
mat next day he would give him a sigh
| OF the wonders he had described. Mex
| day. though having become sober. Ninety
| nine tIieI to beg on his promise T. Benny
but Benny wouldn't have il that way
| and insisted that he should be tai<eI
| 10 the cave of fabulous riches forthwith
| Ana so they started off into the mounain.
| together
Two days passed away. and Renn,
had not returned Then everyone sal,
they would never see him aeain for o
course, Ninety-nine had killed him. Blu
toward night on the third day Benn,
| footsore, AMI traVel-stained.
| The village gathered 10 hear his tale
| He said that Ninety-nine had conduct
| ed him into the very heart OF the Shaw
| angunks. AT the end OF the first day the,
| came TO the shore OF large lake wher,
| they slept The next day they travelle,
| up deep ravine until noon. Then Nine
| ty-nine told Benny he would have to sub
nit TO blindfolding. and Benny submitted
| They travelled on. and when. after an
| hours rough and devious march thu
| bandage was removed from Bennys eye!
| he stood In the middle of a cave. 1t wa:
| some time before his eyes could beal
| the sight. so dazzling was everything
around him. When at last they had be
| come accustomed to the surroundings
they saw such things that Benny could
| neither move nor speak. The walls o
| the cave were lighted by many candles
| Rich carpets covered the floor. Nolup
| tuous pictures and statuary hung on th'
| walls and filed brilliantly lighted inches
| one piece OF statuary Benny said he only
| had the countenance TO simply glance a
just once.
"Heaped in glltterng confusion on III,
| floor were bars Of gold and silver anC
| dOmes OF COIN From every side resplend
ent Jewels glared at him with myriad eye.
| OF fire. while Ninety-nine thrust his hanC
| into cask, and, taking 1t out and holdins
| IL above the cask. released what ne hel(
| within H. \ stream OF flaming diamond.
| fell back into the cask.
! These were some OF the things tina
| Benny said he Gazed upon in Ninety
mines cave until he was wen aigh crazed
/ But the greedy custodian of ali ma
fabulous wealth permitted him to feas
| his eyes but short time. Then he blind
] folded Benny again and led him away
| when the bandage was again removed
| from his eyes Benny was standing on IN.
| top OF one of the highest peaks OF IN.
| Shawangunk, overlooking the Mamaka
| ting Valley Ninety-nine was gone AnC
| he never was seen Of again.
From the description that Benny CAV,
| of the surroundings where he stood on
| the peak. the people concluded that M
| had been left by Ninety-nine back o.
| Port Hickson. That is the story whicf
has led three generations Of credulou:
folk to spend their money and their time
In attempts TO ind the cave where Benny
Depew says he saw Ninety-nine's treas
ure. And they haven't given W the